HearT

Blog #7 

Just 20 minutes of your time…..

Imagine I could give you an extra 20 minutes today to do something really worthwhile & if that was possible, what would you do ?

Would you catch up on household chores, pick up & read a book, ring a friend you haven’t spoken to for a while or would you just sit & relax because your life is so busy you would never do this otherwise ? 

Okay if I now told you that by sparing 20 minutes of your time you could learn how to potentially save someone’s life….. what would you say & more importantly would you do it ?

Whilst there are many things we can do to help others, there are perhaps none more simple than sitting & just watching a video https://www.zerosuicidealliance.com/ that might make all the difference between life & death ?

So why am I telling you this ?

Whilst my story is a long one, I will summarise it for you by saying that when I was 19, my mum tried to take her own life with tragic & devastating consequences. As she had been depressed for some time, my family had no idea that she was so desperate or had any plans to end it all. In order to try & lessen the depression & anxieties she experienced, we all did our bit to try & help. Perhaps because we were all so wrapped up in trying to “do the right thing” as well as living our own lives, we never saw any signs that she had decided to end it all until it was too late. On that day the full horror of what my mum had done, hit us like a sledgehammer & unfortunately we never recovered as a family.

What followed sadly was a lot of sadness, heartache & soul searching, as we struggled to come to terms with what happened & because we didn’t know how to deal with it we all carried on. Although my mum didn’t actually die on the day she tried to take her own life, in reality the person I knew & loved disappeared as she damaged her brain to the extent where she couldn’t look after herself. In the end my Dad had to leave work to care for my Mum & tragically she became a living reminder of that day until she eventually & sadly passed away in 2011.

During that time & since, I have continued to experience my own mental health issues & 10 years after my mum’s suicide attempt, I had a nervous breakdown & was shocked to discover that I then had suicidal thoughts. However, even in my darkest hours, I promised myself that no matter how hard or bad things got, I would never try to end it all because I had seen what that could do to my family. Somehow, I summoned the courage to ask for help & little by little, I started the long road to recovery. I have since realised that those suicidal feelings could happen to anyone, albeit they could be fleeting & that is the time when just asking if they are OK or need help could make all the difference. 

Time for Action
Having read & watched videos where people speak about trying to take their own lives, they often say how alone they felt & that no one seemed to care; many also say they didn’t want to die, but felt their families would somehow be “better off” without them.

Whilst I felt isolated for many years & told very few people about what had happened to me & my family, I recently started to talk about my experiences & eventually realised that there are lots of people going through similar situations, TOO many in fact. 

Consequently I now believe that we not only need to talk about this subject more, but also should make it our business to know how to help.

So my message to you is this……. if it were you that were struggling with your own mental health & wellbeing, wouldn’t you be glad that someone had watched this video: https://www.zerosuicidealliance.com/ & cared enough to help you ? Whilst the subject matter may be far from enjoyable, it is so important that we all aware of the signs to look for, so that may be when the time comes we can make a difference & save someone’s life…..

HOW AMAZING is that for just 20 minutes of your time ?