Before attending the Mental Health and Wellbeing course run by SAMH, my attitude towards mental health was very blasé - I was very much a believer in the ‘get on with it’ mentality. Sharing my feelings was not something that I liked to do, and I was not one for listening to peoples’ feelings either.

The course opened my eyes to stigmas surrounding mental health and the negativity that a lot of people deal with on a day-to-day basis. The trainer, Daniel, was excellent at describing and defining the differences of several mental health problems (some of which I would have previously thought of as one and the same) and explaining some of the things to look out for when speaking to people.

This became very important on 23 April 2024 when I was fortunate enough to prevent someone from harming themselves when they were considering ending their life.

I was at the park with my family when my children asked for an ice lolly. I left my wife with the kids and nipped across to the shop nearby. On the way into the shop, I noticed a lady sitting in her car with the door open. Not wanting to pry when she may be simply waiting on someone coming out from the shop, I walked past and went to get my kids their lollies.

When I came out of the shop the lady was still sitting there, and when I got closer I realised she’d clearly been unwell, so I asked if she was ok or if she needed help. At first, she was reluctant to talk to me and made it clear she didn’t want to talk to anyone, but I explained that I wasn’t there to judge or harm. She then told me she had recently lost her father and that her daughter had moved away for education and she had no one else for support.

I sat and spoke to her for almost two hours, during which time I messaged my wife and asked her to contact 999 and explain the situation. While waiting on the paramedics we spoke about her dad and her daughter, and she explained she had a mental health diagnosis but that she had not been taking her prescribed medication as she just wanted to ‘put an end to it all’. We managed to get her the care she needed by a trained professional.

I would like to say I was unaffected by this experience but after sitting with this complete stranger for the best part of two hours listening to some of her stories it really struck me that you never know what people are dealing with and you should never judge.

I look at it as being in the right place at the right time, and I am glad to have made a difference to this stranger’s life and to think that a daughter still has her mum, though I wouldn’t want to take any credit for this scenario. I would hope that if it was myself or one of my friends/family members in the same situation then a passer-by would do the same, and take the time to talk. As cheesy as it sounds (and trust me I’ve thought the same thing in the past when I’ve heard it) it’s good to talk. If you ever feel like there is no way out or no other way, take the time to talk to someone as there is always someone out there who loves, cares and needs you in their life.

I would like to express my gratitude towards Daniel and the rest of SAMH for the work they are doing which makes a big difference to so many people, and I hope others will take the chance to learn a bit more about supporting people with mental health problems.