A 21 year-old Swansea University student who adopted a vegan diet over environmental concerns killed herself after developing delusional beliefs linked to her plant-based diet, an inquest has found. The Mail has the story.
Georgina Owen, 21, of Saffron Walden in Essex, had been following a plant-based diet since 2016 “stemming from her environmental concerns”, but was suffering from a B12 deficiency in the final months of her life.
The University of Swansea student – described as “vibrant, [and] full of enthusiasm” – took her own life in September 2019, a month after her family noticed she had not been taking her vitamin B12 supplements for at least half a year.
Shellfish, meat, dairy and eggs are all rich in the nutrient, which is essential for the production of red blood cells and the maintenance of the nervous system and DNA.
But it is hard to obtain via an exclusively vegan diet, and vegans must source it from supplements or fortified foods. A deficiency can lead to anaemia and both neurological and psychological issues.
Owen told her family she had “forgotten” to take her supplements but had bought an “organic” Methyl-cobalamin B12 spray from Canada to top herself up. A coroner’s court heard, however, that post-mortem blood tests showed she was B12 deficient.
Elizabeth Gray, Area Coroner for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, reported that Owen had demonstrated “unusually erratic behaviour” in the period leading up to her death, and that her personal diaries showed a “deterioration” in her mental health.
She said: “Miss Owen’s family reported that in the recent period before her death she had [been] dwelling on the state of the world and her place in it.
“Miss Owen was meditating frequently, and that she had reported to her family a recent meditation event where she had experienced an out of body experience which she had found to be very distressing.”
Her family arranged psychological support for what they recognised as anxiety, and planned to drive her back to Wales on September 19th 2019 as she prepared to resume her studies, having planned to go surfing over the weekend.
Later that same day, she was found hanged at her home address. Medics resuscitated her using CPR and she was transported to Cambridge’s Addenbrooke’s Hospital, where she died two days later.
Gray noted that investigations were carried out after her death to assess whether she had been deficient in vitamin B12 “as a result of her vegan diet” and, if so, whether the deficiency caused her to suffer “psychiatric manifestations”.
Three experts reviewed her blood tests and found the results were consistent with B12 deficiency, while a report noted she had “vague signs of cognitive impairment, anxiety, difficulty with simple decision-making and fatigue”.
Her symptoms, the report said, suggested a “gradually developing psychiatric disorder culminating in the delusional beliefs” that she expressed in a note found with her body.
Recording a narrative conclusion, the coroner noted that the student died while “on the balance of probabilities suffering delusional beliefs brought about by a Vitamin B12 deficiency developed as a direct result of her vegan diet”.
Worth reading in full.
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My son and his wife are both vegans and have been for at least 10 years. They get their B12 from nutritional yeast added to scrambled tofu for breakfast and most plant based milk is fortified with vitamin B12. When people mock vegans as “weaklings” because of their diet they couldn
t be more wrong. There are several top sports stars who are vegan. The brutality of the meat and dairy industry is a major reason to be vegan. Im not vegan but as I age I do eat less meat, generally prefer my sauces without the meat.“Student Killed Herself After Vegan Diet Triggered “Delusional Beliefs”
Cart; horse.
Vegans are vegans because they have delusional beliefs to start with. Like the organic cultists.
There is nothing delusional about opting out of the appalling brutality and cruelty of our meat and dairy industry. I don
t because Im weak willed and like bacon and sausages every now and then and love dairy milk chocolate.Some Vegan/Vegetarian Christians have tried to claim that Jesus was like them, but the New Testament clearly proves them wrong. Not only did he and his disciples eat fish and lamb, but later the Apostle Peter had this vision in Acts 10:9-16:
9
On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour:
10
And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance,
11
And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:
12
Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.
13
And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.
14
But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.
15
And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
16
This was done thrice: and… Read more »
Sad case. Her choice.
Sad to say but being a vegan is a strong indicator of existing mental health issues.
