As the number of abuse victims in England and Wales taking their own lives rises, pressure is mounting on coroners to acknowledge the role violence, control and coercion can play

Roisin, the only child of Dr Tony Bennett and Margaret Hunter, went to her bedroom in Darlington on 7 March 2022 and attempted to take her own life. She died in hospital nine days later, at the age of 19.

Roisin, known as “Roi”, excelled at sports; she was popular and had received high marks as one of the youngest students to study for ­dispensing optician exams. She had no record of self-harming, ­mental illness or attempted suicide. Her ambition was to go to university and qualify as an optician. Roisin had a warm, supportive family. So what prompted her to take her own life?

The use of the drugs in treating low mood has sparked debate, not least about the necessity of a hallucinogenic experience. But a new discovery may provide an answer

Robitussin has been a staple of American pharmacies since the late 1940s – but since the 1960s, people have swigged bottles of the cough medicine recreationally because, at a high enough dose, its active ingredient, dextromethorphan, can cause hallucinations (so-called “robotripping”). Now, that ingredient, common to many cough medications, has a potential new use – as an antidepressant.

In recent years, studies have found that conventional antidepressants are only marginally more effective than biologically inactive placebos. Meanwhile, big pharmaceutical companies conduct very little research into mental health drugs. So researchers and sufferers have instead placed their hopes in psychedelic drugs usually considered hallucinatory, such as psilocybin or LSD. Yet the evidence of their effectiveness as an antidepressant comes from small trials, one of the largest involving just 233 people – and no national government medicine regulator has formally approved them for this use. Against this backdrop, a legitimate drug company has quietly moved dextromethorphan beyond robotripping into a, legally approved depression treatment – but with an important twist.

Finally, a report has listed the long-term health complications for women worldwide – and the NHS should take note

Birth is usually a time of celebration, when we recognise the miracle of life as a child is brought into the world. In Britain, childbirth used to be a much more fraught experience, with a high risk of death for mother and baby. But scientific progress and modern medicine have reduced infant deaths for every 1,000 live births from 31.7 in 1950 to just four by 2020. Deaths are relatively higher than Finland’s and Japan’s infant mortality rates, of about two for every 1,000, but much lower than Afghanistan at 103.1.

Once a woman and her baby survive childbirth, several weeks of follow-up is routine in many countries to ensure that any urgent health issues are resolved. This six- to eight-week period is called postnatal care, as women recover from their labour and delivery, especially if they’ve had a C-section or episiotomy. But what happens to new mothers after that handful of weeks? They usually disappear from the health system and are left on their own to cope with recovery.

Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh