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Poor, female, and self-harming: the forgotten victims of the mental health crisis

Social media and the pressures of school work are blamed for a rise in self-harm in girls—but are we ignoring one of the biggest contributing factors: poverty?

By Sian Norris  
August 10, 2018

There is no single cause of self-harm—but we shouldn't ignore how poverty can contribute to mental health problems. Photo: PA/Prospect composite

Earlier this week, the NHS revealed a worrying rise in reports of self-harm among teenage girls in the UK.

Using a reliable national database that tracked trends in reports of self-harm from 2001, they discovered a 68 per cent rise in rates of self-harm in 13-16 year old girls since 2011.

The NHS explained how the database didn’t reveal the causes behind this rise, and stated:

“It…

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Sian Norris

Sian Norris is a novelist and journalist. Her first book, Greta and Boris: A daring rescue was published in 2013 by Our Street. Her non-fiction has been published in the Guardian, the Independent, the New Statesman and more.

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