My Journey Of Hope Through Illness
1960’s
Early years
Jeremy was born in the early 1960’s, the fourth child of Irish immigrants. He considers his childhood
typical for time and left school at the age of 17. There was nothing to suggest in those years he
would be susceptible to mental illness.
Late 90’s
Employment
He joined the commercial department of a company manufacturing machines for the shoe industry,
where he spent many years in sales both at home and abroad. Despite the excitement of world
travel, Jeremy was beginning to feel the effects of loneliness, given frequent and extended periods
of time away from family and home.
1996
Redundancy hit
Following redundancy, he joined a local police force as a member of police staff, initially on a
temporary contract, but in the hope of carving out a new career and despite the insecurity of
employment remained there for many years.
During this time, Jeremy became aware he was becoming more and more depressed. He didn’t seek
help and in fact kept his illness a secret from his wife, family, friends, and colleagues. The stigma
and embarrassment had got the better of him. As his illness worsened, thoughts of suicide surfaced,
initially just wishing he was dead, then later actively planning his death.
2010
Breaking point
Late in 2010 after months of planning, quite spontaneously, he attempted to kill himself and
thankfully was found in time and survived. In the care of mental health services, Jeremy started the road to recovery, regular consultations with
a Psychiatrist, medication, and a course of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, the later proving to be a
major turning point in his life.
2011
Back to work
For the most part, Jeremy managed to keep his suicide attempt private, in that only immediate
family and a few selected friends were told. Returning to work, Jeremy had to face many people who knew what had happened, coping with both negative and positive reactions and a sense that he was the subject of gossip.
It so happened that health and safety had become a significant art of his role and he became aware
of the impact of poor mental health in the workplace and how much employers could do to improve
staff wellbeing, and this started his journey to work in the field of suicide and mental health
awareness.
PRESENT
The road to now
Redundancy struck again and after a short period of unemployment, obtained a part-time role at a
6th Form College, enabling him to devote more time working in the field of mental health awareness.
Initially this was as a speaker, publicly recounting his experience of depression and his suicide attempt and later running awareness courses.
And so, the story continues….