Parents and teachers are now on alert after a worrying new hashtag spread amongst teenage Twitter users.

Depressed One Direction fans were shocked after Zayn Malik, 22, announced that he was leaving the pop group in the middle of their mammoth world tour.

Despite the group vowing to continue as a four-piece, fans have started to use extremely worrying and dangerous methods to cope with their pain.

Hashtag ‘#cut4zayn’ is being used amongst teenage One Direction lovers to encourage self-harm in an attempt to show their support for the ex-boy band member, as well as show their sorrow over Zayn’s departure.

The youngsters are then posting images of their mutilated arms on social media, with some of the image showing dozens of bloody cuts.

The pictures are often being used as an attempt to ‘prove their love’ for the troubled pop star.

Some of the images and videos are shockingly too disturbing to include in this article.

One disturbed fan shared an image of her wrists, writing: "The faster you cut your wrists that faster Zayn comes back. Do it please!"

Another shared their own horrifying pictures, captioning it with: "I can't believe he's left the band I want to die"

Some fans spoke out against the trend, with one teen writing: “Self harm is no joke. Its a serious issue that many struggle with & should not be mocked or abused.”

A Directioner pleaded: “Please don't #cut4zayn. He don't want to see us like this. Be a smart fans!” whilst another wrote: “#Cut4Zayn is a hashtag that both glorifies self harm and emotionally blackmails the singer you claim to care about. Please stop.”

One boy band fan suggested that fans ‘stay clean for Zayn’ , writing: ‘How about instead of #Cut4Zayn we #stayclean4zayn”

If you or your child are struggling with self-harm and/or depression, you can contact Young Minds on 0808 802 5544 or Mind on 0300 123 3393.