The majority who had ever self-harmed had done so at least twice in the last year, with one quarter having self-harmed 6 times or more in that time period. Self-cutting was the most common method in both genders, but girls were more likely to have taken an overdose compared to boys. Those who self-harmed with a desire to die were also more likely to have taken an overdose, compared to those who did not express a desire to die. A range of reasons were given for the most recent self-harm, the commonest being to gain relief from terrible feelings followed by a desire to punish oneself, with one quarter wanting to die. Just under half of those who had ever self-harmed felt better after the last time, although this percentage was lower among those who had wanted to die. Feeling better subsequently was associated linearly with frequency of self-harm; the increasing rewards in terms of positive affect may help explain why many individuals self-harm with greater and greater frequency. Nevertheless, those who frequently self-harmed were a high risk group and
