​Penumbra says young people seeking help from different places makes it difficult to accurately calculate the increase

A report revealing that the number of children admitted to hospital for self-harming has doubled over the past five years has been described as the tip of the iceberg by a Scottish mental health charity.

The BBC study claimed last year 563 under-18s in Scotland were admitted for self-harm.

NHS Grampian reported the most admissions with 141 but Ayrshire and Arran, Shetland and the Highlands reported the number of teenage admissions doubling in the time period.

Penumbra chief executive Nigel Henderson said the number of referrals to it have increased by 166% in the past five years but warned many young people choose to suffer in silence for fear of being stigmatised, or do not know where to turn to.

He said: "Young people who do seek help may approach A&E departments, their GP, staff at their school or college, or specific mental health services for support and this makes it very difficult to accurately record the overall number of people who self-harm.

Young people who do seek help may approach A&E departments, their GP, staff at their school or college, or specific mental health services for support and this makes it very difficult to accurately record the overall number of people who self-harm

"Problems at school, parental pressure to succeed or feeling of low self-esteem, alongside changes in local authorities' services, welfare reform and local youth unemployment, may all have had an impact on the figures."

Henderson said although government policy encouraged a preventative or early intervention approach, cuts to local authorities and the NHS meant they had to focus on people in crisis or requiring substantial support.

He added: "We have seen some funding for preventative services being withdrawn across Scotland and there is no sign of a demonstrable shift to more preventative or early intervention approaches.

"This is primarily due to the reduction in funding for local authorities."

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government acknowledged demand for services from young people is increasing and said funding for mental health services had been protected.

"There has been a significant investment of £16.9 million since 2009 to deliver faster access to specialist child and adolescent mental health services.

"We have also announced an additional £15m to be invested over the next three years, part of which will be used to increase the workforce in this area."