Oh well…. Great to see Arsenal are champions again at last.
I understand the ethical issues involved with why many decide to go vegan (though most of the basic principles are flawed – every food system kills animals, whether it be small rodents or cattle).
To me, one of the problematic and dangerous aspects is when we are sold that veganism is healthy and a natural way for us to eat. In the long term, it isn’t I’m afraid. Yes we need B12 and other amino acids. A well planned vegan diet can be fine for many, but it isn’t the best species appropriate diet for us as humans generally.
I feel desperately sorry for the family – they tried to do their very best for this poor girl. There are quite a few similar stories out there though.
As well as concerns about killing animals there’s environmental concerns that some people have.
When they’re still growing animals only convert a small amount of what they eat into body mass, the rest is used to produce energy to keep warm and move. This means that producing meat requires more land than producing crops, this is unarguably true due to the basic principles of biology. Land used for agriculture is land that can’t be used by a lot of wildlife. Some people think this is a major problem they need to do something about, a lot of people won’t be aware of this fact. Some people will think eating things they really enjoy is far more important than a few beetles and clumps of moss. Surely people with this opinion can respect people with the other opinion although far too often vegans don’t respect other people’s opinions about diet.
As a vegetarian I despise militant self righteous vegans. If they want to try and convince people to change their diet they’re going about it in completely the wrong way.
It’s complicated but I personally believe you are wrong. The land used by cattle (in a naturally regenerative system) is also producing good quality soil and there are very nature friendly backdrops – as in the hedgerows which attract bees and other polinators.
The land that we use for agriculture of crops etc however tends go be mono and not great overall – bad soil and a lack of food for pollinators.
I think the whole ‘cows are bad for the environment’ rhetoric is basically built on a pile of poo!
It is indeed very complicated and it’s far too simplistic to say that a vegan diet is always better than a diet that contains quite a lot of meat and/or animal products.
The vast majority of pigs and chickens only eat food produced from crops.
Fairly locally produced food could well be better than food that’s been imported from the other side of the world. A lot of land in the north and west of the UK can’t be used to produce crops, at least if we want it done efficiently to keep the price down, so there’s a very good argument for using it to raise cattle or sheep on, food security is very important. However this land could still be rich in wildlife, if this is important, if it wasn’t a monoculture of grass.
It all boils down to people having different beliefs and values and respecting other people’s beliefs and values provided their respect is reciprocated.
Based on my beliefs and values a vegetarian or, ideally vegan diet, is better than one that contains meat. However, and this is the important point, I can’t prove objectively rather than just subjectively that my beliefs… Read more »
I appreciate your awareness that you may not be completely objective on this issue. I can probably say the same, as it’s something I did an about turn on 10 or so years ago.
Anyway, here is some more food for thought.
https://dailysceptic.org/2025/12/01/new-scientific-findings-expose-the-hoax-behind-meat-eating-climate-alarm/
Is your belief also based on a misinterpretation of Christianity, as some Vegetarian Christians claim that Jesus was like them?
Absolutely.
Sheep in particular can be used to graze land which is not suitable for most other crops. If we stop using this resource it goes to waste. I’m currently in Shropshire on Clee Liberty Common which is an example of land which is no good for anything much except sheep – not even solar.
Lucky you, wonderful Shropshire.
Sad case. Condolences to the family.
Poor girl – and poor family. Tragic, the more so for being entirely avoidable. The poor girl obviously had mental issues and delusional beliefs long before she started her unhealthy and (literally) suicidal vegan diet; after all, starting a vegan diet is, in and of itself, an indication of having mental issues. One feels sympathy for the dead girl and her family and a certain anger at the fruitcakes and cultist fools who advocate so widely for a vegan diet in the first place. It is bleedin’ obvious to all except the cultists that mankind has not evolved to exist on a vegan diet; vegetarian maybe but not vegan. Why do these nutters think we have evolved to still have canine teeth (there’s a clue in the correct answer).
