Friday’s Rants from the Soap Box in My Living Room

*Warning: this post contains possible trigger subjects and contains material which may be sensitive*

So, last Sunday, a large section of the M42 in the Midlands was closed, by the police, which caused long delays and tailbacks of traffic, and a lot of chaos. The reason it was closed, was because a man was on one of the bridges above the motorway, and was threatening to jump. The police felt the situation was serious enough, and dangerous enough that they had to close the motorway to try and get the man off the bridge safely, if possible. Thankfully, the man didn’t jump and was eventually taken off the bridge.

So, yes, I think if I had been stuck in a massive traffic jam, trying to get somewhere on a Sunday, I would have been annoyed and being delayed for hours, I don’t think anyone likes being stuck in traffic, or horribly delayed, or inconvenienced. I can understand that people were fed up.

What horrified me, was people took to social media, including Facebook, and Twitter, to say things like “let him jump, lets get this over with so I can get to where I need to be” and “what a waste of police time, push him off” and “my relatives, and friends wouldn’t be so selfish, and if they were going to try and top themselves, they wouldn’t do it like this”

SERIOUSLY?? A man was so upset, and likely mentally unwell, that he took himself to a bridge on the motor way, to attempt to end his own life, and yet some of the human population of this world think it’s OK to say these things? Likely people who have no understanding of the anguish and difficulties that mental health problems, feeling suicidal, or depressed can bring to someone’s life (and those around them) and how desperate that man must have been. Maybe he was being selfish, causing so much disruption, but having been in a very dark place, myself, where the world around me and my reality were two different things, I hardly think he thought, “I know, let me go and really annoy and irritate lots of people by sitting on a bridge and threatening to jump off, just to ruin their days”. I suspect, it was more likely that  he was so broken and in a bleak place that jumping into a throng of speeding cars to end his pain, or to try and get the help he needed by crying out in the only way he could think.

Honestly, I love social media, but sometimes it makes me want to scream. I highly doubt that these “lovely” human beings, without an ounce of compassion in their bodies, would have had the guts to actually say the things they said out loud, to real people, and as usual, took the cowardly route of spouting off on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and other places. Fortunately, that vast majority of the people on Twitter were horrified and shouted them down, but I got so angry at what I saw, I had to switch Twitter off for a bit, to cool down!

People are revolting, sometimes. I don’t know what actually happened to the man in question, but I hope he is now getting the help he clearly needed and I truly hope that the disgusting people on social media who think he should have “just jumped” or “Been given a gentle nudge to get on with it” never actually suffer from mental health problems, or depression, or contemplate suicide, or have to watch a loved one going through these things. Suicide, depression, mental health issues, anxiety are NOT funny, they are not to be mocked or made light of, and once again I am horrified at some of my fellow “human” beings.

That’s my rant, for the week, feel free to go and visit the lovely Mummy Barrow, and see what other bloggers are getting of their chest this week…