suicides of medical student Raudha Athif, 21 Elsa Scaburri, 21 Miranda Williams, 19, deja vu

Miranda's family say she took her own life just three weeks into her first term.

She was studying philosophy and was a member of the Jazz Funk Soul Bristol society, according to an email to students from the students' union announcing her death.

An online fundraising page set up following her death said she passed away three days after she "decided to take her own life" on October 10.

A message on the page from Emily Williams, understood to be her 22-year-old sister, said the family blamed her death on the stigma against anxiety and depression.

The page, which has raised more than £7,000 for PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide charity against a target of just £2000, said: "Miranda suffered with depression and anxiety a lot of her teenage life.

"She was an amazing person, and I am truly not just saying that, she had so many friends, and so many people who loved her but on October 10th, after 3 weeks at University, she decided to take her own life.

"She died on October 13th 2016. We blame the stigma of her illness for her death. It restricted the help she got, the support and the understanding.

It said she "passed away peacefully" at the Bristol Royal Infirmary with her family by her side.

It added support was available for students and said: "Shock, grief and understanding what has happened will affect us all differently.

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/bristol-university-student-who-took-15525

sun wrote:
MIRANDA WILLIAMS was excited. A new life, new friends, new interests and new opportunities ­beckoned at university.

Bright and vivacious, the 19-year-old had had a tough time with depression during her A-levels but she had done well, getting two As and a B.

Miranda Williams, above centre with mum Nikki, right and sister Emily took her life just three weeks into the first term of her philosophy degree

It was enough to land her a sought-after place at Bristol University, and having achieved her goal she spent the summer in good ­spirits having fun with her family.

Then, just three weeks into the first term of her philosophy degree, Miranda killed herself. The cause of death has not yet been established.

Her passing devastated her family, who only found out she was critically ill in hospital via Facebook, but also sent shockwaves through the ­university. But the tragedy was not an ­isolated incident.

The suicides have highlighted a mental health crisis among young people, with many facing increasing demands to “do well” and achieve academic excellence.

Miranda’s mother Nikki told The Sun: “There are so many pressures on young people today, in particular on students.” She added that the stigma around mental ­illness was just making it harder, with students too proud — or simply too afraid — to be honest about their feelings.

Tragically, the risk signs for Miranda were missed. Mum Nikki said: “She was special to us but not so ­different from many other young people.

“Miranda was known for her wit and ironic sense of humour. She loved films, music, Japanese cookery, ­writing poems and ­stories and gaming on PlayStation.

“She couldn’t pass a person in trouble without wanting to help, so it was no surprise she was an organ donor.

“Miranda would never have wanted to cause me, her dad or her sister Emily any hurt, and that was the trouble — she didn’t want to worry other people. She didn’t want us to be afraid.

“She didn’t want to be a burden so she tried her best to cope by herself — and it didn’t work. I have since found there are around 1,600 young people who take their lives each year in the UK. There is help available, and they do look for it, but young ­people are so worried about the opinions of peers and maintaining this image of success, happiness and popularity.

“They don’t feel able to tell others when things are going wrong.

“It’s particularly difficult for those who had a history of depression or anxiety at school — which is ­becoming more common — because they don’t want to start off uni on a bad footing.

“Miranda had made a really good recovery, we thought, from a bad time during her A-levels.

“She had lovely friends and a boyfriend and obviously a family that loved her very much.


“But when it came to things starting to fall apart for her in Bristol for those three weeks, there doesn’t seem to have been a soul she felt able to turn to and tell how she felt. I have since looked at websites for parents who have lost children in this way and there seems to be a common thread that they try to cope with the pressures on their own.

“And then, finally, it gets to a stage when they decide the best choice is oblivion — and that, unfortunately, was the choice Miranda made that day.”

She added: “There is a whole raft of things around the care of new undergraduates that I think Bristol University is taking on board.

“But universities vary and some seem to monitor the attendance and wellbeing of their new students very closely and others seem to treat them like adults who have just moved into a hotel to study. They don’t really take any ­responsibility, right down to the fact that the university did not ring and tell us that she had been admitted to hospital critically ill.

“We were in the dark for hours as to what had happened. We found out off Facebook.”
 
It is now four months since Miranda’s death but Nikki said: “The pain of losing her has never left our family. We are still in shock.

“You feel very alone at first, but now I have realised I am not ­particularly alone. There are around 1,600 families a year who go through this.

“Many of them feel ashamed, and because suicide was a crime until 1961 there is still a strange attitude among some people that it must be your fault somehow, or that there is a genetic fault in your family.

“Years ago people didn’t talk about cancer and it was a taboo subject but now it is common ­currency, and mental health ­problems should be like that.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2838174/is-a-cocktail-of-ballooning-costs-stigmatisation-of-mental-health-problems-and-academic-pressure-killing-our-kids/

Kathryn Bell wrote:

Miranda was a unique girl, with a wicked sense of humour. I will always treasure the memories I have of beach trips, and playing 'secret agents' in the park with her and Emily. She was loved by so many people. Unfortunately, in her teenage years she suffered badly with depression and anxiety, and while at university decided she could no longer cope, and took her own life.