A new campaign aimed at raising awareness of self harming has been launched.

Self harm is when someone cuts, hurts or injures themselves deliberately. For many, this behaviour is a way of coping with difficult or overwhelming feelings or situations. For example, some people self harm to deal with stress, sadness or depression. They can cope better with physical pain compared to emotional pain.

According to the most up-to-date figures available from the National Suicide Research Foundation, in 2014, 11,126 people presented to Emergency Departments with self-harm injuries.

However, it is widely acknowledged that the true figures relating to self harm are probably much higher as many people will hide their behaviour and never present to hospital.

The new campaign, #KnowSelfHarm, has been launched by spunout.ie, Ireland's youth information website. It aims to help people who are harming themselves, but it also challenges some of the common myths and misconceptions surrounding self-harm.

Common myths include:
-Only young people self harm
-Only girls self harm
-People who self harm are attention seekers
-Self harming refers to cutting only.

"From talking to mental health experts and young people who self harm, we know that a lack of understanding and misinformation is adding to the problem. Self harm often happens in secret with people being reluctant to tell anyone or seek help," spunout.ie said.

For more information on self-harm, including how to help others who may be harming themselves, click here