A-Level boarding school student, 17, took her own life after struggling with mental health throughout her teens, inquest hears

An A-level student took her own life at her sixth form college after struggling with her mental health throughout her teens, an inquest has heard.Lauren Jackson, 17, appeared to be looking forward to the future, beginning driving lessons and visiting various universities where she hoped to study.But she hanged herself at the beginning of the school day at Richard Huish College in Somerset in February.PE teacher Lisa Wren described the moment she found Lauren unresponsive.Other staff members rushed to help, and they cut Lauren down before beginning CPR and phoning the emergency services.They were swiftly followed by an air ambulance which landed on playing fields at the college near Taunton, the inquest at the Old Municipal Buildings in Taunton heard this week.Lauren was rushed to intensive care but a scan revealed that she had suffered a hypoxic brain injury and doctors advised her parents that there was a high chance she wouldn’t survive.She died two days later with her family by her bedside. Lauren Jackson, 17, took her own life in the toilets at her sixth form college after struggling with her mental health throughout her teens She hanged herself in a cubicle at the beginning of the school day at Richard Huish College in Somerset in FebruaryLauren’s mother, Estelle Jackson, described her shocked reaction after she received the phone call from the college at 9.15 am informing her that her daughter had been found unresponsive.Mrs Jackson said that after hearing this news, she tried to start walking but her legs ‘stopped working’ and she fell to the floor, before a colleague picked her up and then drove her to the college.From there, Mrs Jackson, joined by her husband Graham, accompanied Lauren to the hospital, where they remained for 48 hours until her death, her written statement said.Mrs Jackson said that her daughter had become increasingly insular during her teens, rarely talked with her, and ‘did not view us as parents.’But she said Lauren’s behaviour had not seemed out of the ordinary in the days leading up to her death: she had booked driving lessons and appeared to be planning for a university future after completing her A Levels.Medical records showed that Lauren had recorded mental health concerns from the age of 14, visiting her GP three years before her death to report experiencing panic attacks, OCD and intrusive thoughts.She also revealed she had previously self-harmed.Lauren was referred to mental health support and would go on to have some 33 meetings with mental health and children’s services professionals.She was offered therapy and later prescribed the antidepressant sertraline initially, at 25 mg a day, with the dose eventually raised to 150mg.While Lauren initially reported that the medication was having a positive effect, by January this year, a month before her death, she told her key worker that its effect was diminishing.In a face-to-face meeting she was ‘shivering, crying and feeling unsafe’.Dr Arjuna Pattapola listed Lauren’s conditions: she was suffering from emotional dysregulation, attachment difficulties, dysregulated sleeping, dysregulated eating, panic attacks, psychosomatic complaints, and was having difficulty interacting with both her peers and her family.Lauren also said that strange things had been happening to her, including a bar of soap apparently being placed in her bowl of porridge. Medical records showed that Lauren had recorded mental health concerns from the age of 14, visiting her GP three years before her death to report experiencing panic attacks, OCD and intrusive thoughtsThe college where Lauren was a pupil is one of the country’s only state-run sixth form colleges to offer a boarding option and educates 2,250 students a year.Matthew Nolan, the college’s safeguarding lead, who joined the efforts to save her life, said Lauren had talked about wanting to die, sometimes describing how she would go about it.‘Lauren would regularly attend my office, crying, shaking and suggesting she was struggling,’ he said, in a written statement.Dr Daniel Shuttleworth, a consulting manager in the Intensive Care Unit who oversaw Lauren’s care, said that while her heart was successfully restarted, she failed to respond to external stimuli, and ultimately failed to regain consciousness.He gave the cause of death as a hypoxic brain injury caused by suspension.Following her death, one of Lauren’s friends revealed that she had confided in her that she had been sexually assaulted as a young child.But police then investigated Lauren’s diary entries and found two separate entries which undermined the claims.She had written: ‘I have suppressed feelings of guilt as I feel I have lied about being sexually abused as a cry for attention.’ And later: ‘I have never been sexually abused.’Recording a verdict of suicide, assistant coroner Vanessa McKinlay said that Lauren’s death had been an unimaginable loss to her family and friends, the staff of her college and to her fellow students, telling the court that the death would be felt far and wide.Ms McKinlay said Lauren had struggled to engage with therapy, despite regularly attending sessions with her key worker, and had met with psychologists on multiple occasions.‘No one could have seen what Lauren was going to do on that day,’ she added.For confidential support, call Samaritans for free on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or visit https://www.thecalmzone.net/get-support