Alex, who works for Samaritans' corporate partner Three, is taking on the TCS London marathon to raise awareness and funds for the charity. He believes talking – and listening – can save lives.
The problem with any mental trauma is there isn’t something others can easily see, which makes it harder. If you broke your leg people would see it and accept you’re hurt but will get better. Like any injury it hurts at first but you recover, it just takes time.
My best advice for supporting someone else is to take the time to talk.
Trust your gut, if a friend is acting a little different they may say they are fine but inwardly be dealing with more than they are letting on. Even if they don’t want to share just talking and making the time can be a massive, massive help.
When I was going through a tough time, a friend of mine who I saw regularly but wasn't particularly close took on board regular check-ins. He never made a point of saying he was worried about me, but he made the time to talk and discuss feelings which isn’t the norm in my group. It made a huge difference.
I’m running the marathon for Samaritans because they save lives. There’s still a stigma with mental health and they make it easy to reach out.
