Download all data pages
PDF 8.4Mb
Data

Intentional self-harm hospitalisations by method

Understanding the methods used for intentional self-harm can play an important role in its prevention. These data are provided to inform discussion around restriction of access to means as a policy intervention for the prevention of suicide and self-harm.

Please consider your need to read the following information. If this material raises concerns for you or if you need immediate assistance, please contact a crisis support service, available free of charge, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Please consider the Mindframe guidelines if reporting on these statistics.

The classification system used to code hospital admissions data, ICD-10-AM, uses the term ‘mechanism’ to refer to the external cause of a self-inflicted injury. Throughout Suicide & self-harm monitoring ‘mechanism’ has been used in data visualisations, while the term ‘method’ has been used in the accompanying text.

Hospitalisations data for patients with intentional self-harm injuries includes those with and without suicidal intent. For further information see Technical notes.

The line graph shows the age-specific rates of intentional self-harm hospitalisations for persons of all ages from 2008–09 to 2022–23 by method of self-harm. Users can also choose to view age-specific rates, numbers, and proportions of hospitalisations for intentional self-harm by sex for each age group.

Most intentional self-harm hospitalisations are due to poisoning by pharmaceutical drugs

Between 2008–09 and 2022–23, the 2 most common methods of self-harm resulting in hospitalisation were intentional self-poisoning by anti-epileptic, sedative-hypnotic, antiparkinsonism and psychotropic drugs, not elsewhere classified (benzodiazepines are included in this category) (X61) and intentional self-poisoning by nonopioid analgesics, antipyretics and antirheumatics (X60):

  • intentional self-poisoning by anti-epileptic, sedative-hypnotic, antiparkinsonism and psychotropic drugs, not elsewhere classified (X61), was responsible for 37% of intentional self-harm hospitalisations in 2022–23.
    • In 2022–23, 6,243 females were hospitalised as a result of this method of self-harm, compared to 2,891 males. This is more than 2 times as many hospitalisations among females compared to males in 2022–23.
  • intentional self-poisoning by nonopioid analgesics, antipyretics and antirheumatics (X60), which was responsible for 22% of intentional self-harm hospitalisations in 2022–23.
    • This category includes anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen, antipyretics (for example, aspirin and paracetamol) and anti-rheumatics (some of which are used to treat arthritis).
    • More than 3 times as many hospitalisations were among females due to this method of self-harm in 2022–23 compared to male hospitalisations (4,291 and 1,112 hospitalisations, respectively).

Contact with sharp objects (X78) was another common method of self-harm resulting in hospitalisation.

  • This method of self-inflicted injury accounted for 13% of all intentional self-harm hospitalisations in 2022–23, with more hospitalisations among females than males (1,864 and 1,402 hospitalisations, respectively).

Hanging (X70), Gas (X67) and Other cause (X71–X77, X79, X80-X84, Y87.0) were the only methods of intentional self-harm that resulted in more male than female hospitalisations overall in 2022–23 (448 and 278 hospitalisations due to hanging, 114 and 38 hospitalisations due to gas, and 581 and 467 hospitalisation due to other cause, respectively).

Previous page Next page