Deliberate self-harm is one of the common psychiatric emergencies in medical practice, and bipolar disorder carries one of the highest risks for self-harm among various other psychiatric and physical disorders. The relationship between self-harm and bipolar disorder and its risk factors has not been sufficiently studied in Pakistan and remains an area of investigation elsewhere. The objective of our study was to determine the frequency and factors associated with deliberate self-harm in patients with bipolar disorder.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in the outpatient department of psychiatry of a tertiary care hospital in Lahore, Pakistan, from May 2020 to April 2021. A total of 165 patients living with bipolar disorder, between the ages of 15 and 65 years, were included in our study. The diagnosis was in accordance with the criteria in International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision (ICD-11). Deliberate self-harm was defined as a non-fatal act in which an individual deliberately causes self-injury or ingests a substance in excess of any prescribed or generally recognized dosage. This was assessed through history (during last 6 months) and physical examination performed by the psychiatrist.

Sociodemographic variables like age, gender, educational status, marital status and employment status, and the clinical variable of treatment compliance, were documented. The data were recorded and analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. The association of above factors with the presence of self-harm in our study participants was then explored with Pearson Chi-Square test. The p-value of less than 0.05 was considered as significant.

Out of 165 cases included in the study, 62.42% (n = 103) were male and 37.58% (n = 62) were females. The frequency of deliberate self-harm in bipolar disorder was 35.15%. In terms of association, only female gender was found to have a statistically significant relationship (p-value <0.001) with the presence of self-harm in our study.

We concluded that deliberate self-harm is a common finding in cases of bipolar disorder in Pakistan. Additionally, vulnerable subgroups, such as female patients in this study, should receive more clinical attention and safeguarding support.