Online torment of aspiring actor who killed herself
AN aspiring teenage actor took her own life a week after being assessed by the NHS as ‘no longer in crisis’ despite an earlier suicide attempt, an inquest heard.
Shante Stephenson, 19, had low self esteem about her career and her appearance, frequently looking at internet sites and comparing herself with her peers, the hearing was told.
She had recently lost her job at a clothing store and had been referred to an NHS crisis team but was discharged on June 22, five days before her death. She had tried to take her life earlier the same month.
The inquest at Walthamstow Coroners’ Court in east London was also told she was supposed to have medication delivered to her the day she died but it arrived two days late.
Her father Ian found her hanging at home after a friend who was staying with them returned from church without her.
The inquest heard the teenager had a history of anxiety and depression and attempted suicide a year before her death.
She was referred to Impart, a mental health team at Waltham Forest NHS trust, and spoke to consultant psychiatrist Dr William Travers. He said Shante seemed more ‘resigned’ to the fact that she had survived her first suicide attempt than ‘relieved’.
She next tried to take her life less than a year later on June 4. She was again referred to Impart, which had a series of meetings with her and discharged her on June 22, deeming her ‘no longer in crisis’.
Assistant coroner Ian Wade ruled that Shante’s death was a suicide, saying she had set herself ‘standards which were way beyond what any young person should impose on themselves’.
‘Anxiety and depression’