Tag: depression

Running a marketing agency, I've seen my fair share of people that have struggled with mental health issues and even struggled with some issues myself.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going - or at least so they say.

It's been a difficult few months for businesses who are navigating a new way of doing business, or forced closure. To say that it has been tough is an understatement. Like many entrepreneurs, I have been feeling the pressure and at times it is unsurmountable.

At my age, I have seen a lot and in the past six months, I have had two friends die from drug overdoses. They were hugely successful in their careers, and no-one saw it coming. Perhaps they were accidental overdoes, or maybe they chose this path, but it begs the question - what responsibility do we have as friends, family and employers of people who are suffering from addiction, anxiety and depression?

On Saturday, I received a call from my friend Samantha, that her former colleague had just committed suicide. She was in shock and needed to take stock - and rightfully so. 

Charlotte Dawson's name only became known to me through the media about "trolls" bullying her on Twitter. At the time, the media was reasonably supportive of her plight, but columnists and bloggers including myself were on the fence. If you took time to read the dialogue well before it became public you may have an opinion that some of the things that she had openly said about other people were not so nice either, and as an adult, some of the insults that flew back to the "cyber bullies" were something that you would be horrified about in a school yard. 

Now, that doesn't mean that cyber bullying is acceptable - as it is not. I too have been prone to have a few trolls pass both of my Twitter accounts which combine amount to 41,000 followers, on some topics that I have chosen to write about on this blog, namely the one on how women can help their man be more successful. Apparently, I am stuck in the 50's but the trolls took it a little bit further and threw a few distasteful words my way. I politely replied to some (not all) with "Thank you so much for sharing your opinion. I respect everyone's point of view and perspectives." It stopped within 24 hours, only after my website had more than 100,000 visitors.