Editing Self-harm (section)

===Developing world===

Only recently have attempts to improve health in the developing world concentrated on not only physical illness but also mental health.<ref name="Eddleston98">{{cite journal |vauthors=Eddleston M, Sheriff MH, Hawton K |title=Deliberate self harm in Sri Lanka: an overlooked tragedy in the developing world |journal=BMJ |volume=317 |issue=7151 |pages=133–135 |date=July 1998 |pmc=1113497 |doi=10.1136/bmj.317.7151.133 |pmid=9657795}}</ref> Deliberate self-harm is common in the developing world. Research into self-harm in these areas is however, still very limited. Though an important case study is that of Sri Lanka, which is a country exhibiting a high incidence of suicide<ref>Ministry of Health. Annual health bulletin, Sri Lanka, 1995. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Ministry of Health (1997)</ref> and self-poisoning with agricultural [[pesticide]]s or natural poisons.<ref name="Eddleston98"/> Many people admitted for deliberate self-poisoning during a study by Eddleston ''et al.''<ref name="Eddleston98"/> were young and few expressed a desire to die, but death was relatively common in the young in these cases. The improvement of medical management of acute poisoning in the developing world is poor and improvements are required in order to reduce mortality.

Some of the causes of deliberate self-poisoning in Sri Lankan adolescents included [[grief|bereavement]] and harsh discipline by parents. The coping mechanisms are being spread in local communities as people are surrounded by others who have previously deliberately harmed themselves or attempted suicide.<ref name="Eddleston98"/> One way to reduce self-harm would be to limit access to poisons; however many cases involve pesticides or yellow [[Nerium oleander|oleander]] seeds, and the reduction of access to these agents would be difficult. Great potential for the reduction of self-harm lies in education and prevention, but limited resources in the developing world ultimately make these methods challenging.<ref name="Eddleston98"/>