New figures show that the number of children and young people hospitalised for self-harming has risen sharply in the last decade.

The number of girls and women aged under 25 admitted to hospital in the past ten years has risen by 44 per cent to more than 26,270 in 2010-11.

Among boys and men of the same age, the future has leapt by a third to 11,656.

The rise in hospital admissions has been steepest among women aged 17 to 25, rising by 50 per cent between 2001 and 2011.

The figures are for hospitals in England only and the Department of Health admits that "only a fraction" of cases of self-harm are seen in hospitals, so the true scale of the problem may be much larger.

Separate figures released last week show 40,000 under-25s were rushed to A&E in 2009-10 after self-harming, up from 36,000 in 2007-08.

According to officials, an episode of self-harm is often triggered by an argument or some other upset, but can also be linked to bullying, low self-esteem or worries about sexual orientation.

Lucia Russell, the director of campaigns, policy and participation at YoungMinds, a charity which is working with the Government to redesign mental-health services for children, says: "Self-harm is often dismissed as merely attention-seeking behaviour, but it's a sign that young people are feeling terrible internal pain and are not coping."

Earlier this year the Government launched a new strategy, No Health Without Mental Health, to tackle the problem - and has promised £32million to improve access to psychological therapies for children and young people over the next four years.

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Source: Ceri Roberts, lifestyle.aol.co.uk