Self-harm is not just attention-seeking: it's time to talk openly about the issue

There are a huge number of reasons why people choose to self-harm – and the more we discuss them, and the reasons behind them, the better, say experts in the run-up to Self-Harm Awareness DayThree years ago, with her parents and sisters out for dinner, then-13-year-old Lucy found herself alone in her family’s Lincolnshire home. Dressed in her pink Tinker Bell pyjamas, she began to make herself a cup of tea. Then she spotted an object on the kitchen counter that immediately diverted her atten