Human rights lawyer Michael Mansfield QC is calling for major changes to the way suicidal people and their loved ones are supported, on the eve of an inquest into his daughter’s death.
Anna Mansfield, 44, killed herself in May after being diagnosed with depression. She visited her GP the day before she died and explained that she was feeling depressed but Mansfield said she was not asked about whether she felt suicidal.
“I knew that Anna was troubled, but I had no idea that this is what was on her mind. 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,” he said. “We need to start talking about what the signs of suicide are and look at where the fault lines exist.”
The most recent figures available from the Office of National Statistics show an increase in the number of suicides in the UK: there were 6,233 suicides of people over the age of 15 in 2013, 252 more than in 2012, which represents a 4% increase.
Mansfield said his daughter’s rapid downward spiral in a matter of weeks before her death had alerted him to the very fine line between coping and not coping with life.
“Anna was a marvellously energetic young woman, generous, inclusive and very loving towards her children,” he said. “She lived life to the full and always put others before herself. If this happened to her we are all vulnerable.”
Mansfield’s grief has prompted him to call for more training for GPs and other health professionals to help them spot signs that someone is suicidal as well as launching a new initiative to encourage people to talk about suicide.
Mansfield and his partner, Yvette Greenway, have set up a new forum called SOS – Silence On Suicide, following Anna’s death. Its aim is to encourage people to talk about suicide.
“It’s important for those affected by suicide to share their thoughts and feelings,” said Mansfield. “We want to get people talking about this. Everywhere you go you find someone who has been touched by this.
“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.”
A network of forums are planned following a successful opening event this year. A drop-in centre in Sandwell, in the West Midlands, will open on Christmas Day, a time when some people with mental health problems may feel particularly isolated, in partnership with the mental health charity Kaleidoscope Plus.
Mansfield has acted in many high-profile inquests, recently representing the family of Mark Duggan and currently many relatives of victims of the Hillsborough disaster. The inquest into Anna Mansfield’s death will take place at Barnet coroner’s court, where the Duggan inquest began in 2013.
“It will be particularly poignant for me to be sitting in the court I sat in at the beginning of Mark Duggan’s inquest and realising every single minute that the name of the person the coroner will be talking about is my daughter’s,” Mansfield said.
“If Anna was sitting in front of me now I think she would say: ‘Look dad, I made a decision, it may not be the decision you want but I don’t want you to be so worn down by grief because of what I did that your life ends.’ I want to do something positive so that Anna’s death was not in vain, even in death making the point she made in life about reaching out to others. The work I am trying to do now to raise awareness about suicide is about reaching out on Anna’s behalf.”
In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. Hotlines in other countries can be found here
