:00:05. > :00:09.They are in this black fog, that it is, it's like wading through
:00:09. > :00:16.treacle. There is absolutely no, there's no light in any tunnel
:00:16. > :00:19.there. This is as black as you are ever going to get, you know. Give
:00:19. > :00:22.it another hour, another half hour, I wouldn't be able to make that
:00:22. > :00:26.call for help because I'd have gone that step further where I couldn't
:00:26. > :00:29.even ask for help any more. From the blackness, people are
:00:29. > :00:35.calling for help - begging for help, but are we hearing them? Are we
:00:35. > :00:39.lighting their way out or are people dying needlessly? She would
:00:39. > :00:43.still be here with her kids the now. If she didnae listen to the doctors,
:00:43. > :00:49.but she did listen to them. Do you feel she was actually asking for
:00:49. > :00:53.help? She was screaming for it. were banging our heads against a
:00:53. > :00:57.brick wall. We were saying something has to be done, please do
:00:57. > :01:00.something- but they kept on saying no, this is how it's going to be.
:01:00. > :01:10.Tonight we look at evidence that those reaching out for help have
:01:10. > :01:26.
:01:26. > :01:32.been failed just when they need it This programme is about something
:01:32. > :01:35.you might think is rare and unlikely to affect you - suicide.
:01:35. > :01:40.But it's actually the most common cause of death for young men in
:01:40. > :01:45.Scotland. And our suicide rate over the last ten years has been up to
:01:45. > :01:48.80 percent higher than that in England. I've been hearing that -
:01:48. > :01:57.unbelievably - people who are suicidal and asking for help are
:01:57. > :02:02.being failed. Some of the most compelling evidence comes from here
:02:02. > :02:04.- Dundee. Incredibly, it comes not from hospitals, but from the police
:02:05. > :02:14.who find themselves having to treat the suicidal like they are
:02:15. > :02:17.
:02:17. > :02:21.criminals. Officers do try to get them help but, surprisingly often,
:02:21. > :02:26.there's nowhere for some of them to go - so the police have no option
:02:26. > :02:30.but to arrest them. DCI Gordon Milne walked me through the process.
:02:30. > :02:33.Being formally arrested at the charge bar. Being led to the cells,
:02:33. > :02:43.physically held by an officer the whole time. Some are even strip-
:02:43. > :02:47.
:02:48. > :02:53.searched. You go in through the passage to your cell door. At this
:02:53. > :02:56.point your club it would be removed. The items would be searched and
:02:56. > :03:04.placed outside and then you'd be given the alternative of what we
:03:04. > :03:10.call harm prevention suiting. One size fits all. Degrading! I can
:03:10. > :03:15.imagine where my head would be at this stage. Yes, yes. No, this is
:03:15. > :03:25.certainly for us a last resort. We have tried a number of options
:03:25. > :03:34.
:03:34. > :03:44.This is me in sell 33, left alone now, just to have my thought. If I
:03:44. > :03:53.was really suicidal, I wouldn't want to be here. Getting here is a
:03:53. > :03:57.pretty awful process. So if I was in those depths of despair... I
:03:57. > :04:01.really wouldn't want to be here. Tayside Police realised they had a
:04:01. > :04:03.problem - but how big? They decided to collect information not just on
:04:03. > :04:09.how many people killed themselves, but how many attempted or
:04:09. > :04:13.threatened suicides they were called to. We've had exclusive
:04:13. > :04:21.access to that data - at last we can see the reality of what's
:04:21. > :04:24.behind Scotland's high suicide rate. Government statistics show that on
:04:24. > :04:26.average four people a month kill themselves in Tayside. But police
:04:26. > :04:35.figures show that they actually deal with over 150 incidents
:04:35. > :04:38.involving attempted or threatened suicide in the same time frame.
:04:38. > :04:40.Extend that out across the whole of Scotland, there is a significant
:04:41. > :04:47.number of calls every day every week every year every month
:04:47. > :04:50.involving people who are in mental health crisis. It is a significant
:04:50. > :04:54.issue and I think it's a significant issue not only for the
:04:54. > :04:57.police and the other emergency services but for society in general.
