The information here is not intended as a substitute for medical advice, and if you are in any doubt we strongly advise you to seek professional help through NHS 111 , 999 or going to your nearest A&E department.

We always encourage people to seek medical help for self-harm if needed, however, we also want to be realistic and recognise that many people do not seek help for self-harm and that currently there are a range of reasons why people may choose to treat self-harm themselves.

We have put together some information on:

• self advocacy when seeking treatment
• first aid and knowing when it is essential to seek medical treatment
• distractions and displacement from self-harm
• harm minimisation
• exploring alternatives to self-harm

And will be adding information over the following weeks on:

• useful resources

This information is not being provided instead of using our usual support services – we are here and we want to support you, so please contact us for emotional support.

We sincerely hope that some of this information is useful and want to remind everyone reading this that they are worthy of support and treatment for any reason, because we all matter.

We have received clear messages from the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Royal College of Emergency Medicine that if you need treatment for self-harm you should still go to A&E or minor injuries units.

The most common message we are hearing from A&E staff right now is that they have noticed fewer people coming to A&E for self-harm treatment and are worried about those people and what they are doing instead.