Extreme challenges: psychiatric inpatients with severe self-harming behavior in Norway: a national screening investigation.

Background: Extreme self-harming behavior is a major challenge for patients and health services. Nevertheless, this patient population is poorly described in research literature.

Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the volume of patients with extensive psychiatric hospitalization due to extreme self-harming behaviors, the extent of severe medical sequelae, and collaboration problems within health services.