About three people are admitted to hospital every day after harming themselves and psychiatrist Anton Grech insists such cases must be taken seriously as they could lead to death.

Research showed that one per cent of those who deliberately self-harmed – also known as parasuicide – died by the following year, most probably from another episode of self-harm that went wrong, Dr Grech said.

With an average of three such cases being seen daily at hospital, which adds up to a 100 in a month, there could be 12 fatal attempts the following year. At times, as many as five cases were admitted in a day.

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