title: From psychiatric symptom to diagnostic category: self-harm from the Victorians to DSM-5.
abstract: It is rare that a symptom becomes a disease entity. 'Self-harm' is now a full-fledged diagnostic category for DSM-5. The existing literature of the topic posits that it is a trans-historical psychiatric category and that examples of self-harm can be found from the earliest written records, which is part of the underlying argument for its inclusion in DSM-5. But how old is self-harm and indeed what defines 'self-harm' historically and culturally?
authors.affiliation: Emory University,  Atlanta, USA.
authors.forename: Sander L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Gilman
keywords: Body modification; cutting; non-suicidal self-injury; self-harm; self-mutilation