Can psychological therapies help people who self-harm?

Latest Cochrane research has found that psychological therapies, more commonly known as ‘talking treatments’, may help people who self-harm.Self-harm is intentional self-poisoning or self-injury. Many people who are admitted to hospital because of this are at an increased risk of self-harming again and of suicide.  It is a major problem in many countries, leads to high levels of distress for patients and their families and friends, and places significant demands on health services.Psychosocial interventions could involve specific psychological therapies as well as maintaining support and contact with patients. Psychological therapies are usually a type of ‘talking treatment’. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), a specific type of psychological therapy, focuses on how a patient’s beliefs and attitudes affect their feelings and behaviour, and aims to help them respond to and deal with their problems.This updated Cochrane Review, published today in the Cochrane Library, evaluates the evidence about a range of psychosocial interventions for adults who self-harm. The review includes 55 trials, where a total of 17,699 participants were randomized to receive either a psychosocial intervention or the care they would normally have received.A range of interventions were used. The most commonly evaluated were CBT-based psychological therapies. In most of the CBT studies, therapy was delivered to patients, one-to-one, in fewer than 10 sessions. Some of the other interventions...
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