Mental health

[AndyR]

#9670

Thought i share with you something that happened on my way home from work of friday. I spotted a man stood looking over the motorway bridge he just didnt seem right so i stopped and walked back up to him to make sure he was ok. Sadly it was not the case and he was very upset and distraught. I kept my distance and rang the police luckily the bridge itself is fairly quiet yet obviously over the M5 is a different story. He wasnt in a good place he told me why he was there and i felt so sorry for him. The police arrived and managed to calm him down and he opened up to them it suddenly occurred to me how quiet it had gone and i suddenly realised that all the traffic was been held both ways on the motorway below us. Luckily he agreed to go with the police and the situation came to a end. I was so scared he was going to carry out his intention before the police got there as he was pretty distraught. He even said hed counted how many secs it took for a lorry to go past a sign before it appeared from under the bridge. I didnt know his name and when we went our separate ways and walked back down to my car the thumbs up from the police sat below on the M5 and a few others is hopefully a start to this blokes help he needs he was only young and i hope and pray he finds the help he needs.
Sadly i have two close family who have found themselves needing help and counciling. Thankfully both are getting the help they need and have made good progress. The one thing that the lad on the bridge said that will stay with me is that he had nobody to talk to.
It had a great effect on me and thankfully when i did get home i had the support of those around me but its something that will stay with me for a long time.

[dmhyett]

#9673

Well done Andy; most would have failed to recognise the situation or driven on anyway. It is not just the individual but there may be relatives and dependents who would be affected. Also I know that those driving along the motorway may also suffer. My son used to work for network rail and people ending their lives by jumping in front of a train is rather more common that we might like to believe. It is devastating to the Engine drivers and no doubt other emergency workers.

Dave

[Ricardo]

#9676

Well done. I echo comments by Dave. Few might have stopped to help, or even to have recognised the situation.

It’s really sad when someone gets so despairing that suicide is seriously contemplated. As you say I hope he gets proper help. It’s hard to relate to what it is that drives folk to contemplate extreme actions, in whatever form they eventually take. Even harder to know what is the best thing to do when you encounter an unusual situation. Especially an ambiguous encounter in which you have had no life training or experience to deal with. Also the small possibility that the problem may eventually turn into a personal threat – possibly one reason why some choose to ‘pass on by’? I think you are probably correct, if someone is able to talk and relate to another person, such that they feel listened to, then things may not seem quite so desperate for them.

Some years ago, following a friend of a friend’s death, I read that suicide was the no.1 cause of death by young men in UK. Apart from seeing occasional signs for ‘The Samaritans’ in places like Brunel’s suspension bridge in Bristol, there really doesn’t seem much help.

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