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0 By Frances Beck
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking over the last week, sometimes a good thing and other times not so much. This rumination was much needed though, after being given much food for thought. Monday saw me being sprawled across The Scottish Sun, as the first interview of their campaign to prevent suicide in young people. I was asked to do the interview by a contact at the Mental Health Foundation, who are working in partnership with the Sun on this Mind The Future campaign, and I must admit that my initial reaction was to recoil in horror. Why would I want to cooperate with a tabloid newspaper well known for its sensationalism? However, on mulling it over I realised the potential that such a campaign could have, given the vast reach and extensive readership concerned, and agreed to a telephone interview with a reporter. I shared my story and didn’t say anything different to the other interviews I’ve done. It also involved a rather surreal photoshoot with a freelance photographer, but that’s another story. Fast forward 5 weeks and the campaign has started in earnest with the interview finally being published. They did put their own emotive slant on it but didn’t report anything I hadn’t said. It still made uncomfortable reading, even for me, and I apologise to anyone who was upset by it. It also made me question if I was still doing the “right thing”.
However, and this is the crux of my reasoning, it made a positive impact on many people, and I’ve had more than a few telling me so. Since I started sharing my story, raising awareness and campaigning for better mental health and suicide prevention, I have had countless interactions with people looking for support and advice, and/or thanking me for doing what I do because I’ve helped them see that there is a way forward despite the depths of the grief and despair. I never share those stories because they’re not my stories to tell and I wouldn’t break that trust. Without going into any detail, I have helped a few people step back from the precipice and find the support they needed to keep living, as well as supporting numerous people through desperate moments. And that is why I will keep on doing what I’m doing, guided by the love and compassion that Conor and I shared. I’ve been that person who not only was unsure about whether I wanted to keep living but couldn’t see how to go about it, I’ve been that person who didn’t want to ask for help, I’ve been that person who just wanted the pain and torment to end, I’ve been that person who despite being surrounded by people who loved me, felt all alone in the world, and I can’t stand idly by and let other people suffer alone in the same way. I’m devastated that I wasn’t able to save Conor, but if I can make a difference to just one person with each thing I do, then it’s a job well done. It means me stepping outside my comfort zone each time, but a bit of discomfort is nothing if lives are being saved. Starting my MRes course means I’ll have less time to focus on it but I will still be here, shining my light and trying my hardest to make the world a better place to live.
UNITED STATES
UNITED KINGDOM
