Br J Psychiatry. 2026 Sep 14:1-3. doi: 10.1192/bjp.2026.10783. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
Self-harm among young people is rising worldwide and spreads through peer networks. We apply Tinbergen’s four questions – a framework from evolutionary biology applicable to all biological phenomena – to argue that group self-harm may be an ancient ritual process that has become dangerous when severed from the cultural structures that once contained it.
PMID:42734087 | DOI:10.1192/bjp.2026.10783