:04:57. > :05:03.This would appear to be the first time that we've actually measured
:05:03. > :05:07.in its true sense what impact this is having. It's not just the
:05:07. > :05:13.numbers - when I studied the data more closely, it's the level of
:05:13. > :05:18.distress that jumps out. There are cases involving children - 15 and
:05:18. > :05:24.even nine years old. Numerous near- suicides - even people saved at the
:05:24. > :05:27.last minute with a noose around their neck. But what really struck
:05:27. > :05:37.me was how often police try and get someone admitted to the NHS Mental
:05:37. > :05:45.
:05:45. > :05:49.Health system but are turned away. So in every work place there could
:05:49. > :05:52.be someone beside you experiencing these problems. What I'm starting
:05:52. > :06:02.to wonder is whether people asking for help aren't getting what they
:06:02. > :06:03.
:06:03. > :06:09.I arranged to talk to one person who has attempted suicide twice -
:06:09. > :06:13.she's still very vulnerable so wanted to remain anonymous.
:06:13. > :06:23.wasn't the thing I wanted to do but the only choice seemed to be that
:06:23. > :06:25.suicide was the only way it was So for any of us, when things go
:06:25. > :06:31.wrong, we'd like to think that the health authorities would react
:06:31. > :06:37.quickly and take us seriously. I'd said I'm feeling suicidal, I'd
:06:37. > :06:41.been told, no you don't, which is like actually, I am. Go and have a
:06:41. > :06:46.cup of tea, you'll be fine. Don't worry, it'll just go away. I'd had
:06:46. > :06:48.somebody say, don't cry in public, it upsets other people. And it all
:06:48. > :06:57.felt very much about people protecting themselves and about
:06:57. > :07:01.other people rather than about you and where you were at. I had
:07:01. > :07:04.someone say, well if you're still able to ask for help, then you're
:07:04. > :07:09.not suicidal enough and I'm like you're just like, but this is all I
:07:09. > :07:13.know to do now. This is all that actually I can get my head round
:07:13. > :07:17.and the next stage, I guess I don't want to, sort of - sounds a bit
:07:17. > :07:20.like the second time round. But I knew that actually, give it another
:07:20. > :07:23.hour, another half hour, I wouldn't be able to make that call for help
:07:23. > :07:27.because I'd have gone that step further where I couldn't even ask
:07:27. > :07:30.for help any more. In Glasgow I was to hear a story that wasn't so much
:07:30. > :07:37.about the system not appearing to care. Here there's a family who
:07:37. > :07:41.believe that failings led to their Karen McAllister killed herself
:07:42. > :07:49.last year. She was mother to three- year-old Tegan and two-year-old
:07:50. > :07:54.Millie. She always said she wanted babies. She actually didnae think
:07:54. > :07:57.she was able to have them and I was in here and she went to get a
:07:57. > :08:01.pregnancy test and she was gone to actually ask the lady, check to see
:08:01. > :08:04.if she was able to have kids, if it came back negative and she phoned
:08:05. > :08:09.me and she was pure screaming down the phone, you're going to be an
:08:09. > :08:12.auntie! She was so happy, and then after Tegan she fell pregnant quite
:08:12. > :08:15.fast with Millie, but she was really happy with that though, so
:08:15. > :08:18.she was. It was all she ever wanted, was kids. But last year Karen was
:08:18. > :08:22.returning from a trip to see relatives with her two young
:08:22. > :08:26.daughters. She suddenly developed what is now thought to have been a
:08:26. > :08:31.severe form of post-natal depression. Tegan says, Mummy was
:08:31. > :08:35.crying on the train. You say to her what happened on the train? Mummy
:08:35. > :08:43.was crying, on the floor crying. What did you do? I gave Mummy a
:08:43. > :08:47.cuddle. Karen went to a police station in real distress - they
:08:47. > :08:51.took her to her GP and she was admitted to a local mental health
:08:51. > :08:54.unit. But she walked out, and after a frantic search, was found at home.
:08:54. > :08:59.Karen was close to being sectioned - detained against her will for her
:08:59. > :09:04.own safety. But instead her mother agreed to watch her and bring her
:09:04. > :09:07.to the Southern General to be admitted the next morning.
:09:07. > :09:11.doctor said the bed wasn't ready, to come back later and Karen said,
:09:11. > :09:15.I don't want to go back, I need to just stay here, could I just stay
:09:15. > :09:19.and have a cup of coffee, read a magazine? He said, if it's only for
:09:19. > :09:23.an hour you can stay, but if it's any longer, so I waited to find out
:09:23. > :09:26.how long it was going to be. He said, no the bed will no be ready
:09:27. > :09:30.until half past six, come back at half six. Go home and get a nice
:09:31. > :09:34.relaxing bath. Karen did go home and run a bath. She barricaded the
:09:34. > :09:39.door. When her partner kicked it in, he found her there. What had
:09:40. > :09:44.actually happened at the house? had went home and went and had a
:09:44. > :09:54.bath and she had slit her both, is it both wrists? She had done a wee
:09:54. > :09:56.
:09:56. > :09:59.slit on her tummy and put her knife Keeping their memorial garden tidy
:09:59. > :10:09.gives Karen's children the chance to nurture memories of their mum in
:10:09. > :10:13.
:10:13. > :10:17.How would you say they're coping? think they're coping OK. I think
:10:17. > :10:20.with them being so young, they don't really understand anything.
:10:20. > :10:26.It's when they get a bit older, that's when we're going to start
:10:26. > :10:31.explaining what happened to their mum. If they ask star in the sky.
:10:31. > :10:35.Tegan does say about her mum's up in the sky. Even if you put up, say
:10:35. > :10:41.if you get a balloon, Tegan lets the balloon go, it's gone up to
:10:41. > :10:49.mummy. The balloon's for her mummy. If that doctor had kept her in the
:10:49. > :10:51.hospital, she would still be here. Like she asked. Just makes me angry
:10:51. > :10:54.that somebody actually can make that choice and somebody's telling
:10:54. > :11:03.them they're really unwell and somebody's not really caring, just
:11:03. > :11:08.saying, just go home and come back later. Just makes you really angry.
:11:09. > :11:15.Do you feel she was actually asking for help? She was screaming for it,
:11:15. > :11:18.screaming for it. What happened to Karen is obviously a tragedy - her
:11:18. > :11:24.children have lost a mother, the rest of her family are still
:11:24. > :11:28.struggling to cope, but what does her death tell us about the system?
:11:28. > :11:31.Looking back at the last week of her life - much of the system
:11:31. > :11:34.worked. At first, she did get treatment at her local community
:11:34. > :11:37.mental health unit. And later, a clinical psychiatrist did consider
:11:37. > :11:44.sectioning her and insisted she needed constant supervision till
:11:44. > :11:54.she got to the Mother and Baby Unit. But the family feel it broke down
:11:54. > :11:55.
:11:55. > :12:01.when she was allowed to go home, where she took her own life. Having
:12:01. > :12:06.met the family, what a terrific story. It seems, though, that the
:12:06. > :12:10.thing that is hardest to get their head around his when Karen was at
:12:10. > :12:20.her most desperate, she herself realised she needed help, and when
:12:20. > :12:50.
:12:50. > :12:55.she was effectively begging for If Karen was failed, then the worry
:12:55. > :12:58.is that other suicidal people might be too. We may think of suicide as
:12:58. > :13:00.something that's extremely rare - but actually, anyone, particularly
:13:00. > :13:10.young men, can find themselves struggling with these thoughts, but
:13:10. > :13:21.
:13:21. > :13:26.If the system isn't functioning - One in four of us will develop and
:13:26. > :13:32.mental health problem some time in our lives. During that time there
:13:32. > :13:35.may be moments we are feeling despair and weak are contemplating
:13:35. > :13:38.suicide. It can happen to me, any mental health problem at some times
:13:38. > :13:41.in our lives. During that time there may be times, there may be
:13:41. > :13:44.moments when we feel despair. We feel life isn't worth living and we
:13:44. > :13:48.contemplate suicide. That can happen to anybody. It could happen
:13:48. > :13:51.to me, and it could happen to any of my family. And what I would want
:13:51. > :13:55.to know is that there, when I feel like that, when somebody that I
:13:55. > :13:58.know feels like that there is help and support and somebody that they
:13:58. > :14:01.can turn to at a time of crisis. That doesn't sound a lot - but
:14:01. > :14:04.there's another family who feel their relative didn't get that help.
