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Charmaine Dragun suicide was preventable

An inquest says the death of Charmaine Dragun could have been avoided if her bipolar II disorder had been correctly diagnosed and treated.

The coronial inquest into the death of TEN News presenter Charmaine Dragun has ruled that her suicide could have been avoided if her bipolar II disorder had been correctly diagnosed and treated.

Dragun, 29, jumped to her death at The Gap, Sydney, three years ago.

As well as sending shockwaves through family and friends, heer death impacted on the media industry, an industry known for long hours and separation from family.

Dragun, formerly of Perth, was reading the WA News from a base in Sydney but was not coping with the separation from family and friends. She was considered a rising star within the network’s News ranks.

NSW Deputy State Coroner Malcolm MacPherson found that “if those health professionals treating Charmaine had made the correct diagnosis of a bipolar II disorder, she would have been properly treated with a mood stabiliser and she probably would not have committed suicide”. She had been prescribed anti-depressants from the age of 18 but did not like taking anti-depressants.

Dragun’s mother Estelle gave evidence that her daughter could not understand why new medication was not working but her psychiatrist had urged her to “give it a few more days to kick in”.

She drove to The Gap on the afternoon of November 2, 2007, where a stranger saw her rehearsing to jump and dialled 000, repeatedly saying he wanted to interrupt Dragun.

But he was urged not to, and watched her leap off the cliff as police tried to reach her.

Estelle Dragun later appeared in an episode of Australian Storyy to remember her daughter but criticised the medical profession’s use of antidepressants.

Outside court yesterday, she said she hoped the medical profession would take in the findings “and we will see a difference in medical healthcare”.

TEN no longer has its Perth News read from Sydney.

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Sourc: The Australian

9 Responses

  1. Rob, it’s more than the responsibility of the medical and psychology professions – it’s society. We don’t even treat depression or suicidal ideation as something that is common, which it is. It’s so taboo and the attitude that sufferers can just ‘get over it’ is so prevalent, that we won’t talk about it openly. We’re not living in the dark ages. Let’s just be open and accept that s*** happens and people get depressed – they can come through it with help and we, as a community, need to be more supportive.

  2. When i hear this in 2007 i was shocked. Charmain Dragun was a very talented news anchor and she will be lost. Charmain was to the Australian News broadcasting what Clinton Grybas was to Australian Sports Broadcasting a rising star who could go places abroad if she got the chance, the sad irony was that they are both lost to the media. Remember Clinton died after hitting his head whilst sleepwalking just a year later before the 2008 AFL season was due to start sad very sad.

  3. @ mikeys, actually that is incorrect. As a psychologist I have seen many suicides and it is true that when a person seeks help (or has help sought for them) their chance of suicide is much reduced. However it is not true to say that every suicide is preventable.

    Even when a person seeks help or friends/professionals intervene there is still a chance that they will continue with their plan. What we as a community need to do is keep hearing about stories such as this one and raise awareness for depression and suicide in the community. It may not stop every case but if it stops more than it did before that is a wonderful thing.

  4. Dont forget these drugs cause a lot of people to committ suicide and plenty of other things because of the way they affect the brain, i know from first hand experience how dangerous these drugs really are.

    so much is known about these problems yet the medical community and pharmaceutical companys wipe it under the carpet

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