Self-harm and suicide have now become the third leading cause for loss of life after cancer and heart disease in all age groups. And among all the European countries, the UK has the highest self-harm rates.

According to a recent report of a government-funded health watchdog, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, some 170,000 - mostly teenagers and young adults in England and Wales - are admitted to hospital emergency rooms each year with self-inflicted injuries. "The problem is spreading." Marjorie Wallace, head of the mental health charity 'SANE' said.

"We are not just talking about young girls cutting themselves anymore; they were using brutal methods such as gouging their flesh or drinking acid. We need A&E departments to be more alert to the potential risks and prevent the vicious cycle of relief by painful self-harm." Wallace said.

The report stresses that "self-harmers" should be treated with the same care, respect and privacy as any other patient.

Dr Tim Kendall, a consultant psychiatrist and co-director of the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, said: "Few people providing care in casualty understand why people self-harm and don't know how to help them effectively."

The risk of committing suicide after harming oneself is 100 times greater than the average risk in the population. It is estimated that 80,000 of those who attend casualty each year because they have self-harmed never receive any psychological assessment or follow-up.

The study was compiled as a guideline for the National Health Service in England and Wales and recommends "physical, psychological and social assessment" of people within 48 hours of self-harm.

Other treatments in the quick reference include:

• People who have self-harmed should be offered treatment for the physical consequences of self-harm, regardless of their willingness to accept
  psychosocial assessment or psychiatric treatment.
  
  
• Adequate anaesthesia and/or analgesia should be offered to people who have self-injured throughout the process of suturing or other painful treatments.
  
  
• Staff should provide full information about the treatment options, and make all efforts necessary to ensure that someone who has self-harmed can give, and has the opportunity to give, meaningful and informed consent before any and each procedure (for example, taking the person to hospital by ambulance) or treatment is initiated.