A paranoid schizophrenic hanged himself after suffering a relapse, an inquest was told.
Carl Balcazar, 27, of Arnull’s Road, near Streatham Common, was found hanging in his room by his parents on Friday 3 last year.
At Croydon Coroner’s Court on Tuesday June 19, Dr Roy Palmer returned a verdict the troubled student killed himself while suffering from a psychotic illness.
The inquest heard Mr Balcazar attended the Tamworth Road Resource Centre, in Croydon, which offers support for people with mental health problems.
He had a history of self-harming and had previously been in hospital for an attempted suicide, the coroner was told.
He first came into contact with the psychological services in 2003, and continued to be treated by the NHS until 2011.
Dr Nigel Tunstall, a consultant psychologist at the Tamworth Road Centre, said Mr Balcazar displayed many psychotic symptoms.
He said: “He displayed somewhat fluctuating psychological symptoms including anxiety, delusional beliefs among others. In 2009 I reached the diagnosis he had schizophrenia.”
Mr Balcazar’s mum, Mrs Patricia Balcazar, told the inquest she had concerns about the standard of care her son received at the centre.
She questioned why there were not more discussions between the medical staff who treated Mr Balcazar and his family.
But Martin Collison, head of clinical pathway for recovery for the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, said since Mr Balcazar’s death they had implemented new measures to improve the service.
Mrs Balcazar later said: “The concerns we raised about Carl not having the benefit of seeing a senior psychologist after his relapses, the issues of poor time keeping and record keeping, seems to have been addressed.”
Dr Roy Palmer concluded Mr Balcazar’s death could not have been prevented.
He said: “It is sometimes difficult to predict the behaviour of people with this disease.”
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