Statistics from Socialstyrelsen show self-harm among girls has sharply increased and doubled since 2015. Uppsala resident Rebecca Skott, 32, shares how she overcame long-term self-harm with support from others and professional help. Specialist psychologist Ylva Kuzmicki at Akademiska sjukhuset offers advice for relatives on providing support.
Updated statistics from Socialstyrelsen indicate that self-harm cases among girls aged 12–15 have sharply risen between 2015 and 2023, though the increase has somewhat plateaued in the last two years. Tens of thousands of people in Sweden are treated annually for self-harm behavior, with girls and women accounting for about 60 percent of cases. Rebecca Skott, 32, from Uppsala, lived with self-harm for many years but is now free from it. “I noticed the moment I felt good from doing it became shorter and shorter, and eventually it was replaced by anxiety,” she says. As a teenager, she lacked a safe space to express her feelings and used self-harm to fill an emotional void with physical pain. “It suggests many girls don't have a safe place to express themselves. It's frightening,” Skott says. She replaced the behavior with exercise, walks, and music, caught up on grades after dropping out of school, and now holds a master's degree. “It's important to understand that everything has its time – and you're not a failure just because you don't finish school at the same time as everyone else,” she emphasizes. Ylva Kuzmicki, specialist psychologist and department head at BUP at Uppsala's Akademiska sjukhuset, stresses the importance of support. “It's okay for relatives or loved ones to seek help; you're not meant to handle everything alone,” she says. SVT Nyheter reports on ways relatives can support those with self-harm behavior.
