title: Proposal for a distinctive diagnosis: the deliberate self-harm syndrome (DSH).
abstract: Self-destructive behavior is a major clinical problem in psychiatry. A review of the literature reveals the existence of enough clinical data to identify a diagnostic entity, "The Deliberate Self-Harm Syndrome" (DSH). The authors present a diagnostic formulation of the DSH syndrome (in the DSM-III format) which consists of four essential clinical features, a group of associated features, clinical features, a group of associated features, a clinical course of typical onset in late adolescence, with multiple recurrent episodes, with multiple methods of low lethality physical self-injury, extending over many years. On the basis of relatively exclusive association of clinical signs and symptoms a heuristic clinical entity is proposed.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D012306:Risk; D012652:Self Mutilation / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology*