Deceased
Tessa Michelle Ballam
Demographics
31y, female
Date of death
2015-08-15
Finding date
2022-03-31
Cause of death
neck compression in the circumstances of hanging
AI-generated summary
Tessa Ballam, a 31-year-old accountant with longstanding depression, anxiety, bulimia nervosa, and borderline personality disorder (BPD), died by hanging in August 2015. She had experienced workplace difficulties with her manager Jade Collins, which were investigated by HR managers Trent Lethlean and Leonard Kocovic. A performance management meeting was held on 14 August 2015. Although the coroner found that objectively, the managers' conduct was reasonable given they were unaware of her mental health history, subjectively Tessa's BPD caused her to catastrophise these workplace issues. Combined with alcohol intoxication and temporal proximity to the meeting, these factors contributed to her suicide. The coroner emphasised that BPD causes negative fixation, emotional dysregulation, and distorted perception of others' intentions—manifestations evident in Tessa's communications. Key lessons: mental health vulnerability is often hidden; seemingly routine management actions carry different risk in vulnerable individuals; and the interaction between psychological fragility, stressors, and intoxication creates acute suicide risk.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Drugs involved
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