A 17-year-old high school student died by suicide just hours after reading the contents of her mental health records.
Maya Cassady filed a freedom of information request for her medical information through Vancouver Coastal Health in March 2023 – just two months before she was due to graduate from high school.
Maya had been accepted into her dream school in the Netherlands and had plans to study European law.
However, her future was immediately cut short the day her records arrived in the mailbox, as her heartbroken mother, Hilary Cassady, called it ‘the ultimate trigger that led to her death.’
The Vancouver teen had been admitted to Lions Gate Hospital for a four-day stay the month prior and eventually requested the records from that visit.
Maya was treated for an acetaminophen overdose which doctors concluded was an attempted suicide, according to CTV News.
During her stay, doctors listed Maya’s diagnosis as ‘chronic dysthymia vs unspecified depressive disorder.’ They classified the teen as ‘not acutely suicidal.’
Cassady concluded that her daughter began researching her diagnoses on the internet immediately after getting her hands on the records a month later.
Her friends had seen her pouring over the documents on her commute to school and during her free period.
Maya Cassady took her own life after receiving medical records detailing her mental health issues
Maya searched, ‘Is persistent depressive disorder lifelong?’ and googled specific mental illnesses that were listed on her chart, including bipolar II.
Cassady, for her part, found that the last search on her daughter’s phone concluded that her symptoms were ‘untreatable.’
‘She had given up hope when she felt that her diagnosis was untreatable — that was the response when she Google searched some of the terminology in the report,’ Cassady told CTV.
She first became aware of her daughter’s mental health issues in 2020 when the then 15-year-old called the suicide help line.
The grieving mother knew of her daughter’s major depressive disorder diagnosis, but had no idea that a bipolar disorder diagnosis had been considered by doctors.
Maya requested her records after a four day stay at Lions Gate Hospital in Vancouver
‘I went every time my daughter was hospitalized. I went and sat with the psychiatrist,’ Cassady told the outlet.
‘I even took recordings so I wouldn’t miss anything, and I can tell you that terminology was never discussed with me either.’
In most of British Columbia where Maya was treated, patients are allowed to request medical records without a legal guardian at age 12.
There are protections in place to shield minors from medical information that could ‘result in immediate and grave harm to the applicant’s safety or mental or physical health,’ the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of B.C told CTV.
However, because thousands of requests come through each day and most don’t pose a threat, not all requests can be thoroughly screened.
The teen requested access to her medical files through Vancouver Coastal Health
After her daughter’s death, Cassady launched the Maya Veronica Cassady Mental Health Wellness Fund, which provides financial aid to one student each year as they work to improve their mental health.
‘The award is to help provide hope and support to students on their personal journey towards mental wellness,’ read the website.
Along with the fund, Cassady proposed that any teen that is granted access to their records meet with a medical professional to better understand the prognosis, options, and terminology.
‘Teens want control over their treatment and want to understand what is happening to them,’ she said.
Cassady has written to her representatives and continued to be an outspoken advocate for teen’s mental health.
Maya is remembered by her loved ones as ‘witty, spicy, fun, bright, caring and beautiful.’
Cassady said, ‘She was my “mini-me” and I miss her so much.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to the West Vancouver Foundation, and Vancouver Coastal Health for comment.
For help and support call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline on 988
