Study: Self-injury in young people is a gateway to suicide ByTed Boscia

Overall, findings support the idea that NSSI may serve as a “gateway” for concurrent or later STB and more serious SB and underscore the need for early NSSI response and intervention. NSSI is rarely cited in empirical suicide research as a notable STB risk factor and is often dismissed as adolescent attention seeking behavior of generally low concern when unaccompanied by other clinical markers [3,9,11]. Including NSSI assessments as part of routine medical and health screenings in adolescent and young adult populations may be one way to identify young people at risk for STB. It also reinforces the call for STB assessment when NSSI is present [3,5] and for periodic STB assessment even for individuals who have tested negative for STB in the past or who are not currently engaging in NSSI.


http://www.selfinjury.bctr.cornell.edu/perch/resources/gateway.pdf