Mental health stigma sucks! (Day 11)

I had some idea throughout today about what I would write for my Day 11 blog, but having just had a quick flick through Facebook and reading a very tragic story about a local guy, a husband and a father, taking his own life over three months ago and only just having been found, I feel compelled to publish a tribute to him, his family and friends and anyone else that has suffered a similar loss or even felt so low that they have been close to ending their own lives. I cannot imagine the pain each of you must feel...

         

I've had times in my life where I've felt that I didn't deserve to go on and teetered on the edge of some very dark places but luckily for me and my loved ones I didn't stay in that place for too long and ended up making a complete turn around with my perspective switching to one of the total opposite and living every second of my life like it is the most amazing gift I will ever be fortunate enough to have. For others, sadly this is not the case and they've sunken deeper into serious depressions and places so dark that most of us wouldn't even be able to imagine what life is like for them. When I try to think about the mental health of people in this position it makes me unbelievably sad and what's even worse is that in so many cases we wouldn't even know who these people are if we passed them in the street, sat next to them at work or in some cases live with them. There is no immediate solution for this and those who has lost anyone in this way should never blame themselves, as to know that someone has reached such a scarily low place is seriously complex. All we can hope is that in the near future we make some major breakthroughs when it comes to the stigma of mental health problems so that perhaps some people affected by depression will realise that it's ok to tell people how they are feeling and to seek help. Depression is not a throw away description of when you're feeling in a bad mood, it's a real medical problem and it's serious, just like Cancer or Diabetes. Nobody should ever be ashamed of having mental health issues and anyone who makes people feel inferior because of it clearly need some educating, which is another area to tackle.

                                        

We work with a mental health charity and one of their main missions is to stop the stigma and through this I hope that our work in helping them raise awareness and guiding those seeking help, will make enough of an impression to save at least some lives and help those affected find the support they need.

My heart goes out to anyone affected by depression and along with my thoughts and condolences tonight, this too is for you:

                    

I also feel that it important to mention some important national organisations that offer great resources of help for those suffering with mental health illnesses or just feel that they need someone to talk to...

The Samaritans - http://www.samaritans.org

BEAT (eating disorders) - http://www.b-eat.co.uk