In a letter submitted to the court, her father Adam Hunter said: “I went to her house terrified she had done something bad again.
“I let myself in and found my worst nightmare was realised.”
The 22-year-old, who was studying forensic psychology at the Open University, had a history of mental health issues. In 2013, she was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.
Coroner’s letter to be sent to failing health trust calling for changes after suicide of 22-year-old, published 5 April 2019 on East Anglian Daily Times by Jake Foxford after the conclusion of the inquest, added:
Mr Parsley heard that despite Miss Hunter’s suicide attempts, one as recently as nine days before she was found, the NSFT deemed her mentally capable of refusing support.
A care plan was devised for Miss Hunter but was not enacted when she declined help, stating therapies she was being offered felt like “more of the same”.
Note from PDV!: It is not enough to just have some kind of service and call it a day. People known to services, engaging with services, who end their life despite having sought help make it clear that the level of care available is not adequate. The article is quick to dismiss Kerry not engaging with her care plan as her having BPD, even though she had clearly been engaging in services thus far, is another way of blaming the distressed for the subpar support available. Not all who kill themselves lack capacity to make decisions and we must face up to the fact that while tragic, it is a decision that people make with good reason. Had Kerry been sectioned it may have prevented her from taking her life for now, but if all that followed was "more of the same" it would not have meaningfully impacted her quality of life. She may well have ended up one of the many women diagnosed with BPD who instead killed themselves while detained in psychiatric institutions instead.
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