A WOMAN with a long history of mental health issues who was found in a river, took her own life, an inquest heard.

Tracey Wood, 47, was discovered dead in the River Eden in Carlisle on October 9 during a search operation.

An inquest into her death held at Cockermouth Coroners’ Court heard she had suffered with anxiety and depression and had tried to take her own life on numerous occasions.

Ms Wood, from Carlisle, had been struggling for six years and was known to the crisis team. Her suicide attempts had increased and she was on numerous medications for her mental health.

A statement from Duncan Sanders at the North Cumbria Rescue Response Team said he had been tasked with continuing the search for Ms Wood on the morning of October 9, after an unsuccessful search the day before.

He said a decision was made to “float down” to replicate a person in the water. Ms Wood’s body was found and recovered from the water.

A statement from Jane Moody, a specialist nurse in the mental health team at the NHS Trust responsible for Ms Wood’s care, said she had a long history of psychological struggles and attempts at self-harm. Her behaviour was sometimes “chaotic”.

She took overdoses in June and July last year and continued to present herself at A&E in August.

The following month, Ms Wood said the recent overdoses had given her a “wake-up call” and she “had too much to live for”.

She said she “needed to sort herself out”  and felt she “needed to do this without the crisis team”.

Ms Wood said she didn’t feel it would “add any benefit to her situation” and she was discharged from the service in September. She agreed to a referral to an alcohol support service.

Ms Moody said that Ms Wood was disengaging with health services and the cycle of drink and self-harm “became too difficult to break”.

She had not received a face-to-face appointment at the time of being discharged from the mental health team.

Ms Wood’s family queried if this should have been done, given her mental health history.

Coroner Dr Nicholas Shaw said: “She has not been cast out. She has ongoing support.

“Ultimately, she has to change her life. You can’t change it for her.”

A toxicology report showed Ms Wood had a small amount of alcohol in her system and prescribed medications. There was nothing to suggest she had taken more medication than she should have.

Dr Shaw concluded that Ms Wood died by suicide.

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