TikTok star assessed as 'high risk', inquest told
A TikTok star who died after taking a poisonous substance she ordered online was assessed as being "high risk" two days before her death, an inquest has heard.
Imogen Nunn, who died at her Brighton flat on New Year's Day in 2023, had struggled with her mental health from the age of 14.
The 25-year-old, known as Immy, posted videos about mental health and being deaf on her TikTok account, which had almost 780,000 followers.
An inquest into her death at West Sussex Coroner's Court on Wednesday heard that her care co-coordinator, Ray McCullagh, said she had "mentioned ingesting poison in the past".
Warning: Contains distressing content
The inquest heard that Ms Nunn told her psychologist on 30 December 2022 that she expressed "strong thoughts of taking her own life by drinking poison".
Following the meeting, her psychologist described her as "high risk", and Ms Nunn agreed to go to a mental health facility.
The inquest heard Mr McCullagh, who then worked at Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, did not meet her and her admission never took place.
Mr McCullagh said he attended a care package review with Ms Nunn on 13 December 2022 and said she requested the support to be reduced.
The inquest heard that Ms Nunn sent Mr McCullagh a text message on 29 December asking to be admitted to a ward with sign language.
It said: "I'm losing the plot. I've tried the second resort and it didn't work. I know I can easily go into the last resort and I don't want to."
Mr McCullagh told the coroner he was unsure what "second resort" meant.
He arranged a home visit on 29 December and noticed she had self-harm wounds on her forearm.
The inquest heard Ms Nunn agreed to go to A&E at Royal Sussex County Hospital with Mr McCullagh and her consultant psychiatrist, Dr Simon Baker.
Mr McCullagh said he stayed in A&E with Ms Nunn and spoke to the hospital's mental health team.
The inquest heard Ms Nunn walked out of hospital before being seen by staff.
The following day, Mr McCullagh emailed Ms Nunn's psychologist Julia Lord from the Deaf Adult Community Team (DACT).
The inquest heard Ms Nunn met Ms Lord on the same day and told her she "did not feel safe" and had "a plan to take her own life" by drinking poison, but she denied possessing any chemicals at the time.
Additional reporting by PA Media.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story you can visit BBC Action Line.
Follow BBC Sussex on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.
TikTok star's death was 'avoidable', say family
West Sussex Coroner's Court
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Local, prominent hearing group to close
WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) – A medical office specializing in hearing/ENT care is closing due to a medical emergency. Read next: Ohio bill consolidates property tax issue into one proposal The Lippy Group and the Lippy Group Hearing Aid Center in Warren will be permanently closing on June 20. The closure is due to a medical emergency involving the primary physician, Dr. Berenholz, and the office can no longer serve patients. 'This was a very difficult decision for both Dr. Berenholz and the staff who have dedicated many years to this practice,' the office staff wrote in a Facebook post. Patients can call ahead and make arrangements to pick up medical records at 330-856-4000. The records will be available by pre-arranged pickup only. This closure does not impact or include the Lippy Surgery Center. The surgery center remains open. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
TikTok Banned #Skinnytok — But the Pressure on Teen Girls Just Rebranded
TikTok just made a move aimed to help protect teen girls' mental health — but it feels like too little, too late. The social media app announced that they banned the hashtag 'SkinnyTok' from being searched worldwide after pressure from European policymakers. According to Politico, the TikTok ban happened because of the popularity of 'SkinnyTok,' with young women promoting extreme diets and weight loss tips. '[We] have blocked search results for #skinnytok since it has become linked to unhealthy weight loss content,' TikTok spokesperson Paolo Ganino said in a statement Monday. More from SheKnows Why the 'Yes You Can' TikTok Trend Has Parents of Tween & Teen Girls Sounding the Alarm One of SheKnows Teen Council Members named Juliet wrote an essay about how SkinnyTok has had an influence on her and her friends. Like ahead of prom, when a friend told her she was 'prepping' by running daily and eating only a protein bar and small dinner. 'I asked her how she got this idea, and she showed me a video on SkinnyTok,' Juliet wrote. 'After watching the video that inspired my friend, I was hooked on this account. I scrolled through for an hour, looking at all this woman's tips and tricks. And when I got up to look in the mirror afterwards, I was about twenty pounds heavier than I was twenty minutes earlier — or at least, that's how it felt.' It's great that TikTok is making a move to discourage this behavior, but it's not enough. As a survivor of the early 2000s-diet culture, I am intimately familiar with the harm an obsession with weight can do to teen and tween girls. We've had a run of body positivity that was encouraging for a time in the late 2010s, but it seems like society has made a full 360 turn back to promoting skinniness above all else. This has been pushed largely by the popularity of GLP-1 medications like Ozempic that is being touted by celebrities — Megan Trainor even changed the lyrics of her positive 'All About That Bass' lyrics change now that she more closely resembles the 'stick-figure, silicone Barbie doll' standard that she once spoke out against. But outside of the celebrity world, real teens (and even grown women) are promoting the skinny standard online, especially on video-sharing platforms like TikTok. A 2024 study found that it takes just 8 minutes for young women to be negatively affected by eating disorder content on TikTok. Eight minutes!? I'm shocked, but I'm not surprised. Seeing your friends and influencers talk about their obsessive health routines, the 'toxic' foods they cut out from their lives, and the importance of fasting or doing extreme exercise routines — it's hard to ignore that or not compare yourself to those impossible standards. 