Mental Health First Aid Instructor
‘Are you suicidal?’ is a fine question to ask, says Hazel Sawyers. Because ‘most of us back away and don’t know what to do.’ Energizing, humorous, and an incredible listener, Sawyers has been teaching Mental Health First Aid for over twenty years. ‘Wouldn’t it make sense if just as when someone breaks their arm, everyday people knew what to do in case of ill mental health?’ London-based Sawyers delivers training sessions through The Lifeline Training Network.
The Stranger on the Bridge Just before his 21st birthday, Jonny Benjamin MBE decided to run away from the mental hospital he was staying in. While he was sitting on the edge of London’s Waterloo Bridge, contemplating taking his own life, a man came up and talked him out of it. Six years later, a […]
The Bipolar Businessman In many ways Thomas Duncan Bell is like any other entrepreneur: he runs successful businesses, is driven and ambitious. In his early twenties, however, he was diagnosed with a bipolar disorder, after entering a local police station bleeding, pleading for help. He still occasionally suffers, yet is also directing his rather impressive […]
Former Global VP of HR at Unilever Geoff McDonald’s crucible moment came in the middle of the night. He had a panic attack. At the time, Geoff was Vice President of HR for multi-billion dollar company Unilever. A real career alpha-man, he had no idea what was wrong. In this riveting talk he describes his […]
Mother of Child with Eating Disorder and Depression Depression and anxiety among children and teenagers has soared. Yet a staggering 70 percent don’t receive help when they need it most. When Dani Maimone’s teenage daughter developed an eating disorder and became so depressed that all she wanted to do was die, Maimone faced years of fighting […]
Psychiatrist Dr. Shanahan can tell ‘fifty to a hundred things’ about you, before you even sit down. As a psychiatrist he is the gatekeeper: as to who really needs treatment and what kind. Shanahan, who has been treating patients since 1984, is Medical Director of the London-based Nightingale Hospital and specializes in addiction. He’s been […]