:14:04. > :14:07.Julie Brown's son Daniel took his own life in January last year.
:14:07. > :14:10.Daniel was a very complex character. There were behavioural problems
:14:10. > :14:15.over the years but nothing that I would have thought would have ever
:14:15. > :14:20.led to this. Daniel had told his GP he had been sexually abused when we
:14:20. > :14:27.was younger. He been referred to mental health services but didn't
:14:27. > :14:30.always keep his appointments. Daniel also had a daughter. After
:14:30. > :14:40.his relationship with her mother broke down, he rarely saw her. And
:14:40. > :14:41.
:14:41. > :14:46.It was the last year, it was the last year of his life literally
:14:46. > :14:49.where he'd started suddenly self- harming. For her not to be in his
:14:49. > :14:56.life or to think badly of him was the ultimate - there was just no
:14:56. > :14:59.way around that. One night in January 2011 his sister, worried
:14:59. > :15:03.after she couldn't contact him, went round to his Aberdeen flat. He
:15:03. > :15:10.was drunk and had made a noose - so she walked him round to their local
:15:10. > :15:13.psychiatric hospital at Cornhill. And so she left him at that point
:15:13. > :15:19.and then she gets a phone call from him saying you're never going to
:15:19. > :15:22.believe this, and he said they've told me I have to phone NHS 24. And
:15:23. > :15:27.he thought that was funny because he knew what they're supposed to be
:15:27. > :15:30.doing, you know. So he was trying to get into a psychiatric hospital
:15:30. > :15:34.for help? Or at least to speak to somebody about how he was feeling
:15:34. > :15:39.and what was happening at 3 o'clock in the morning, and he was told
:15:39. > :15:43.phone NHS 24. At this point he had already been placed on a three
:15:43. > :15:47.month waiting list for a psychiatric appointment. So again
:15:47. > :15:54.just sent off, off you go. Come back if it gets worse, is what he
:15:54. > :15:59.was told. Was he on that waiting list when he died? Yeah. So he had
:15:59. > :16:04.tried to get help for himself, he realised he needed help? Oh yeah,
:16:04. > :16:08.completely. The root of Julie's frustration is that she feels there
:16:08. > :16:11.were chances for the authorities to help her son that were missed - he
:16:11. > :16:14.was being seen by medical staff because he was self-harming and
:16:14. > :16:22.attempting suicide, but instead of being sent home again to cope on
:16:22. > :16:25.his own, she wanted him to be in the safety of a hospital. He's
:16:25. > :16:28.walking around with a noose in his back pocket, he chucked himself
:16:28. > :16:32.over a wall at Cornhill at 3 o'clock in the morning and chaps on
:16:32. > :16:35.the door. He goes to his doctor, he tells his doctor, I'm having
:16:35. > :16:38.suicidal thoughts. He goes to the hospital because he's cut himself
:16:38. > :16:42.so badly that it requires deep stitching, and you're telling me
:16:42. > :16:47.that he doesn't fit the criteria to be sectioned. I would love to know
:16:48. > :16:50.what criteria that is because for me that's bucketloads, you know.
:16:50. > :16:56.Now, I'm not saying that in Daniel's instance sectioning would
:16:56. > :17:01.have worked. I've no idea, but the point is he wasn't even given that
:17:01. > :17:11.chance, and that's exactly what I want. I want people - to have a
:17:11. > :17:13.
:17:13. > :17:21.You cannot say for sure they will come out the other side. You have
:17:21. > :17:26.no way of knowing. But you at least deserved a chance. Even Daniel's
:17:26. > :17:31.family admit he was an awkward patient. Doctors are convinced he
:17:31. > :17:36.did not meet the strict criteria that would allow him to be
:17:36. > :17:41.sectioned. And the health board involved said they don't remember
:17:41. > :17:47.seeing him at the hospital. But what is striking, in retrospect you
:17:47. > :17:53.can see the warning signs. He asked his GP for help. He missed
:17:53. > :17:58.appointments, overdoses, episodes of self-harm. He is waiting for
:17:59. > :18:05.psychiatric assessment and his sister takes him to Cornhill. All
:18:05. > :18:10.things that might point to his eventual suicide nine weeks later.