'Diet culture is a multi-billion dollar industry,' Sammi Farber, a psychotherapist, coach, and TikToker who specializes in helping clients recover from eating disorders, previously told SheKnows. 'Children, young adults, and teens don't realize that what they're watching is quite literally brainwashing them in a matter of seconds.' Search 'SkinnyTok' now, and you'll be directed to resources like the National Alliance for Eating Disorders, per Teen Vogue. But something else will surely take its place, like when 'suicide' was banned from searches, so people started writing and searched 'unalived' instead. What we need is a larger cultural shift away from 'skinny is the golden standard' mindset. We need more diverse body representation, a bigger push on body acceptance, and conversations that call out harmful advice or ideas in the name of 'health' or 'wellness.' No, it's not OK to drink coffee all day instead of eating. It's not healthy or cute to starve yourself, and it definitely shouldn't be normalized. One 2024 study found that individuals with eating disorders were pushed 4343% more toxic disordered eating videos than others, including 335% more dieting videos and 142% more exercise videos. Even though SkinnyTok is no longer allowed, the mindset behind it is, so it's only a matter of time before a new trend takes its place. It's like a game of whack-a-mole; as soon as you squash one thing, another pops up. TikTokers are posting health or fitness 'inspo' that basically glamorizes disordered eating. Like when they post about everything they eat in a day, or when they asked followers to share 'their most unhinged diet tips' that include harmful behavior and tips on eating less to achieve a certain look. (I saw one that recommended you eat all your meals in a bikini to motivate you to eat less.) It's scary. I'm not nearly as impressionable as a teen, but even I am susceptible to obsessing over the way my body looks and feeling shamed for eating whatever food is deemed unhealthy this week after being on TikTok. It's important for parents to talk to their teens and tween about body positivity, the dangers of eating disorders, and learning how to recognize (and call out!) toxic dieting trends. If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, call the National Alliance for Eating Disorders confidential helpline at of SheKnows These '90s Girl Names Are All That and a Bag of Chips 26 Stunning, Unique Jewelry Brands & Pieces for Teens 19 Celebrity Parents With Trans & Nonbinary Kids
Buzz Feed
5 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
Take On Me Singer Morten Harket Said He Has Parkinson's Disease
Morten Harket, who for more than 40 years has been the frontman of the Grammy-nominated Norwegian pop trio a-ha, confirmed this week that he has Parkinson's disease. Harket, 65, made the announcement Wednesday by sharing an article written by music journalist and author Jan Omdahl on a-ha's official website. In it, the singer-songwriter said he'd been experiencing vocal issues as a result of his condition, and admitted he was unsure about a return to the concert stage. 'The problems with my voice are one of many grounds for uncertainty about my creative future,' he said. Though Harket said he had 'no problem accepting the diagnosis,' he added, 'I'm trying the best I can to prevent my entire system from going into decline. It's a difficult balancing act between taking the medication and managing its side effects. There's so much to weigh up when you're emulating the masterful way the body handles every complex movement, or social matters and invitations, or day-to-day life in general.' A native of Kongsberg, Norway, Harket formed a-ha with keyboardist Magne Furuholmen and guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy in 1982. Three years later, the band catapulted to international fame with their breakout smash, ' Take On Me.' The song's success was buoyed by its now-iconic music video, which combined live-action performance footage with pencil-sketch animation. Though a-ha never replicated the success of 'Take On Me' on a global scale, the band continued to release music throughout the '80s and '90s. In 1991, they broke the world record for paid attendance at a rock concert when they performed before more than 198,000 fans at Brazil's Rock in Rio festival. Their 11th studio album, True North, was unveiled in 2022. There is no cure for Parkinson's, a neurodegenerative disease that can cause muscle stiffness, impaired speech and uncontrolled movement. The disease can be revealed by a mere tremor of the hand, according to the Mayo Clinic. Furuholmen reacted to Harket's announcement with a heartfelt post on Instagram. Acknowledging he'd known about his bandmate's diagnosis 'for some time,' he said the news 'brings sadness,' but stressed 'there is also a lot of gratitude: for all the amazing memories, for how our combined creative efforts as a band have been so generously embraced by the world, and for how lucky we are that people continue to find meaning, hope and joy in our shared musical legacy.' In his chat with Omdahl, Harket said he didn't expect to regain 'full technical control' over his vocals, but had nonetheless been working on new songs 'that I've got great belief in, and I feel the lyrics, especially, have something of a different aspect of me in them.' United Archives / United Archives via Getty Images 'I'm not sure if I'll be able to finish them for release,' he continued. 'Time will tell if they make it. I really like the idea of just going for it, as a Parkinson's patient and an artist, with something completely outside the box. It's all up to me, I just have to get this out of the way first.'
