Clinical Diagnostic and Sociocultural Dimensions of Deliberate Self-Harm in Mumbai, India

Patients' accounts complement psychiatric assessment of deliberate self‐harm (DSH). In this study we examined psychiatric disorders, and sociocultural and cross‐cultural features of DSH. SCID diagnostic interviews and a locally adapted EMIC interview were used to study 196 patients after DSH at a general hospital in Mumbai, India. Major depression was the most common diagnosis (38.8%), followed by substance use disorders (16.8%), but 44.4% of patients did not meet criteria for an enduring Axis‐I disorder (no diagnosis, V‐code, or adjustment disorder). Psychache arising from patient‐identified sociocultural contexts and stressors complements, but does not necessarily fulfill, criteria for explanatory psychiatric disorders.