Self-harm is skyrocketing among teen girls

An alarming number of teenage girls are admitted to hospital for self-harm, the Daily Mail reported.

According to the report, the rates have more than doubled in the past 20 years.

Data from hospital admissions for self-harm patients in the UK shows:

* 13,463 girls were admitted in 2017 from 7,327 in 1997.
 * 2332 boys were admitted in 2017 from 2,236 in 1997.

Pressures of today's world that include body-image issues due to social media and stress to perform well in school could be some of the reasons, psychiatrists believe.

"I think there are a range of factors putting pressure on young children - academic pressures, exam pressures, social media... with fear of missing out and comparing yourself unfavourably to images you see online," Vice-chairman of the child and adolescent faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Jon Goldin, told the Times.

A spokesman for UK's National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) says the data calls for urgent action to be taken to prevent a child from reaching a crisis point.

"These heart-breaking figures are sadly unsurprising. We know from contacts to Childline that many children are being driven to self-harm as a way of dealing with the pressures and demands of modern-day life," the NSPCC spokesman is quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.