Alcohol and Substance Use May Increase the Risk for Self-harm
People who self-harm may be more likely to use or abuse drugs and alcohol (e.g., Taylor et al., 1999). In fact, about 25% of people who self-harm report substantial problems related to alcohol use.
Not only do people who self-harm tend to have a history of use or misuse of drugs and alcohol, but substances may also be related to self-harm in the moment. Almost half of people who go to the emergency room for self-harm consumed alcohol prior to the self-harm (Horrocks et al., 2003). This may be more likely to be the case for men than women (Hawton et al., 2003).
