A helping hand for people in despair

Lifestyle -Ciaran Tierney meets Mark Logan  who trains people to recognise  the signs of suicidal behaviour

Simple acts of kindness and warm human connections with friends, family members, and even people on the street in everyday life are what Mark Logan describes as some of the most important elements in tackling the suicide problem in Co Galway right now.

Two months ago, he met a man from Cork who had decided to end his own life last year. The Cork man was on his way to the River Lee at 5.30am when he encountered a stranger on his way to work who greeted him with a big, broad smile.

“Good morning, how are you?” the man greeted the troubled Corkonian. His warm, happy greeting disarmed the suicidal man. He told Mark that, suddenly, the fact that somebody had noticed him made a huge difference to his mindset. He decided not to go through with his plan, returned home, and got the help he required.

Thanks to his training, Mark himself has talked people out of taking their own lives on the banks of the River Corrib. He met a young man in tears who had just broken up with his girlfriend. A few words at the right time changed the young man’s night, and maybe his entire life.

He sees the benefits of social media, too. One night he noticed a troubling Facebook update from a friend in Australia. After asking her if she was ok, he then contacted some of her friends through Facebook and got them to call around to her house.

Suicide is seen as a permanent solution to a temporary problem and that night he quite possibly helped to save his friend’s life, sitting at his computer thousands of miles from her home.

His work with mental health promotion project Heads Up, part of the Rehab Group, sees Mark regularly deliver a wide range of initiatives which allow young people to recognise the warning signs of suicidal behaviour and bring suicide first aid skills back to their communities.

He also provides two day Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) workshops to community groups, fathers, teenagers, and workplaces, showing people how to reduce an immediate risk and increase the support available to a person at risk.

“The longer I am at it, the simpler it often becomes,” he says. “I’ve helped people down by the River Corrib. It’s on your radar after you do the ASIST course. You just get sensitive to it. You notice people who are troubled.”

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.