The annual report published by the Mental Health Information Systems Unit of the Health Research Board, Activities of Irish psychiatric units and hospitals 2019,¹ shows that the rate of new admissions to inpatient care for alcohol disorders has decreased.

The annual report from National Self-Harm Registry Ireland was published in 2020.¹ The report contains information relating to every recorded presentation of deliberate self-harm to acute hospital emergency departments in Ireland in 2019 and complete national coverage of cases treated. All individuals who were alive on admission to hospital following deliberate self-harm were included, along with the methods of deliberate self-harm that were used. Accidental overdoses of medication, street drugs, or alcohol were not included.

High rates of self-harm are consistently seen among young people in Ireland and other countries. The incidence of hospital-presenting self-harm peaks among young people, who most often engage in intentional drug overdose (IDO). In addition, the risk of self-harm repetition is also high among young people, with several countries reporting increases in youth self-harm since 2017.^1,2,3 These trends are of concern, considering the association between self-harm and increased risk of suicide in young people, with repeated self-harm further elevating this risk. However, little is known about patterns of repetition and method-switching following IDO among young people.