The former assistant professor charged with prostitution who died in an apparent suicide may have hinted at her intentions, but she faced mounting troubles that psychiatrists look out for.
“She was obviously in a very stressful situation and had a history of what most of us would consider very unusual behavior,” Johns Hopkins Medical Institutes assistant professor of psychiatry Jennifer Payne said.
Brandy Britton, 43, was found hanged to death Saturday in her Ellicott City home, Howard County police said. She faced eviction proceedings this week in addition to four counts of prostitution.
Payne said stress and seemingly insurmountable obstacles can drive otherwise healthy people to commit suicide instead of seeking help.
“If someone has a very stressful life situation and doesn?t have a psychiatric disorder, giving them supportive care such as counseling can be very helpful,” she said. Without knowing whether Britton was receiving psychiatric treatment, knowing whether her death could have been prevented is impossible, she said.
In 2004, 500 suicides occurred in Maryland, according to the American Association of Suicidology. In 2006, prominent newspaper publisher Philip Merrill took his own life with a shotgun while sailing on the Chesapeake Bay.
No one course of treatment or therapy is recommended for individuals suspected of suicidal thoughts or tendencies, she said. Whether the person has a history of mood or personality disorders would make a big difference in any treatment.
Genetic markers can indicate whether someone has an “impulsivity” gene that increases the risk of an unexpected suicide, but “there isn?t a pill you can take that decreases the risk of suicide,” Payne said.
