A method for reporting self-harm according to level of injury and location on the body

Self-mutilation occurs on a continuum from superficial to severe, yet previous studies have not differentiated these acts. This study, conducted over 4 years with emotionally disturbed adolescents, presents a method for reporting four levels of severity of self-mutilation. A group of 32 subjects inflicted 128 self-mutilations. Each wound was rated for level of injury and was mapped according to the location of the wound on the body. This method for reporting self-mutilation was seen as an efficient and reliable procedure for describing the full continuum of self-inflicted injuries. The term self-harm was seen as a more accurate and useful description of these behaviors.