A recent study has shown that viewing and sharing self-injury videos have become very popular among young adults and teens. Researchers have shown their concern over the matter as this act may encourage non-suicidal self-harm.

A research conducted on this using YouTube's search option entering the keywords "self-injury" and "self-harm," found that the 100 most frequently-viewed videos received more than 2.3 million.

According to Stephen Lewis, PhD, of the University of Guelph in Ontario, and colleagues, these popular videos contain graphic depictions of cutting, burning, and self-embedding. Most of these popularly watched videos did not have the warnings about the content or viewing restrictions. Nearly 95% of these videos were uploaded by females with an average age of 25.

Researchers said that these non-suicidal self-injury videos on YouTube may increase the incidences of non suicidal self-injury among the regular viewers.

These videos may increase the incidences of non-suicidal self-injury repetitively among young adults and teens.

Past researches have shown that the thought of non suicidal self injury comes to the mind of 14% to 21% of teens and young adults which places them at a risk of interpersonal difficulties, elevated psychiatric symptoms, and even suicide.