Looking after each other

When a colleague has a rolled ankle or a head cold, we are really good at making them feel comfortable – here, would you like a chair, a glass of water, I’ve got some panadol in my bag… We are not so brilliant at spotting and caring for our friends, family and colleagues who have less visible signs of distress though. It’s incredibly hard to start a conversation like ‘you seem a bit unfocused  do you want to talk?”. It’s even harder to call your boss and say that you won’t be in because you just can’t drag yourself out of your bed and you don’t know why you feel so blue. It should not be this hard! One in 5 people will suffer from depression. It is common and it is treatable but the consequences of ignoring it can be catastrophic.
I have had two friends take their own lives and I get mad as hell when I think that it was so preventable. One of these friends was the most gorgeous, talented and gregarious mining engineers I had ever met. Her laugh would shake the roof tiles off. Despite all this she took her life.

For eleven years she has been gone and not a week goes by when I don’t wonder about what she knew about depression, its prevalence and treatment options. It was never something we discussed…

As a leader, peer, subordinate, relation or friend I don’t hesitate to now say “Are you ok?”