SA inquest into death of schoolboy

The Adelaide father of a 15-year-old schoolboy who took his own life has described their visit to a child psychiatrist as a waste of time.

David Horsman said he accompanied Jason Hugo-Horsman on the boy's third visit to Dr Susan Shannon because his son wanted to ask about being put on antidepressants rather than Diazepam.

He was giving evidence on Monday at the inquest into the death of his son, who took his own life in October 2010 at his Mt Barker home, when the rest of the family was at a birthday party.

During the August 2010 visit, Mr Horsman said, he told Dr Shannon of Jason assaulting his mother, of his being arrested after waving a knife at police and of police telling him that Jason reported taking an overdose of pain killers the previous day.

He also told her of two occasions when Jason had become so upset that he had become incoherent and lost the ability to speak.

The doctor said if he overdosed again to take him to hospital, but "made no other comment on the other things I raised", he said.

"Dr Shannon said she did not see a need to see Jason any more," he said.

"If Jason felt he wanted to see her, he was welcome but she saw no need to see Jason again."

Mr Horsman said he thought the doctor assumed Jason would return to seeing his social worker who had returned from holidays, but Jason did not see anyone after that session.

The doctor also said, because of the increased risk of suicide ideation, antidepressants were not normally prescribed to teenagers.

Mr Horsman said he later spoke to his son about the risks of antidepressants and suicide.

"I said `I love you so much, if you did anything like that I would not be able to function any more', he said.

He told Jason he agreed that the visit had been a waste of time.

Counsel assisting, Tim Griffin, said Jason's mental health declined in 2010, when he struggled with issues including school, anxiety and depression and anger management.

Witnesses would include his social worker, GP, school counsellor and psychiatrist, as well as two experts who reviewed the case.

They "will express their own concerns about the diagnosis and levels of treatment afforded to Jason", he said.

But he noted that a great deal of information about Jason's state of mind was not discovered until after his death from sources including handwritten notes, pictures and Facebook entries.

The inquest is continuing.

* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention an contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.