THE story of student Emily Stiff who died when severely depressed and unwell is a tragedy too often repeated elsewhere.

Her father is absolutely right to say (Oxford Mail, July 22) that the policy of confidentiality is applied way beyond common sense or reason.

Sadly her story is all too common.

It is totally unreasonable to expect anyone suffering from a psychotic illness like bipolar to be the best judge of what is good for them.

Families have a huge role to play and need to be told how best to help their family members, not excluded from information that might help them to cope – and sometimes prevent a tragedy.

When my daughter, aged 25, showed severe symptoms of bipolar, I was told “she is 25, she can make her own decisions”.

Those decisions eventually led to her taking her own life, never having received treatment for her illness.

That was 20 years ago and it seems that depressingly little progress has been made since then.

Excellent research is being done in Oxford and elsewhere into causes and treatment for bipolar and other psychotic illnesses, but the issue of confidentiality needs to be reconsidered.

There is still stigma about mental illness, still a lack of understanding that sufferers are not responsible for their actions when ill.

I profoundly hope that the NHS will review its policy in this area and enable GPs and psychiatrists to work more openly, when appropriate, with families as well as the patient even when the patient is of an age usually thought to be old enough to look after themselves.

JEAN FOOKS
St Bernard’s Road, Oxford