With the sudden death of Charlotte Dawson, I hope it reminds us that people with mental illnesses don’t often conquer it but learn to live with it the best they can.
She was very public about her battles with depression and mental issues and that was a brave thing to do, trying to shed some light on an issue a lot of us tend to ignore.
There shouldn’t be a stigma attached to mental health issues as it no different from other health issues.
She was bullied by trolls on twitter and the internet a few years back and this lead to her being hospitalised.
This did not stop her from talking about her issues.
While we all enjoy taking the piss and being internet heroes from time to time.
We should all remind ourselves that it can take the smallest thing to tip someone over the edge.
Often it is people like Charlotte who are suffering.
The people who are extroverted, funny, life of the party.
This can just be a front to hide the pain the feel.
I heard an interview with Billy Birmingham where he said he has battled depression for years and has been medicated for 20 years to cope with this.
I think it is important to remember that on the internet when attacking people, it has made me have a good think about things.
When someone is in a dark place it can be the tiniest thing that makes them crack.
It’s extremely important for us to make sure our family and friends are ok.
With most of us here being male, we can feel to embarrassed to admit we have a problem or just feel down.
We must talk about this and remove the stigma.
Let’s all ask the people close to us if everything is alright.
Or if you feel down then talk to someone close to you, no one will judge you.
In these hard times, financial, work related and family stresses are the most common causes of people becoming depressed or being tipped over the edge.
I battled servere depression for years and wasn’t till my late twenties that I got the help I needed and haven’t looked back.
I have not beaten my demons, but I'm on top in the fight.