Monday, 17 February 2020

Mental Health - Suicide Awareness


Hi everyone, news of yet another suicide this week has prompted me to write this post, as suicide awareness and mental health is something very close to my heart.
Whether it's celebrities we hear about in the news, close loved ones or if you reading this now are feeling this way, suicide is NEVER the answer!

There is help out there for those that are brave enough to reach out.  But sadly not everyone gets to know about that help, or can find the courage to search for it.  So I feel it is our job and our duty to help spread far more awareness, reach out to those in need and help stop the ignorance that many people still seem to have about this issue.
It amazes me that even now in this day and age, when so many people suffer with depression and anxiety, so little is known about where to get help, that SO many people STILL ignore the signs and the whole subject is still a taboo and something people are ashamed to admit they suffer with!

People NEED to start being kinder to each other!  This world is cruel, unforgiving, selfish and egotistical.  And people are suffering in silence because of it, to the point where they feel they don't even want to live life anymore!  That is so absolutely, truly tragic and saddens me to my very core.  Too many people suffer alone and take their own lives every day, so something has to be done to help them!

I have been on both sides of the scale, I've watched two people I deeply care about suffer with such severe depression, they've tried to take their own lives, several times.  Coping with that is incredibly difficult, worrying and upsetting.  Never quite knowing if you're saying the right thing to help them or if the worst might happen and their attempt will be successful.
And, during bouts of my own severe depression, I have been in that frame of mind myself in the past too.  Being in such a dark place and not having the slightest clue how to get out, it's a very lonely feeling.

While in that vulnerable state recently, I eventually talked to my GP who put me on a waiting list to see a counsellor.  For me with my long term issues, it was bearable but I did find it very hard waiting almost 5 months before I could talk to someone and was basically counting the days!  Also many years ago after a bad breakdown, I asked to see a counsellor then, and was told it was a 12 month waiting list!!  Crazy!

These waiting times are absolutely ridiculous and it's purely because there are just not enough counsellors available in many areas for people to see.  Many GPs aren't equipped enough to deal with the level of mental health issues.  If it hadn't of been for my counsellor (when I finally got to see her) I wouldn't of known about some of the helplines and other mental health therapists that are available to talk to immediately, because my GP never even told me about them!  Again this is not good enough.

Therefore the more people that speak out and ask for help and the more people that speak out to help those in need, the more the NHS will have to listen.  GPs need to be more aware of the needs of sufferers and most importantly, be able to give them some immediate help and guidance so they don't feel so alone and abandoned, just adding their name to some list and left to get on with it!

Here are the contact details I was given and some others that I feel would be of benefit (Uk only) -

Shout helpline (originally called Crisis Text Line) - text 85258 (I highly recommend this one)
Live Fear Free (originally Welsh Womens Aid) - call 0808 80 10 800 (24 hours)
Mind Uk - www.mind.org.uk or call 0300 123 3393 (9am-6pm).  Email info@mind.org.uk or text 86483
C.A.L.L. Helpline (Community Advice and Listening Line) - call 0800 107 0900 (Uk) or 0800 132 737 (Wales) or text "Help" and your question to 81066
Samaritans
- call 116 123
Childline - call 0800 1111
You can also visit www.ntw.nhs.uk/selfhelp where you can find loads of various pdf leaflets that cover all kinds of issues from depression to abuse to self harm to bereavement.  You can click to view them or pay a pound per leaflet to download them.  The information is actually quite detailed and there is also a long list of specific helplines etc at the end of each one.

I hope this post helps even just one person out there.  But you (my readers) can help too by please sharing this post or at least sharing the message with those around you to do what you can, to help lift the taboo surrounding mental health and suicide, and help end the silent suffering.


So until next time, be kind

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