Mental Health - September 2009

Self-harm vs. suicide

There’s a difference between wanting to kill yourself and simply wanting to harm yourself… and the law recognises it

Just because you cut yourself, or burn yourself or bruise yourself, that doesn’t mean you want to die. Practitioners have long understood the distinction and now, it seems judges understand it too.

Mr P has a long history of self-harm: he has placed foreign objects in his mouth and used them to open up old wounds, he has exposed tendons in his feet and hands, and he has inserted matchsticks and glass into his penis. For 15 months, he was detained in a young offenders’ institution, and when he came out, he asked for an inquiry to be held concerning the care he received there.

Mr P’s request was turned down by the Justice Secretary, and that decision has been upheld by the High Court and, now, the Court of Appeal. One reason is his own self-harming behaviour: the court said it was just that and not the same as attempted suicide. And because it is only suicide, or near-suicide, that actually demands an inquiry, one need not be held in this case (R (P) v The Secretary of State for Justice [2009] EWCA Civ 701).

Self-harm and the ways of addressing it are poorly understood by the general public as much as by the courts, so practitioners may find the reason for this particular decision reassuring.