James Donaldson on Mental Health - Self?harm treatments less effective for men compared to women – new research

Men are more likely to die by suicide globally.

One of the strongest predictors of death by suicide is self-harm .

This is when a person physically hurts themselves as a way of dealing with very difficult feelings , painful memories or overwhelming situations and experiences.

Preventing self-harm could potentially reduce deaths by suicide .

But our recent study showed that talking therapies designed to reduce self-harm are less effective in men .

We reviewed the evidence from 46 studies focusing on the effectiveness of talking therapies, clinical contact (such as letters, postcards, phone calls or contact with a GP or support worker) and two digital apps in reducing self-harm.

Talking therapies use conversation to help people understand patterns in their thinking, emotions and behaviour, and to help them build healthier ways of dealing with challenges.

Many forms of therapy or contact also provide information about self-harm, risk factors, understanding stressors and looking out for warning signs of self-harm.

But our review found that after completing some type of talking therapy or series of clinical contacts, only women saw a decrease in rates of self-harm.

For men, there was no change in rates of self-harm.