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Huntington, St Ives and St Neots News and Crier
Published: 27/07/2012 09:43 – Updated: 27/07/2012 11:40
Written by Julian Makey
A teenager who hanged herself had been “desperate” for help with her problems, an inquest has heard. Chantelle Garside, 16, had ‘wanted to turn things around.’
But Chantelle Garside had not wanted to take part in therapy sessions, which adolescent specialists thought were the best treatment for her.
The 16-year-old, of Elm Close, Huntingdon, was found hanged in her room by her mother and attempts to revive her were unsuccessful.
Coroner David Morris recorded a verdict that the Hinchingbrooke School pupil had taken her own life while experiencing acute adolescent difficulties.
After the hearing, Chantelle’s mother Jane Hector said she was happy with the verdict, adding: “She was just a teenager who was really suffering. Now she is at peace and is not suffering any more.
“If Chantelle’s death means that lessons are learnt from it then her death will not have been in vain.”
Miss Hector, who wants to help other troubled teenagers, urged young people to speak up about their problems.
She said her daughter would have been amazed at the respect shown to her by friends at her funeral and in comments on Facebook.
The inquest heard that she had been diagnosed with depression in January 2011 after suffering relationship problems, bullying and the death of an uncle.
She had also made suicide attempts and was self-harming and was seeing an adolescent mental health team which considered she had “emotional dysregulation” rather than clinical depression.
Dr Sathye Abraham said: “I was seeing a girl who wanted to turn things around. I did not feel she was an immediate risk to herself or others.”
Dr Alison Jenaway said she thought cognitive analytic therapy would have been the best treatment, but the teenager had not wanted to take part.
She said: “She shut things away in a box and said opening the box made things worse.”
Dr Dickon Bevington, who carried out a review of the case, said: “This is a girl who was desperate for help.”
He said Chantelle’s case was complicated and that she had taken the view that medication was the answer to her problems.
But Dr Bevington said medication was not considered beneficial for young people and that one type of anti-depressant which may have helped also increased the risk of impulsive behaviour, including suicide.