Suicide prompts concerns over virus affecting mental health
A tragedy which saw a Walsall man take his own life after losing his job has increased concerns about Covid-19’s impact on mental health.
Councillor Ian Robertson said the harrowing incident happened last week in the Blakenall ward he represents, where the victim had initially threatened to kill his own family.
At a meeting of Walsall Council’s local outbreak engagement board, Councillor Robertson called on health bosses to increase awareness of mental health support services available.
Councillor Stephen Craddock, portfolio holder for health and wellbeing, said he is advocating all members take part in mental health training courses.
He added he believes problems will increase, whether people continue to work from home or are asked to go back to workplaces in the coming weeks.
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At Tuesday’smeeting, Councillor Robertson said: "We had a very tragic case in my ward last week in which a person threatened to kill his family.
"He was really depressed because he’d lost his job. Unfortunately, he killed himself. The family were alright.
"There must be a lot of people who are unfortunately very depressed by the current situation and, as we gradually move out of it, I hope the help can be easily available.
"I hope we can promote the helplines as much as possible."
Councillor Craddock said: "Mental health should be one of Walsall’s absolute top priorities.
"It is something I bought a paper to cabinet in June regarding that. We continue to update that on what help is available and what the provision is when we see potential problems.
"We know this is going to happen as we come out of lockdown and we’ve got a long way to go. I don’t think we’ve really seen the full impact of the virus on people’s mental health.
"I think it’s affecting people in different ways but as we move forward with agile working – where people are being told to work from home or being told to work in the office – I think it will lead to more problems.
"Councillor Robertson has highlighted an incident there where it came to a crisis point.
"What I will be advocating to all councillors is mental health first aid training that the council offers. I’ve done the course and it’s an eight-hour course and one of the best training courses I’ve done."
If you have been affected by this article, you can call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit Samaritans.org
