Self-harm cases increased among young people over 10 years
There was a 21% increase in the number of self-harm cases among 10 to 24-year-olds between 2007 and 2017.
St Patrick's Mental Health Services and Pieta House are calling for greater awareness and education around self-harm as part of Self-Injury Awareness Day.
Figures from Pieta House also show there was a 23% rise in the number of self-harm cases among those presenting to their services since 2017.
Director of Services at St Patrick's Mental Health Services, Tom Maher, called for more adaptive ways of dealing with the issue.
"Over the past 10 years, we've seen an increase in the level of self-harm, particularly amongst younger people.
"That highlights the need for further education and training and understanding of self-harm so we can identify the causes of this behaviour and where possible create interventions that help to prevent it and have more adaptive ways of dealing with the issues associated with self-harm."
Mr Maher says parents have a huge role to play in helping tackle the issue.
I think it's important that parents learn about self-harming behaviour so if they see it in their children they can deal with it as early as possible.
"Indeed, parents have a role to play in helping to improve the level of resilience have to deal with the stress and strains of everyday life."
