Olivia Podmore inquest: Doctor sobs on the stand

An inquest into the suspected suicide of Olivia Podmore has heard she was burned out by exhaustion and presenting as having severe anxiety and depression three months before her death. Photo / Photosport

By Natalie Akoorie of RNZ

This story discusses mental health and suicide. A list of helplines is available at the bottom of the page.

An inquest into the suspected suicide of Olivia Podmore has heard she was burned out by exhaustion and presenting as having severe anxiety and depression three months before her death.

It was also unclear whether any mental health support was put in place for the elite sprint cyclist while her usual practitioners were at the Tokyo Olympics in August 2021.

At the same time Podmore, who had been severely bullied within the Cycling New Zealand programme after inadvertently exposing an affair between a coach and athlete five years earlier, came off her anti-depressant medication.

The 24-year-old died on 9 August 2021, the day after the conclusion of the Olympics, which she had not been selected for.

On the fourth day of the three-week inquest, the Coroner’s Court heard Podmore was prescribed the anti-depressant paroxetine in April 2021.

She was referred to an external clinical psychologist who she told the medication made her feel like a “space cadet”.

At the first consultation in early May, Podmore tested extremely severe for anxiety, severe for depression and moderate for stress.

The psychologist, who has name suppression, said she attributed the depression symptoms to burnout because Podmore was training 25 hours a week and working 30 hours a week, though she was constantly on-call.

A week later she cancelled the second appointment and a week after that she returned to the psychologist, telling her she was much improved and discharging herself from further sessions despite being funded for six.

Counsel assisting Coroner Louella Dunn, Laura O’Dwyer, asked whether the psychologist thought it was unusual that Podmore’s mood had turned around within two weeks.

The woman said she “absolutely believed” by the second session Podmore “was in a better place and I thought she was on an upward trajectory”, though she still asked a sports doctor to follow up.

She believed Podmore when the Rio Olympian said she was not having suicidal thoughts and the psychologist put in place a safety plan to “remove means”.

She thought she and Podmore had a good rapport but a GP, who also has name suppression, told the inquest Podmore said she did not connect with the psychologist.

The court heard Podmore may have been masking her symptoms to avoid continuing the sessions.

Podmore was the fifth athlete referred to the psychologist by High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ) in six months.

By early June 2021, Podmore was complaining of heart palpitations and chest pain and a cardiologist suggested she come off the paroxetine.

The GP overseeing Podmore’s care since mid-May suggested a gradual reduction, however friend Nicholle Bailey earlier told the inquest Podmore said she had “gone cold turkey”.

The palpitations stopped but her low mood continued and the doctor planned to review her regularly.

By June, Podmore told the GP she needed a break and took a week to return home from Cambridge to Christchurch in the hope she would feel better.

“My head and most importantly my heart are not healthy, and I need time away from the velodrome and worth the shot as it did the trick last year,” she wrote in an email to the doctor.

The GP assessed Podmore as being at low risk of suicide but did not know she had told other practitioners about suicidal thoughts, including two different ways she could action those thoughts.

When the doctor realised a different psychologist Podmore was seeing was focused on sport health, she strongly suggested Podmore access a clinical psychologist at HPSNZ.

She also discussed a new anti-depressant but Podmore preferred to remain off the medication.

When asked whether she checked what support Podmore would have while the other psychologist and HPSNZ clinical psychologist were at the Tokyo Olympics, the GP said she wasn’t sure what psychological support was in place.

The GP scheduled two follow-up appointments over the next two weeks, both of which Podmore cancelled.

On 14 July, she met with the doctor again to discuss referral to a psychiatrist for an ADHD diagnosis, saying she had experienced symptoms such as difficulty concentrating and processing information, being easily distracted from tasks and feeling restless, which she had had for years.

Before she could see the psychiatrist on 30 August, Podmore died by suspected suicide, a day after watching a teammate she could beat win a medal and an endurance rider who took the sprint spot at the games return a poor sprint time.

The GP’s last correspondence with Podmore was a query from her asking whether insurance would cover the cost of the psychiatrist’s appointment.

“I just want to say I was really shocked when Olivia passed away and I just want to offer my condolences to the family,” she sobbed.

- RNZ

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