Grieving husband says mental health system is ‘profoundly broken’

A grieving husband and father says it’s clear New Zealand’s mental health system is deeply damaged.

Kristin Taylor, 35, was the mother of a 19-month-old boy when she took her own life, after suffering from a series of complex psychiatric conditions, including postpartum depression, which proved notoriously difficult to treat, according to coroner Peter Ryan’s report. . in her death he says.

Taylor had received a lot of support from health services and her family, but eventually took her own life, the report says.

He had suffered from anxiety since his childhood in the Southland and had been taking antidepressants for about 20 years.

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Her husband Alistair said that Taylor always wanted to be a mother and was very emotional when the couple found out she was pregnant.

“She loved being a mother most of all, until her anxiety returned, which she had been struggling with on and off since her teens,” she said.

“A therapist we worked with described Kristin’s illness as the most complex they had ever seen and even with the work of the Kapiti Mental Health team and the private psychologist we were able to find for her, we were unable to keep her here.”

Alistair said it was clear to him that the mental health system is “deeply broken.”

“It depends on ‘community care,’ but our communities have collapsed. The fifteen months of Kristin’s illness tore us both apart, but we were too busy surviving to see it.”

When Kristin’s daughter was born in October 2018, after a traumatic birth, a new diagnosis of “generalized anxiety disorder with depressive elements” was established, the coroner’s report says.

Those symptoms had intensified in the 14 months prior to his death and he had been under the care of the Kapiti Mental Health Team and his GP.

She had made several attempts to take her own life in the year before her death, and her mother had also taken her own life in the months before.

Less than a month before she died, Taylor was seen by another consultant psychiatrist due to a deterioration in her mental health. She asked to be admitted to the hospital voluntarily and her husband agreed that this was the appropriate course of action.

Unfortunately, the psychiatrist found that there were no beds available at the time, and instead Taylor was offered a stay in respite care, but she declined this offer, the coroner’s report says.

The couple also refused treatment under the Mental Health Act, the report says.

Following Taylor’s death, the District Boards of Health Mental Health, Addiction and Intellectual Disability Service (MHAIDS) conducted a Serious Event Review (SER) to review the care provided by MHAIDS from January 2020 to his death.

The review found that there were no clear care delivery issues related to the incident that led to Taylor’s death and, specifically, overall, there were no actions or inactions in which care was diverted beyond safe limits. of practice.

She found that there was a nuanced appreciation of Taylor’s formulation, including that she was at chronically increased risk of suicide and this risk was difficult to fully mitigate.

The SER report identifies other factors that provide room for reflection and learning by MHAIDS, primarily in relation to the provision of respite housing, consideration of the role of others directly involved in Taylor’s care, and communication with the family.

Where to get help:

• 1737, do you need to talk? Call toll-free or text 1737 to speak with a trained counselor.
• anxiety new zealand 0800 ANXIETY (0800 269 4389)
• depression.org.nz 0800 111 757 or text 4202
• kids line 0800 54 37 54 for people up to 18 years old. Open 24/7.
• Life line 0800 543 354
• Mental Health Foundation 09 623 4812, Click here to access their free resource and information service.
• Rural Support Trust 0800 787 254
• samaritans 0800 726 666
• Suicide Crisis Helpline 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)
• Supporting families with mental illness 0800 732 825
• thelowdown.co.nz Web chat, email chat or free text 5626
• What’s happening 0800 942 8787 (for young people from 5 to 18 years old). Phone counseling available Monday through Friday from noon to 11 pm and weekends from 3 pm to 11 pm Online chat is available from 3 pm to 10 pm daily.
• youth line 0800 376 633, free text 234, email [email protected] find online chat and other support options here.
• If it’s an emergency, Click here to find the number of your local crisis assessment team.
• In a life-threatening situation, call 111.