Anonymous account from someone who was helped by a Suicide Prevention Champion:
I have friends and a support network but when I was in despair I couldn't talk to my friends. Sometimes it was due to not wanting to
burden them and others it was because I just couldn't talk about what I was thinking. The thoughts of suicide are constant when you're in that state of mind and the thought of then having to talk to someone about it is a complete turn off. More hard work.
Yes I understand now that hard work is needed to overcome the thoughts, however when you're that mindset everything is hard work.
I reached out to a friend who is an advocate for West Yorkshire Suicide Prevention and he was brilliant. I was aware that he was a Champion from his social media profile picture. He listened to me which I'm pretty sure wasn't the nicest of conversations.
Some of the things I said confused me as there was so much I was dealing with at the time and I was overwhelmed and couldn't think straight.
I met up for coffee a couple of times, messaged and had telephone calls which Loz listened to me and this helped me thinkg more clearly.
The thing I do remember most is that he said 'I was an amazing person'. This stuck in my mind and I didn't think much of it at the time, but I kept thinking of that statement. He was correct - I am an amazing person. I don't and didn't need to feel like that. This small sentence made me think of some of the positives in my life which then brought a smile.
I'm not one for taking compliments myself; I generally just crack on whatever but this stuck with me and I think this kindness from Loz and the calmness whilst listening to me gave me back some confidence that actually I can be stronger.
When I started to become low again in mood, the sentence would come to mind again and this would help bring the positives of my life to make me feel that I didn't need nor want to end it all. I just wanted the pain to go away and the bad thoughts.
Loz Deegan, the Champion who this person reached out to, works at Wakefield Council as a senior environmental health officer and has been a Suicide Prevention Champion since September 2023. He said: "I am pleased to share this in the hope it will encourage more people to sign up to this worthwhile campaign."