Sharing – Can brief text messaging reduce repeat hospital-treated self-harm?

There is more research to be done, but I can’t stop thinking about this finding:

Overall, this study shows that a brief text message intervention could reduce the number of times that people return to hospital for treatment of repeat self-harm. The authors also state that “the 22% reduction in repetition of hospital-treated self-harm was clinically meaningful” (Stevens et al., 2024, p. 106). This is an important finding, given how easily implementable such an intervention could be, as it is brief and automated.

When someone gets an automated text that checks in with them on a regular basis, there is an apparent impact that is worth investigating more.

Just imagine what the impact could be if those texts were from friends. What if real people took a moment to check in more often?

I’m feeling a little guilty about this myself. I have some people I need to check in with more often.

https://www.nationalelfservice.net/mental-health/self-harm/self-harm-text-messaging-intervention/