Rates of eating disorder diagnoses and self-harm “substantially increased” among teenage girls in the UK during the first two years of COVID-19 lockdowns, according to a new study. Social isolation, anxiety resulting from changing routines, and school shutdowns contributed to increases in eating disorder diagnoses and self-harm in young girls, but the affected number could…

Online encouragement of self-harm will be criminalised under an updated version of the Online Safety Bill, the UK government has said. Culture secretary Michelle Donelan said the update would create a new offence that would target communications that encourage someone to physically harm themselves, making it illegal to do so, and bringing it in line…

“Negative effects of online content” was a contributing factor in the death of a British school girl who took her own life in 2017, a coroner concluded on Friday. Coroner Andrew Walker, who made the conclusion, said the ruling is “the first time” that “tech platforms have been formally held responsible for the death of…

Dean, a 14-year-old girl, has a 3-inch by 8-inch scar on her hip. It’s usually numb with nerve damage but when pressed, it sometimes flares up with shooting pain. Every time the weather gets warm enough to go to the beach, it makes her feel embarrassed. Dean made this scar, one small act at a…

One-third of Australian teenagers, particularly girls, have considered self-harm over the last 12 months, a concerning trend in light of worsening mental health in the COVID-19 pandemic. Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children is a major ongoing study that has followed 10,000 young Australians and their families since 2003. In its…