A MAN who attempted to take his own life on several occasions wants to overcome his depression by helping other in the same position.

Jamie Brewer has suffered from mental health issues since his nan Pauline died in 2016 of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The 27-year-old said: “She passed away and ever since then I found it hard. I tried to end my life due to the darkest days and the pain I was in.

“The reason why I felt depressed and suicidal is that I blame myself for my grandmother’s death as I fell asleep while I was meant to look after her on the night she died.

“The next morning my auntie found her without any oxygen on, so that same night she passed away. Since then I blame myself.”

Following this trauma, Jamie attempted suicide in 2018 on the M4 bridge at East Wichel.

He said: “The police helped me from the suicide attempt. They also helped when I overdosed.”

Now Jamie, from Moredon, is taking part in the first Swindon Men’s Mental Health campaign, which runs this week and is backed by several charities and the borough council.

It encourages men living with mental health issues to talk about how they feel. Men are three times more likely to take their own lives than women, and for men under the age of 50, suicide is the biggest killer.

Jamie said: “It’s important to back this campaign because for men it’s harder to open up.

“It’s difficult for us to speak. In the long term, it is helpful to speak to someone able to listen to you and support you.

“It is important to make sure that men with mental health issues are safe.

“It took me ages to talk to someone. I have a sister, nieces and a nephew and I used to think they were better off without me, that they could do so much better without me in their lives but now I know that isn’t true.”

Jamie found support and comfort from his best friend Rebecca Wolf and mental health support group Swindon MIND.

“I’ve been to Swindon MIND and they helped me with counselling, they talked to me and it was helpful,” he said.

“My best friend Rebecca helped me since day one. She always listened to me when I needed someone.”

Senior lead of service integration at Swindon MIND Carney Bonner said: “There’s no one solution for depression. Everyone is completely different.

“We run a number of programmes to help them overcome their issues. We make sure to provide services tailored to each individual. We have our self-harmony counselling service which offers a one-to-one confidential service for people who self-harm and self-injure.”

Jamie feels ready to support charities across Swindon as they could play a vital part in his recovery.

He added: “Helping charities and the community would keep me busy, stopping from thinking about depression. It would help me feel good, knowing that I helped a charity, or somebody needs help.

“It will help me recover, doing some volunteering and slowly moving to a part-time job. But it all takes time. I sent a few emails to charities and I’m waiting for replies.”

For further information visit sgmind.org.uk/swindon/

For Swindon and district Samaritans, visit samaritans.org