Insomnia battle ended in tragedy
Man of ‘immense potential’ took his own life
AYOUNG man who fell into a ‘mental health spiral’ after a bout of insomnia took his own life with a chemical becoming ‘increasingly’ responsible for suicide cases, his inquest has heard.
David Marsden was a ‘vibrant, motivated’ 22-year-old with an ‘immense amount of potential.’
He excelled at school and enjoyed learning science, leading to the start of his career as a medical lab assistant in his hometown of Stockport, at Stepping Hill Hospital.
But within months, having had no prior mental health concerns, he found himself an inpatient on the mental health ward at the very same hospital - all triggered by a few nights of insomnia while on holiday with his family.
David’s family has paid tribute to him in the wake of the shocking loss, saying. His mother, Fiona Marsden, said: “David was such a caring boy so if any lessons can be learned that will help other people that’s what he would have wanted.
“It has been extremely difficult to relive the suffering he endured but it was vital to us that his story was heard at this level and investigated so thoroughly.”
Over the course of a fiveday inquest at Manchester South Coroners’ Court, evidence was heard about how David became enveloped in a frightening depression, fixated on his inability to get proper sleep.
The problems began in June of 2019, on a family holiday where their lives would change beyond recognition.
David, along with his close loved ones, took a summer holiday trip to Jamaica.
The holiday was hoped to be a happy memory for the group.
The trip soon turned into a nightmare.
David, who was sharing a room with his mother, said he was being kept awake by his mum’s ‘snoring,’ the court heard.
After a number of nights of disrupted sleep, David’s mum says he appeared to have a ‘breakdown’ and decided to cut his holiday short.
David caught a flight home on his own in the hopes of ‘getting back to his routine,’ heard the court.
Far from getting back to his regular pattern, family and medics told of how the young man fell into a ‘vicious cycle,’ becoming so anxious about his normal life ‘slipping away from him’ that he became increasingly mentally unwell.
David began saying he ‘should never have gone on holiday’ as he blamed the trip for sparking these problems, including being signed off from work and unable to drive due to medications he had been prescribed to curtail his depressive, anxious and insomnia-filled episodes.
Rapidly, he continued to deteriorate, getting to the point where he began researching suicide methods, saying as many as ‘30 times a day’ that he wanted to die and that he ‘wished he could take a pill, go to sleep and not wake up.’
Eventually, David became ‘manic,’ pacing around the house and crying, the court was told.
His mum Fiona said: “David would be on the floor, clutching my knees, begging me to help him kill himself.”
David’s desperate mum took her son to his GP and A&E on numerous occasions, but David was resistant to treatment for fear he would become ‘addicted’ to medications, or that treatment plans simply would not cure his problems.
When he was finally admitted to a psychiatric ward at Stepping Hill on October 16, 2019, he received treatment his mother claims was ‘dehumanising.’
Fiona slammed Norbury Ward, run by Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, during her testimony in court, saying through tears: “The ward environment was not what I or David expected. It added to his lack of self-worth.
“He was in hospital to be cared for, treated to get better. It was a place where he was secure and safe from harming himself.
“But there were occasions when I witnessed him being referred to as number B22, because for some care assistants it was easier to remember his room number than his name.
“On another occasion, I was sat with David and asked for a plain envelope which I knew they would have as there was an office on the ward. The care assistant looked down their nose and said no.
“David looked at me as if to say, ‘look, see.’
“The care assistant said ‘who are you?’ I replied that I was David’s mum and that I’d come to see him.
“The care assistant said ‘oh, sorry, I thought you were one of the patients.’
“This was the treatment that was supposed to help him get better.
“Each ward round, David was insisting he wanted to go home and that he needed to be at home to sleep and get better.
“I felt a lot of pressure was put on me to agree to that and so I did, because what kind of mother would I be if I wanted to keep my son there, knowing how little care and compassion he was being treated with.”
Nevertheless, after some weeks spent in hospital and some ‘marginal’ improvements as he began consistently taking medication, David was allowed leave to stay back at home with his mum.
But by October 30, David’s health problems escalated again as he made an attempt on his life before being sent back to the Norbury Ward to be re-admitted.
Another round of treatment passed and David was again allowed to leave the ward to go to his house and collect a parcel before returning on November 19.
The following day, he was granted another week at home and was collected by his mum, whom he spent the evening with before she went to bed.
During the final ward round before being allowed to return home, doctors had been left a ‘mixed’ impression after David reported making plans for the upcoming Christmas period and no immediate plans to self-harm, heard the court,
However, Fiona had ‘expressed concern that her son was not making progress.’ Other staff also reported that David was still experiencing ‘negative thoughts.’
On the morning of November 21, Fiona found her son lying dead on their sofa.
Friday marked the final day of the inquest, with Coroner Christopher Morris returning a conclusion of suicide.
The coroner found that the parcel which David collected during his day of leave from hospital, which he said contained a Christmas present for a friend, actually contained a lethal substance, which the Express is not naming and is not illegal in the UK.
David died as a result of toxicity produced by ingesting the chemical, heard the court - a method which is worryingly ‘increasing nationally’ in suicide cases.
Speaking to David’s family in court, Mr Morris said: “David was a special young man, somebody that was vibrant, motivated and showed immense amounts of potential.
“He was central to your life as a family, you must miss him terribly.
“There is little as tragic as the death of such a young person before they have had a chance to reach their full potential.”
Mum Fiona shared memories of her tragic son, who she says ‘had no history of mental health problems and appeared happy and content to his family’: “David was a kind-hearted, caring and beautiful person who was always there for others.
“He helped many through their struggles including friends and family.
“He always knew the right thing to say to lift people up. He didn’t have a bad bone in his body and saw the goodness in everyone and everything.
“He did extremely well in school and his job and enjoyed going to the gym and spending time with family and friends.
“I don’t think anybody ever saw this coming.
“He was so good at helping others through their struggles you would never guess he would have ended up struggling himself.
“His family, friends, colleagues have all been left with a huge void that nothing or no one can ever fill.”