Clinical utility of proposed non-suicidal self-injury diagnosis—a pilot study

In the forthcoming fifth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), a new diagnosis is proposed: non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). To test its clinical utility in a pilot study, NSSI criteria were assessed in 39 young psychiatric outpatients with self-harm behavior. There were no differences between the NSSI (n = 18) and the non-NSSI (n = 21) groups concerning other diagnoses, including borderline personality disorder (BPD) (22% vs. 24%). However, NSSI patients had more suicidal behavior than non-NSSI patients. This pilot study indicates that the NSSI diagnosis is different from BPD, but it does not delimit suicidal behavior.