Is self-injurious behavior becoming an epidemic?

3 teens self-harm per hour in the U.K.

In 2003-2004 23,087 were hospitalized for self-harm in Australia

3,000,000 Americans self-harm

Is Self-Injurious behavior becoming an epidemic?

According to Aaron D. McClelland it is. His research below is astounding and posted from his website.                                                                                        http://admcclelland.blogspot.com/2012/08/self-injury-series-introduction.html

"Self-Injury is one of the most misunderstood, mythologized, and ignored mental health issues
we face. The statistics gathered throughout North America and Europe reveal the practice of self-injury is more widespread and more complex than most people realize.
 
Research conducted by Dr. Mary K. Nixon and her team at the University of Victoria
(Nixon, Jansson, Cloutier, 2005) indicated the following results that have been corroborated in various other studies throughout North America;
 

• 16.9% of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 self-injured for an average of 21 months
• 75.8% were female
• Average age of onset was 15.3 years
• 58% stopped self-injuring during adolescence
• 42%  continued to self-injure into adulthood

Another more recent longitudinal study (Hawton, Zahl, Weatherall, 2011) conducted in the United Kingdom that tracked 11,583 patients who presented to hospital after deliberate self-injury between 1978 and 1997 revealed the following troubling statistics on completed suicides for people who self-injure long term;
 

• Patients were 66 times more likely to complete suicide than the general population one year after onset (0.7%)
• 5 years after onset - 160 times more likely (1.7%)
• 10 years after onset - 226 times more likely (2.4%)
• 15 years after onset - 283 times more likely (3.0%)

To put these numbers into a local perspective. . ." Aaron McClelland ". . . looks at school populations in the area where his therapeutic practice is located: The Okanagan Valley in British Columbia has three school districts; Okanagan/Skaha, Kelowna, and Vernon. Applying the statistics gathered in the above study to enrollment numbers for the 2011-2012 school year;
 
Vernon  School District 22 had 3907 students between the ages of 12-18 years enrolled. Of those;
 

• 660 will self-injure for an average of 21 months
   
• 277 will continue into adulthood
   
• 8 will complete suicide within 15 years of the onset of self-injury

Okanagan/Skaha School District 67 had 4025 students between the ages of 12-18 years enrolled.  Of those;

 
• 680 will self-injure for an average of 21 months
   
• 286 will continue into adulthood
   
• 8 will complete suicide within 15 years of the onset of self-injury

Kelowna School District 23 had 9426 students between the ages of 12-18 years enrolled. Of those;
 

• 1593 will self-injure for an average of  21 months
   
• 669 will continue into adulthood
   
• 20 will complete suicide within 15 years of the onset of self-injury
  

Looking at these numbers is tragic when – aside from the suicide risk - you also take
into account the years of pain and suffering these individuals will endure. And never doubt for a moment that those who self-injure for a prolonged period of time suffer torment as they enter into a cycle of self-loathing/shame, unbearable tension, overwhelming emotional distress, self-injury, and relief. Relief that once again leads to self-loathing or shame and begins the cycle once more."

Dr. Mary K. Nixon's study (above) from 2005 show 16.9% of adolescents self-harm. This means for every 10 adolescents you see 1 or 2 have, are, or will self-harm in their life-time and if the self-harming continues over a fifteen year period, 3% will complete suicide. This figure is from 2005 and the numbers increase each year. Why? 

Why are our youth suffering from overwhelming emotional burdens?