What absolute rubbish. Starting a vegan diet shows someone has very strongly held beliefs, so what if other people don’t hold these beliefs, not a mental disorder.
Obviously we evolved to eat meat but it’s perfectly possible to be healthy on a vegan diet with, as the article says, vitamin B12 supplements. If this wasn’t possible this person would of became ill long before she did. Why this person stopped taking supplements will never be known, it’s easy to forget for a day or two but not 6 months. Unfortunately she might of been told that the B12 in supplements is of animal origin. I very much doubt this is true, it’s a chemical that can be manufactured from simpler chemicals which would presumably be a lot cheaper than extracting it from meat.
MD : regret that my original comment was NOT “absolute rubbish”. You rather make my point for me – a vegan diet is inherently dangerous from a dietary point of view and is certainly unnatural. It is only the existence of (relatively modern) vitamin supplements (e.g. B12) that make it even remotely sustainable. Living on a vegan diet without the addition of modern vitamin supplements will seriously damage the health of anyone who decides to try it. Q.E.D.
A well thought out vegan diet with supplements isn’t inherently dangerous. 50 or so years ago when there was less knowledge about the amount of each vitamin people need, which foods were high in each vitamin and supplements may well not of been available a vegan diet would of been inherently dangerous.
Oops. The two “of”s you write in your last line should be “have”s.
Nevertheless, I appreciate your agreement with my contention that a vegan diet is inherently dangerous without the addition of artificially created modern vitamin supplements. Thank you.
“… period before her death suggest a gradually developing psychiatric disorder culminating in the delusional beliefs expressed in Miss Owen’s final letter.”
It appears the coroner’s report is suggestive of a mental illness. Whether it was caused by a vitamin deficiency or indoctrination remains unknown.
The article strongly suggests she stopped taking supplements many months before her suicide and started becoming mentally ill. Therefore it’s highly likely her mental illness wouldn’t of occurred if she’d kept taking the supplements meaning it was highly likely it was caused by vitamin deficiency. If only she’d kept taking the supplements she’d probably still be alive and healthy.
Well, i’m happy to say that all the meat, eggs and dairy that you don’t eat, I do.
Never been healthier.
Cheers.
English Note: “Therefore it’s highly likely her mental illness WOULDN’T OF OCCURRED…”
You mean “WOULDN’T HAVE OCCURRED…”
Even though “WOULDN’T HAVE” is often pronounced as if it were “wouldn’t ‘ve” or “wouldn’t of”, it should be written correctly. This is something you have done in most of your posts, writing “have” as “of”, and it is very confusing to read.
The official report however states otherwise – believe what you want, I’ll stick to the balance of probability, expert coroner’s opinion and the victim’s own written testimony.
If a vegan absolutely relies on supplements in order to remain healthy, then their diet is obviously defective.
And yes, I think it is a mental health condition; rather like anorexia.
“ Starting a vegan diet shows someone has very strongly held beliefs…”
So do terrorists, the Witch Finder General, Death Cultists, etc.
The question is why those strong beliefs? How frequently the answer is “mental problems”.
If a vegan diet is “healthy” dietary supplements would not be needed.
And – we did not evolve to eat meat, we evolved because we started to eat meat which made us as a species better adapted to survival and more successful at reproduction, than competing non-meat eating.
The importance of meat eating is animal flesh contains all the amino-acids we need for the proper development of body tissues, particularly brain tissue which resulted in Homo Sapiens developing bigger, better functioning brains.
Excluding meat from the diet – even with supplements – will adversely affect brain development in the young and brain/cognitive function in mature adults. The brain needs amino-acids not just vitamins.
In order for Humans to extract mass for mass equivalent amounts of essential amino-acids from plant material, requires consumption of a wide variety and quantity of plant matter.
Herbivores have specialised guts, and spend over two-thirds of their time eating.