Mental Health

Tragically, over the last two weeks, I’ve had two different friends lose someone close to them through suicide. Both stories are desperately sad.

The effects of lockdown on people’s anxiety and mental health is rising considerably and really concerning.

My own direct experience of this came around 10 years ago when, late one night, I heard a gunshot from the flat above mine.

It was the most piercing noise and it was absolutely undeniable what that noise was.

Shortly after, police and ambulance crews came to the flats and it was revealed that my neighbour had sadly shot himself in the head.

I spent the remainder of the night watching everything unfold through the window. It was a night I will never forget.

I kept thinking how, despite living there for over 10 years, I’d only ever exchanged small talk with this neighbour, “the staircase carpet is rubbish” type chat.

I kept thinking about the last time we spoke: could I have done anything differently? His family said he’d had depression for years – I felt so heartbroken for them.

This is the time to reach out and send a text, WhatsApp message, email, anything. We all have responsibilities and I feel we can all make that difference.

Useful Websites:

www.mind.org.uk
www.mentalhealth.org.uk
www.samaritans.org