ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

A young person who has experienced self-harm has warned about the dangers of sharing images of self-harm online. The 21-year-old told ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 5 live how she became caught up in a group with hundreds of members who posted pictures of their self-harm on social media.

Emily said: "It became a competition about who could do it worse, who could do it more and it just made me feel worse and worse."

The images eventually became so disturbing she deleted her profile and got help from charities including YouthNet.

Chris Martin, CEO of YouthNet/Get Connected, told 5 live: "Sadly, imagery that can trigger self-harm in young people is still commonplace online. We believe that we have a collective responsibility to create safe online spaces to support those who have experience of self-harm."

The charity said it works closely with social media service providers to support those who access or stumble upon images of self-harm online.

ChildLine, which offers free and confidential help for young people in the UK, said it hears from young people whose need to self-harm is triggered from self-harming images they have viewed online.

This clip is originally from 5 live Afternoon Edition Tuesday 1st March

Show less