‘I THOUGHT MY PILLOW WAS MY BEST FRIEND AND NEVER WANTED TO MOVE’
Now Carl has put up posters on bridges to help other people struggling with mental health
AN NHS security worker has put up 14 posters on bridges across North Staffordshire encouraging men to seek help with their mental health.
Carl Clews spent five hours on Saturday pinning the messages onto bridges up and down the A50 and A500, in places such as Longton, Meir, Blythe Bridge, Porthill and Talke.
They informed people about a new mental health Facebook group called Let’s Speak.
It comes in the wake of several cases where members of the public have fell to their death from bridges over the dual carriageways.
Let’s Speak offers advice and support to men suffering with anxiety, depression, PTSD and other mental illnesses.
Carl, above with son Joshua, is one of the group’s administrators and, 10 years ago, he himself suffered a bout of depression.
The 35-year-old, who lives in Sandbach, said: “I lost quite a considerable amount of weight and didn’t want to get out of bed in the morning.
“Luckily enough, the workplace I was with at the time ran a small scheme and I managed to get a 10week counselling course.
“I was at such a low point, I didn’t want to face the world. I thought my pillow was my best friend and I never wanted to move. I felt down and lethargic.
“It was the best thing I ever did, talking to someone I didn’t know, because I didn’t think I would be getting judged.
“We are there to support anyone struggling with their mental health. You can jump on and message us or privately inbox us. We can put your posts anonymously on our page.”
The group now has around 2,100 members and is constantly growing.
Carl posts daily videos encouraging people to stay positive and smile.
He said: “None of us are trained professionals, but one or more of us have had some sort of scenarios where we’ve lost friends during lockdown.
“It’s coming up to the time of the year where you find people on bridges again. This was a big boost for us to get something up there.
“If it could stop one person and change their mindset, that is our work done.
“Moving forward with this group, I hope at some point we have someone that can possibly give us a room to talk it out with people for an hour or a day in the week.”
Carl added: “I do believe there should be more funding and training available out there. Mental health has been recognised a bit too late.
“Men find it more difficult to open up and it’s built along the stigma of the saying ‘Man up and get on with it’. We have got to break that stigma.”