Daughter inspires Mansfield’s plea for the suicidal
The human rights lawyer Michael Mansfield, QC, called for suicidal people to be supported differently ahead of the opening of an inquest into his daughter’s death today.
Anna Mansfield was 44 when she died in May. She had been diagnosed with depression.
Mr Mansfield believes changes should be made to the support networks set up for people with suicidal thoughts, and their families involved.
He said his daughter explained during a visit to her GP that she was feeling depressed, but was not asked whether she had been feeling suicidal or felt such thoughts. “I knew that Anna was troubled, but I had no idea that this is what was on her mind,” Mr Mansfield told The Guardian. “We had been due to meet on the Sunday, two days after she died, to see if together we could sort out some of the current pressures in her life. The NHS needs to do more to support people at risk of taking their lives. We need to start talking about what the signs of suicide are and look at where the fault lines exist.”
Mr Mansfield explained a rapid decline in his daughter’s health. He said it highlighted a thin line between coping and not and feels GPs and other medical professionals should be given more training in spotting the signs of suicide.
Recent figures from the Office of National Statistics detail an increase in suicides in the UK. In 2013, 6,233 people over the age of 15 killed themselves – a rise from 252 from the year before.
After Ms Mansfield died, Mr Mansfield and his partner, Yvette Greenway, set up a forum called Silence on Suicide (SOS), which aims to urge people of all ages talk more openly about their feelings and potentially dangerous tendencies.
Mr Mansfield added: “We need serious changes in accessibility to mental health services so that people are not ashamed about seeking help.
“I am not just talking about psychiatric hospitals but about the mental pressure on so many people to get from one end of the day to the other.”
Mr Mansfield, who’s led numerous high-profile inquests and represented the family of Mark Duggan, will be present at his daughter’s, which will be held at Barnet coroner’s court.