Investigation of self-harm cases and related factors

Abstract

Introduction: Self-harm is a deliberate and non-lethal act in which a person intentionally injures himself or consumes a substance in excess of the prescribed amount. Self-harm injuries are also seen in forensic clients. Self-mutilation in these people is done in order to achieve a goal and is accompanied by claims of delusion of others. The importance of this issue is the necessary urgency in differentiating it from suicide, malice, mock disease and conversion diseases. In this study, we have examined self-harm and some related factors.

Materials and Methods: In a retrospective cross-sectional descriptive study, a checklist including two sections of demographic information and self-harm information was prepared to collect the necessary information based on a review of the texts and was completed by the researcher for each case. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive tests of SPSS statistical software.

Results: Out of 783 cases, 467 (59.6%) were men and the mean age of 783 patients was 28.25 8 8.38 years. A higher percentage of clients had more lesions on the left side of their body (61.4%), referred with a scratch lesion (46.0%), referred to a lesion in the arm area (25.7%) and of hard-edged objects used for self-harm (38.4%).

Conclusion: In the face of someone who self-harms, two things should be considered, one is to achieve an appropriate treatment path considering the possibility of a mental illness that is more relevant to hospital physicians and the second is a legal view of this. From the perspective of forensic science to differentiate the damage caused by conflict and self-harm.