A schoolgirl hanged herself at home after suffering bouts of anxiety due to being bullied, an inquest heard.
Sian Waterhouse was a “bubbly” teenager before getting a mobile phone for Christmas and becoming a regular user of Facebook and Snapchat.
The 16-year-old was struggling with fallouts with friends in the weeks before her death.
Following an episode of self harm, the teenager was given counselling by mental health experts and was advised to block former friends on social media.
But despite appearing to get better, Sian was said to be in a “dark place” and told one doctor: “I feel like my heart is sinking.”
As she prepared for her mock GCSEs following a Sunday afternoon shopping trip in February last year, Sian left a handwitten note on her dining table and was subsequently found, by her stepfather, hanged at her home in Morecambe, Lancs.
She died two days later in hospital and her organs were donated to help save the lives of others.
The hearing was told Sian had been a “bubbly, fun loving” teenager who lived in a normal childhood until she was given the phone as a present.
Later there was a fall out amongst friends and Sian who attended Morecambe Community High School was admitted to hospital in 2017 after harming herself.
She was referred to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) but was discharged just before her 16th birthday.
Her stepfather, Phillip Noyland, said: “She was a normal child who loved school and was interested in everything. She was always having fun and laughing and joking. She was fine until she got a mobile phone for Christmas, she was always on it.
“After her first episode of self harm she started engaging with the CAHMS team and was doing well.
“Her counsellor often said how well she was doing. There was a small bout of superficial self-harming but she seemed to be in a much better place and more like her old self, she had gone back to school.
“Just before Christmas 2017 she had a fainting episode and at that time she was told that she was too old to get back in touch with the CAHMS team, she was put on medication and started on a mild dose of antidepressants.
“She was encouraged the tablets were working and there were no side effects.”
Susan Lingwood, a mental health services counsellor, said: “There were several factors that contributed to the way she was feeling including peer relationships and bullying. I met regularly with her and she started to improve.
“She made changes with her friends and her relationships improved and she was discharged on June 6 2017.
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“I recall seeing Sian that summer with her mum and they both said that things were going well and she was working towards her GCSEs in the summer of 2018.”
Recording a narrative conclusion, coroner James Newman told Sian’s family: “I cannot imagine how difficult this has been for you all today.”
Following her death, Sian’s family organised a music event entitled ‘Shine for Sian’ to raise awareness of mental health.
Source: Daily Mirror
