"Movember" why I support it.

People ask me “why do you bother doing the Movember thing each year”.

My answer is simple “it means a lot to me to help people, before it’s too late”.

I worked with a bloke some years ago (in my previous role as an Internal Auditor); he just seemed normal to me. He was happy, hard-working and always ready to help when asked. He seemed ambitious and was from a big family, so not the expected “lone wolf” you’d expect to find.

He would constantly post things on Instagram; he was always up to something with his mates and family. I would like his stuff and ask him what he was up to. So, nothing out of the ordinary and nothing to make you think that there was something wrong.

Then, one Saturday afternoon in April 2022, he posted a few pictures of him and some friends out in Birmingham, enjoying themselves about his football team winning a match (as normal). I reacted to his post with a “clap hands emoji”, he answered “great result X”.    

I didn’t think anything of it, as it was a normal occurrence for us.

On the Monday, 2 days after, I heard the news that he had taken his life...

I was in shock, I kept thinking “it can’t be true as we were messaging each other the other day”

He never mentioned anything, he never seemed down or depressed, he just seemed like everyone else, nothing different, just normal.

To say that I couldn’t believe it, was an understatement. I just wished that I could have helped him, if I could have. I quickly realised that its not always the people you think are going through bad times, some people don’t show it. Some people suffer in silence.

When I started my course into hypnotherapy, we went over how the brain works and why people do things they do. We touched on “suicides” and how bad a person must feel to have the courage to do such a thing. How low or angry they must feel that suicide is the only answer, and that there is no light at the end of the tunnel that they are in.

The biggest thing I love about solution focused hypnotherapy, is that we don’t dwell in the past, we look at the positive things that are happening in your life. We ask you to try and complete the 3 P’s on a weekly basis (positive thinking, positive actions and positive interactions). When we start to concentrate on the positive things and start taking positive actions in your life, along with trying to empty out your stress-bucket, we start to see positive results. We start to see you heading in a positive direction.

I know its not an “overnight fix” and some problems can’t be solved, but I hope that I can help someone, just delay or think twice about their final act, and just try to see if I can make a positive difference in their life.

So, this is why I will always offer my services to people in need of help in Movember.