Keir
The following is an extract from an article by Rachelle Money that appeared in the Herald Society earlier this month. It includes insights about suicide from Keir Hardie, one of many media volunteers ready to speak publicly about their experiences to encourage us to talk about and help prevent suicide.
As a teenager Keir Hardie had mood swings like most people his age but by the time he was 24 he realised his emotional state was becoming increasingly unstable.
“I became really inward looking and lost perspective of how things really were. When you’ve got such powerful negative emotions going on you can’t see out of it. Things seemed like a big deal, problems were insurmountable“, he says.
After visiting his GP he was referred to a psychiatrist but about four years later Hardie decided enough was enough and attempted to take his own life.
“I was pretty organised about it all“, he recalls. “I wanted to get it over with quickly. I remember there were aspects of my life, like my family, that I wouldn’t think about because it would weaken by resolve, they’d make me more likely to stop.”
Hardie took a severe overdose and was taken to hospital where he spent a week recovering. Now the 35-year-old from Inverness works as a volunteer raising awareness about suicide and depression.
Thousands like Hardie attempt suicide every year and hundreds more are successful. Most would find difficulties comprehending why someone would want to kill themselves as it goes against our fundamental human instincts of survival. It’s people like Keir Hardie who offer a window into the mindset of someone who is suicidal and help us understand how we can prevent it.
For more information about suicide prevention please visit www.chooselife.net
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