Jumper on the bridge

Joe Public said:
This is happening to my sister now. A marriage breakdown, in constant pain with illness, lost job, home, a suicide attempt, they have found a benign tumour the size of an orange growing against her spine, and just been told she had to go on UC so gets nowt for 6 weeks. They definitely know how to kick people when they are down.
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That’s terrible but so far as the UC goes, the first two weeks of the six week period she will have any current benefits due for that period as most work two weeks in arrears. So really it’s four weeks without an income.

She should look at what she currently gets and then work out what is the absolute minimum that she needs to live on. For example, forget the rent and council tax, pay minimum amounts of credit cards debt etc. If the income that she has from disability benefits, child tax credits and other sources is less than her minimum then she needs to apply for help from the DWP. She is due an advance of her money but as it will need to be repaid, obviously it will leave her shorter of cash once she starts being paid again. But there is help there and no one needs to struggle on alone.
 
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Bakerlooline said:
There are very rarely choices in these situations, not for the individual with the problem. Sit anyone with a mental illness down and tell them that they can choose to change their behaviour - it won’t work.

I think I know what you are trying to say, but ultimately only mental illness will cause you take your own life, outside of a military or spur of the moment, heroic act.

Look at the reasons why people may take their own lives...

Debt = despair = depression = mental illness
Addiction (of any kind) = despair = depression = mental illness
Loneliness/rejection/loss = despair = depression = mental illness
Failure = despair = depression = mental illness
Terminal/life changing diagnosis = despair = depression = mental illness
Guilt = despair = depression = mental illness
Eating disorders = ditto
Stress = ditto
Fear of loss = ditto
Depression = ditto (just a more direct route)
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There isn't anything on your list that you can't change, either by making better choices, problem solving, or using medication.

The thing is that all baring depression on this list are the results of how we are as a society, individually and collectively. That doesn't mean people can't and won't change, it's the people who don't want to stop gambling, Doing drugs, won't contact friends or even try to make friends etc it goes on and on and they get themselves into a cycle of dispair but these are all solvable problems.
 
Looks like some other poor sod has gone over this morning, people looking over the side and ambulances pulling up/flying towards it when I drove past about ten minutes ago :(
 
Wearside Wanderer II said:
Move to the QA or northern spire, or threaten to jump off a motorway bridge, where do you stop?
At least the bridge is cctv monitored and has plenty of passing people to be first responders etc
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A few went over the QA over the years..few times when the yards were open lads went in on a morning to find some poor soul had come through the roof..like already said how do you stop it..really sad.
 
Wearside Wanderer II said:
Move to the QA or northern spire, or threaten to jump off a motorway bridge, where do you stop?
At least the bridge is cctv monitored and has plenty of passing people to be first responders etc
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One foot bridge I know with a full covering is at Prestwich but that's also probably due because it's over the M60 and it's near a Mental Health Unit
 
Something needs to be done alright, 3 in a day is just ridiculous.

I think we need a public campaign, free phone numbers, advertising, even sponsorship. We need
to find where these people have contact with the public. Doctors surgeries, pubs, clubs, off licences etc and advertise there.

Saying all of that, my mate is a policeman and his opinion is that if they're still there when he turns up, they're not jumping.
Just got to calm them down, snap them out of it and have a good long talk until they climb back over.

Still shocking the regularity of it all.
 

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