The number of teenage self-harmers is rising

A BBC survey of A&E staff found that two-thirds believed that cases were increasing, particularly around times of stress, such as examinations.

On average, staff said that they were seeing 10 cases a month - although one reported three a day during the exam period.

Most thought that the average age of self-harmers was falling.

One case recounted by staff involved a six-year-old boy who tried to hang himself after family problems.

Many A&E doctors said that while they could treat physical injuries caused by self-harm, a lack of trained child psychiatrists was hampering follow-up care.

Adolescents, in particular, they said, were a neglected group - too old for child wards, yet too young to be placed on adult wards.

One consultant told the BBC: "Adolescent psychiatry is a fledgling discipline - and there simply aren't enough of them to go around."

Angry feelings

The BBC spoke to one teenager, Sam Hunt, who has now managed to stop harming herself after a problem which lasted years.

She said: "There were lots of reasons why I did it - the main one was that I was really bullied at school.

"I was called really fat and it escalated into a huge problem"

"I was very angry with myself - you can either diet or cut yourself as a way of punishing yourself."

She used to cut herself with a razor blade hidden in a box under her bed - and cut herself sometimes on a daily basis.

I was very angry with myself - you can either diet or cut yourself as a way of punishing yourself Sam Hunt

When Sam's father Alan discovered she was self-harming, he tried to stop her by searching her bedroom, but could not find all her razors.

He said that doctors told him it was simply a phase: "The attitude was that it would go away.

"However, in the end, it was Sam who made it go away more than anyone else. She's done very well."

She has not harmed herself for three months, and is undergoing counselling and using writing as an outlet for the emotions which previously drove her to self-harm.

However, she still bears dozens of scars left over the razor cuts.