Lynch called on to explore causes of suicide

Comments:

• by pat123

  on 11/10/2012

  I agree completely with JJGillespie. I had followed the case and the inquests and was very surprised that there was only one expert witness who gave evidence at the Shane Clancy inquest. I understand that Dr Healy’s views are, to say the least, controversial and do not conform to the views of other more prominent main line psychiatrists. It is understandable why the murderer’s mother has relied heavily on Healy’s opinion, as she is able to blame the drugs for her son’s death and for the cold blooded murder of another young man, as well as the attempted murder of two others. The inquest itself raised a lot of queries even to the untrained eyes. Healy presented his views to the Jury who were not trained psychiatrists without being questioned or cross examined. On the other hand, The College of Psychiatry of Ireland, was refused permission by the coroner to respond to Dr Healy’s "expert evidence" at the inquest. Was it a reasonable or fair way in what should have been an attempt to find out the truth? Was it responsible reporting for the media to use this theory as the headlines? Did the inquest look into the background of the deceased and his behaviour prior to taking the alleged drugs? Were the Jury told about how Clancy stalked his ex girlfriend for months and made her life a misery and even went to her father’s work place? Did the gardai give evidence about the reports that were made about Clancy’s behaviour? Were the numerous unposted letters and suicide note found in Clancy’s residence read out in the inquests? According to media reports, some of these were written months before the murder – and showed not just his obsession with his ex girlfriend but his plans for them “to walk hand in hand in heaven”. There are a lot of questions that remained to be answered. There is danger in overdosing on any drugs –even an overdose of paracetamol can cause liver failure. Shane Clancy may have overdosed on his drugs, but the events of the fateful evening may also indicate a calculated and planned murder. Clancy had engineered things such that he could drive the victim home to find out when he lived. He apparently asked for a knife to fix his shoes – but was refused. He then went to Dunnes Stores Cornelscourt,bought a set of knives and returned to Bray to commit the crime. Perhaps it was more a case of “Spurned Love that turned to Hate and Murderous Rage” as one news paper put it, rather then a case of drug induced violence.

• by JJGillespie

  on 13/09/2012

  This article isn't telling the full story. Ms Fennell's son murdered Seb Creane in Bray, Co. Wicklow. He also stabbed Jennifer Hannigan and Seb's brother Dylan in the bloodbath before sticking the knife in his own heart. This all happened in the Creane family home. He was obsessed with Jennifer Hannigan and Seb Creane for months, to the point where complaints had been made about his stalking to gardai on a number of occasions. I find it very difficult to blame drugs for all that behaviour. From what I understand there are now huge doubts about the Inquest into Shane Clancy death (http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0611/mother-of-murder-victim-in-inquest-proceedings.html) Given that Ms Fennell's son brought such misery to the Hannigan and Creane families, I would be interested to know if there opinion was sought before this article was printed. In my opinion, Ms Fennell's attempts to have herself seen as some sort of suicide campaigner seem to have little regard for the feelings of these families and that is shameful.

• by Amob1

  on 13/09/2012

  According to Dr Peter Breggin "anti-depressants"/SSRIs can lead to suicide, violence or mania: http://www.breggin.com/31-49.pdf The real danger times are starting these drugs and stopping them. Leonie Fennell does lots of great work in trying to highlight the dangers of psychoactive drugs. I myself developed symptoms of Manic Depression/Bipolar while on the same drug as Shane Clancy ie Cipramil which also comes under the name Citalopram, Celexa or Ciprager. Then when I showed symptoms of "mania" I was locked away like a common criminal in a backwater Psychiatric hospital, even though I had not endangered my own life or those around me. I was then given powerful "anti-psychotics" or "mood stabilisers" which are in fact tranquilizers. The drugs I was given ie Zyprexa and Seroquel have lawsuits against the makers due to their link to rapid weight gain, diabetes etc (check New York Times for details). I was basically turned into a prescription drug addict until I finally became "enlightened" and started to see the corruption that I was dealing with. They had me on benzos, sleeping pills, Lithium, Lamictal, Zyprexa, Seroquel and the list goes on. Meeting Professor Ivor Browne 6 months ago and been told that I am not mentally ill was a turning point for me. While I struggle from time to time with sleep, anxiety, lasting side effects and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from my treatment by the "mental health system" I no longer take their drugs or attend their services as it was actually causing mental health problems! Never stop or change medication without consulting a doctor that knows what he or she is doing, due to withdrawal. I lost my career and my relationship with family have been severely affected by how my first admission was handled, but I will struggle on. I feel sane in an insane world. What I experienced was mans inhumanity to man. It is even in the DSM that "anti-depressants" can lead to mania but Psychiatry withheld that vital information from me until I finally figured it out for myself, by doing my research. Which leaves me wondering about the close links between Psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry. Less that 10% of Consultant Psychiatrists are trained in Psychotherapy. So instead of actually listening to the person they will sometimes just sit there and judge and may be even adding extra labels behind your back. Something I found out when I got my records under Freedom of Information. Getting records is something that should be done with caution as it can cause great trauma when you find out what the system is really like and what was been done behind your back. A person would need to be physically and psychologically prepared for such a thing and have lots of support around them.