Self-Injurious Behaviour

The principle of non-violence has not been consistently extended to self-directed harm. Self-harm was the most common diagnosis and accounted for 53% of admissions. Self-injurious behaviour consists of repetitive bodily harm without suicidal intent. Internal self-harm becomes invisible because harmful conduct has become widely normalized. People can commit violence against themselves through normalized behaviors. Automatically maintained SIB persists independently of social reinforcement and is associated with more severe injury and poorer intervention response. SIB can be socially maintained when social events and reinforcers modulate the behaviour. Self-harm drove the highest aggregate cost primarily because of its large admission volume. Self-harm required special identification because it is not recorded as a primary admission reason in Hospital Episode Statistics. A subgroup of children with severe refractory SIB may need protective equipment or physical restraint to prevent harm. Severe SIB can cause serious injury, permanent disability, or death in people with neurodevelopmental disorders. Consuming junk food is presented as a form of self-directed harm that damages health…