SECONDARY PREVENTION OF NONFATAL DELIBERATE SELF-HARM - THE GREEN CARD STUDY

In an attempt to address the low compliance with offers of treatment s hown by patients after episodes of non-fatal deliberate self-harm (DSH ), patients who had harmed themselves for the first time were offered rapid, easy access to on-call trainee psychiatrists in the event of fu rther difficulties, and they were encouraged to seek help at an early stage should such problems arise. The follow-up data obtained after on e year showed a significant reduction of actual or seriously threatene d DSH in the experimental group, who also made considerably less deman ds on medical and psychiatric services, when compared with controls.