:18:10. > :18:15.What Julie seems to have come up against his assistant that saw her
:18:15. > :18:22.son as difficult to help. Yes, he probably was because his needs were
:18:22. > :18:26.not all contained nicely with in mental health. They contained some
:18:26. > :18:30.drug and alcohol misuse and he did not always turn up for appointments.
:18:30. > :18:36.But there are lots of people who have these different things going
:18:36. > :18:46.on in their lives, so what is a system that does not just to that?
:18:46. > :18:47.
:18:47. > :18:52.I met the family at the time. I conveyed a belief we need to learn
:18:53. > :18:58.what we could from that tragic experience. One thing I found
:18:58. > :19:04.concerning is the fact Daniel had a number of contacts with the NHS
:19:04. > :19:08.over a prolonged period of time. Because he did not attend
:19:08. > :19:15.appointments or follow up opportunities, the NHS took the
:19:15. > :19:19.view he did not require assistance. In fact, I think it was a signal of
:19:19. > :19:29.something that with hindsight we should have picked up on.
:19:29. > :19:36.Daniel failed? In a general sense, it can be said he was failed. If
:19:36. > :19:40.you say that in an ideal world, all the organisations, agencies
:19:40. > :19:48.involved could potentially in read signs, pick them up and act upon
:19:48. > :19:57.them, then act accordingly. Do you think people in distress don't
:19:57. > :20:02.necessarily have a diagnosis of a psychiatric illness, there are help
:20:02. > :20:11.they need in the system? There is a gap in the system. It is something
:20:11. > :20:17.we need to look at. Grampian Health Board and the police in Dundee are
:20:17. > :20:22.saying people in crisis have been failed. It is partly because they
:20:22. > :20:29.don't fit neatly into the definition of someone mental health
:20:29. > :20:33.services can treat. We don't have a service which addresses suicidal
:20:33. > :20:40.thoughts. We don't have a service that helps people with their pain
:20:40. > :20:45.around that issues. We see it as in the realms of mental health
:20:45. > :20:52.services, but it is not. Everyone would like to see a halfway house,
:20:52. > :20:56.a place of safety and comfort her. It is not a police cell, it is not
:20:57. > :21:03.an NHS establishment for mental health disorders, it is a place of
:21:03. > :21:09.solace to take in individual who does not need acute treatment at
:21:09. > :21:14.that time and were there are people who are prepared to talk and listen.
:21:14. > :21:18.So, our people asking for something that is unachievable? I had heard
:21:18. > :21:24.about the place which might have helped Karen Anne Daniel if it had
:21:24. > :21:31.been available. This is the Edinburgh Crisis Centre run by the
:21:31. > :21:41.charity, Penumbra. Nice to meet you. People at their lowest point can
:21:41. > :21:42.
:21:42. > :21:46.phone, text or e-mail and be seen within hours. If I had no hope, I
:21:46. > :21:52.wouldn't have contacted them, but I had no expectations anything would
:21:52. > :21:59.be different. On the other hand, it was that it or die, so I ended up
:21:59. > :22:03.staying overnight. It was comfortable and somebody cared
:22:03. > :22:08.enough, even though it was the middle of the night that they would
:22:08. > :22:17.take that time. Actually, you could stay overnight and you are worth
:22:17. > :22:21.looking after. This service is unique. You don't need a
:22:21. > :22:27.psychiatric diagnosis. The aim is to provide what ever support
:22:27. > :22:31.someone feels they need. They may be feeling unsafe in their own
:22:31. > :22:37.environment, so it is an opportunity to have some time out
:22:37. > :22:42.of that. And to look at ways of managing their safety with support.
