A Northallerton man who credits a housing association’s mental health support team with preventing him from taking his own life is now raising awareness of the need to reach out for help.
Last year, Ryan Saunders was preparing to commit suicide after the stress of a delayed house move triggered the mental health problems he has struggled with for most of his life.
The 35-year-old had crushed up 200 tablets he had stockpiled from his medication and mixed them in with a soft drink, intending to go out somewhere on his own to drink the “cocktail” and bring his life to an end.
He believes he would have gone ahead with his suicide had it not been for an email read by Broadacres housing officer Laura Wright.
Laura had been liaising with Ryan over a move into a new home which had been delayed due to asbestos being discovered in the property and she recognised a cry from help in an email Ryan had sent to her on the day he intended to commit suicide.
Ryan says: “Laura was trying her hardest to speed up the process but in my mental state at that time it couldn’t come quickly enough.
“My partner Julia and I were living in separate homes at the time because there were no properties available that were big enough for us and our two children.
“We were only a few miles apart, but I felt isolated and depressed and one day I just decided that it would be easier for Julia and their children to get housed if I was no longer here.
“Luckily, I had sent Laura an email earlier in the day and there was something in the language I used that didn’t seem right to her, so she immediately contacted me and put me in touch with the Broadacres mental health team.”
Ryan spoke to support worker Simon Grundy and says one of the first words he said to him was “help”. Within minutes Simon had reached out to the mental health crisis team and Ryan was admitted to hospital that same day.
Ryan then received the support he needed and speaking months later about the events which led to him almost taking his own life, he is full of praise for those who helped to bring him back from the brink.
He adds: “If Laura hadn’t recognised the stress in my email and had Simon not then answered my call, I don’t think I would be here to share my story.”
Since he started receiving the support he needed, Ryan has now moved into his Broadacres home in Northallerton with Julia and their children. He has taken up running, which he looks on as therapy, and in September he will run in the Great North Run to raise funds/awareness for the mental health charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably).
He has also become a Host at The Living Rooms, a community-based initiative in Northallerton town centre which gives people in mental distress a ‘safe place’ to go to be alone, have a chat or take part in activities.
Ryan recognises that his mental health will never go away, but he wants to make people aware of the support which is available.
He says: “You can never say that life is great because things do go wrong and everybody suffers with their mental health in one form or another.
“It’s about recognising the triggers that can tip the balance and coming up with coping strategies that can help you when you get low and knowing there are organisations like Broadacres who are here to help.
“You may think you are, but you are not alone, so just talk. Talk to a loved one, a friend, even a stranger or find somewhere like The Living Rooms where you can come in and not be judged.
“There’s no magic wand. Things may never be the same, but they will get better.”
Anyone wishing to help Ryan raise money for CALM can sponsor him via his Just Giving page at www.justgiving.com/Ryan-Saunders11 or his PayPal Pool page (for donations under £10) at https://www.paypal.com/pools/c/8lW5sTLaFj
More information on CALM – https://www.thecalmzone.net/
More information on The Living Rooms Northallerton – https://www.facebook.com/thelivingroomsnorthallerton/
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