Coroner's Finding: Ms G de-identified

Female·hanging (suicide)

Ms G, a woman in her forties with bipolar II disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, and severe alcohol dependence, died by suicide in November 2014. She had been admitted to hospital six times for detoxification and mental health treatment between 2009 and 2013, but remained non-compliant with follow-up care and repeatedly relapsed into alcohol and drug use after discharge. Financial difficulties, unemployment, and loss of private health insurance limited her access to ongoing specialist psychiatric support. Despite her psychiatrist's efforts and prescriptions for home detoxification, she was unable to sustain abstinence. The coroner identified inadequate outpatient support and supervision following hospital discharge as a systemic issue, and recommended development of multidisciplinary addiction support teams with nurse practitioner pharmacotherapy input to help break the cycle of addiction.