Caring for a suicidal loved one | Letters
by Letters from on (#3HJMD)
'I was given a leaflet on how to apply for benefits and "rewarded" with 10 yoga classes,' writes one woman, whose husband died last year. Plus Keir Harding questions the zero suicide policy
Amid the debate about the lack of care received by patients suffering from mental ill health, the impact this lack of care has on the "carers" must be considered (Report, 6 March).
My husband recently killed himself after six years of suffering from severe depression. Four years previously he had made a very serious suicide attempt. Despite this, he was returned home from hospital the very next day as "he was not suicidal". After 14 nightmare days he began to claw himself and was eventually admitted to a psychiatric ward. After three months on the ward, during which he had made a further suicide attempt and tried to escape on two occasions, he was discharged, still highly suicidal.
Continue reading...