The Philadelphia Inquirer posted a 28-year-old talented painter from Mount Airy, Angelique Benrahous, had been involuntarily admitted to a mental health facility 18 days beforehand. 

Her parents shared that she had been fighting deranged panic and suicidal thoughts resulting from bipolar and schizoaffective illnesses. The psychiatrist on the line reported that Benrahous had suffered cardiac arrest.

Hospital Negligence and Suicide

She was struggling to survive at the main Campus of Temple University Hospital, and Episcopal is part of a broader structure that oversees it.

The Benrahous would have to wait another day to learn that Angelique had tried to commit suicide, her parents argue in a lawsuit they plan to file against the hospital. 

They have information that the aide tasked to monitor her every 15 minutes had left her alone in her room for approximately 45 minutes, the suit asserts. The family made a tough decision to remove the life support on April 8, which is considered suicide. 

The Episcopal and other psychiatric hospitals pledged to prevent suicide, and they want it to be the first and last case. Benrahou's death, according to her parents, was a "never event" or "sentinel event" — an error that was so preventable and severe that it revealed significant flaws in the healthcare system.

New Cases of Suicide

Months after her death, two more suicides were reported, one has a similar case to Benrahou's and two fires started by patients. 

Even though the state has published extensive investigations into these later instances, approximately 600 days after Benrahou's death, there are no publicly available reports online about her suicide. 

Neither Temple nor state officials would clarify whether the state had investigated her death or whether Temple had reported it as needed.

According to state investigators, policy failures, staffing shortages, poor-quality facilities at Episcopal are the primary reasons for two later suicide and fires. They depict an overburdened hospital dealing with two crises at once: the epidemic and its dangerous conditions. 

Suicide and Mental Health Issue in the U.S.

Suicide is a primary public concern and the leading cause of death in the U.S. According to the updated data, the number of cases is increasing. Death caused by self-directed harmful behavior with the purpose to die as a result of the behavior is characterized as suicide.

A suicide attempt is a harmful behavior or may not result in injury with the purpose to die, and suicidal ideation is thinking or planning to die. The level of anxiety and depression is increasing as the pandemic relentlessly persists in the U.S. since March of 2021. 

Loneliness and isolation are fueling this alarming trend. We're also witnessing an alarming number of children reporting suicidal and self-harming intentions. 

The 2021 State of Mental Health in America confirmed that mental health in America is getting worse, and many states are incapable of taking care of the crisis. The authorities need to take action as soon as possible.