Self harm refers to people deliberately hurting their bodies. Common types of self harm among young people include cutting (e.g. cutting the skin on arms, wrists or thighs), burning the skin, picking at wounds or scars, self hitting, or deliberately overdosing on medication, drugs or other substances that cause harm. About 10% of adolescents say they have self harmed at some point in their lives. For some young people self harm is a one-off event, but for others it becomes a repeated behaviour that can be hard to change.