:22:42. > :22:48.If you had not made the decision to phone Penumbra, where do you think
:22:48. > :22:52.you would be now? I would be dead. I don't know why I am still alive,
:22:52. > :23:02.it is a freak of nature, because that amount of tablets would have
:23:02. > :23:07.killed me and that was my intention. I think the third time, I would
:23:07. > :23:11.probably have got it right. Dundee, there is a man who realised
:23:11. > :23:20.his son was failed by the authorities and set out to get the
:23:21. > :23:28.truth. Did he know how good he was? On the ice, he was very cocky. He
:23:29. > :23:34.did know his own ability. Martin's son, Ian was an elite hockey player
:23:34. > :23:39.and was in the British team. He had been feeling under pressure at work
:23:39. > :23:46.and had been drinking heavily. And then out of the blue, an overdose.
:23:46. > :23:50.He made a second attempt a few months later. The same scenario.
:23:50. > :23:55.And then a third the Thames where he jumped off a building and broke
:23:55. > :24:02.his back. We thought it would end his hockey career. After the third
:24:02. > :24:08.time, things took a turn for the worse and he would go missing and
:24:08. > :24:12.go on drinking binges and disappear. Ever since the first the 10th, Ian
:24:12. > :24:20.had been seeing a psychiatric liaison nurse. But the family felt
:24:20. > :24:25.the care he received did not react to the severity of his condition.
:24:25. > :24:31.Then one morning, Martin left for work. I've got to the end of the
:24:31. > :24:38.road. I got a phone call saying he had hung himself. Both my daughter
:24:38. > :24:42.and my wife found him. Martin could not believe his son had got the
:24:42. > :24:46.appropriate care. He felt the warning signs were there, he had
:24:46. > :24:51.had 15 appointments with a psychiatric liaison nurse. When
:24:51. > :24:57.things got bad, his third suicide attempts, he was sent away with a
:24:57. > :25:02.few phone numbers to call. There was never any progress after
:25:02. > :25:07.his initial couple of visits. Things started to spiral out of
:25:07. > :25:11.control. Somebody should have taken notice of that, and that is when I
:25:11. > :25:18.decided I would complain to the NHS board with regards to how he was
:25:18. > :25:22.treated. I got a letter back saying they sympathised with me and they
:25:22. > :25:27.had done everything possible. The treatment he received was
:25:27. > :25:34.appropriate for his condition. They felt they had done everything they
:25:34. > :25:38.could for him. I did not think that at all. I disagreed with them.
:25:38. > :25:42.Martin as the Ombudsman to review the care his son had received. The
:25:42. > :25:49.review had found the board did not provide appropriate care. It
:25:49. > :25:53.criticised the fact he did not have a care plan, and when he missed
:25:53. > :26:00.appointments and his self harming increased, the NHS responded by
:26:00. > :26:05.discharging him. It made me angry, shocked. I am surprised they have
:26:05. > :26:09.not been more deaths. I am sitting in front of people in meetings and
:26:09. > :26:15.they are telling me things have been done and guidelines have been
:26:15. > :26:25.followed, but subsequently they did not. Either they did not know that
:26:25. > :26:49.
:26:49. > :26:53.it did not happen, or they were Martin is now involved in a group
:26:53. > :26:58.set up by the board and the Scottish Government to improve
:26:58. > :27:06.services. He feels the Government is beginning to listen. Will that
:27:06. > :27:11.mean real change? It is important we have the right services in place
:27:11. > :27:16.to support people when they are experiencing distress. There is
:27:16. > :27:20.evidence to demonstrate at times services are not necessarily
:27:20. > :27:25.responding in a way they should and they are not giving it the level
:27:25. > :27:31.priority it should. But even when they do reach out for support and
:27:31. > :27:36.assistance, at times services have not followed up individuals as they
:27:36. > :27:42.should have. It is important we address these, what are at times,
:27:42. > :27:47.gaps in the system to make sure it is much more effective. The
:27:47. > :27:50.evidence you have had from the Tayside area demonstrates what is a
:27:50. > :27:57.challenging thing for us to tackle and there is certainly more we can
:27:57. > :28:01.do. If changes happen it will be at least in part families that have
:28:01. > :28:09.experienced suicide have spoken out. They are left with an emptiness
:28:09. > :28:15.that cannot be filled no matter what happens next. You just live
:28:15. > :28:25.your day, go to sleep, wake up. It all comes back to you. The fear is
:28:25. > :28:25.
:28:25. > :28:34.now, it will be an implosion, a crashing down of nothing to do. The