Being mindful of how depression could kill

But mental health workers are hoping that his death will help thousands of others in a similar state of mind in Oxfordshire to seek help.

Karen Lascelles, a suicide prevention lead nurse at Oxford NHS Trust, said: “Robin Williams’ death proves that you’re not protected by status, celebrity and money.

“Suicide doesn’t discriminate. Anyone can be affected.

“We should use this as an opportunity to remind people that there are lots of people out there who need help.”

Warning signs for people who may be thinking about suicide include withdrawing from friends and family, self-destructive behaviour such as drug use or dramatic mood swings.

A common misconception is that people who talk about suicide are just seeking attention. Experts say to take any suicidal talk, no matter how casual, seriously, as it is often an attempt to ask for help.

Ms Lascelles said that small acts of kindness or attention can make a big difference for people who are contemplating suicide.

She said: “It’s a community issue, a society issue. We all need to look out for each other.

“If you see someone who looks distressed be brave and ask if they are okay.”

Beth Brown-Reid is Oxfordshire Mind’s locality manager for South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse.

She said the stigma around mental illness prevents people from seeking help, adding: “Sometimes it’s difficult for people to say they have an illness and come to us.

“People don’t want to have to face that this is a mental health problem.

“The stigma is greater than you’d ever think. Think about when you’re at school and people call you ‘mad’ – it’s such a small word, but it has a big explosion.

“It’s like they think you’re no good and nothing to society.”

She is not optimistic about the affect Williams’ death will have on removing the taboo around suicide.

She said: “People will talk about it for three or four months and then forget. It will take some really positive action in the community to change the narrow way of thinking that we have.

“It’s easy to say something, words are cheap, people need to do things. We have a long way to go.”

Clinical depression is more than simply feeling unhappy or fed up for a few days, it is an illness that ranges from feeling persistently low in spirit to feeling that life is no longer worth living.

Bipolar disorder, which used to be called manic depression, is where the patient swings between periods of depression to manic ‘highs’.

Just under 12 per cent of adults in Oxfordshire – 79,164 people – were diagnosed with depression in 2012 and last year more than 355,000 antidepressant prescriptions were made out in the county.

There are several NHS services across Oxfordshire for people who feel suicidal or depressed, ranging from Cognative Behavioural Therapy to group therapy and one-to-one sessions.

This month will also see the beginning of NHS mindfulness programmes run by TalkingSpace Oxfordshire to help people with depression and anxiety.

Courses, which will last for 12 weeks, will begin this month in venues across Oxford and Bicester.

Ms Lascelles said: “If you’re having dark thoughts or are worried about someone you know, you should go to your GP. They will know what to do and will be able to refer you to the right people.”

• For more information on NHS Mindfulness call 01865 325 777.

Care service that is in need of joined-up thinking

IN March 2011, Jacky Sadones’ world was rocked when her 20-year-old son Rishi killed himself. Mrs Sadones, 54, said she hoped the issue of suicide and depression would remain at the forefront of celebrity culture, adding: “A lot of people don’t believe in depression.

• TRAGIC: Rishi Mullett-Sadones

“People think that it is impossible to suffer with depression when you’re lively and a likeable person like Robin Williams or Rishi.

“He was a happy, creative person who was bubbly and had loads of friends – there were 800 people at the funeral, it was like a festival.”

Rishi died in Finsbury Park, North London, where he was living while a photography student at the London College of Communication.

Mrs Sadones, who lives in Jericho with her husband Michel, as the landlady of Jericho’s Old Bookbinders Ale House, said that services for depression need to be more uniform across the country. She said: “His support here in Oxford was fairly good, but he went to London to study.

“His GP there didn’t know him and his history as well as our GP did here. He rang me and said he was really worried and felt that his tablets needed changing because he was having bad thoughts.”

Rishi died before he saw his family doctor.

Bipolar and suicidal dancer decided to seek real help

GREATER Leys resident Fabia Cerra, below, has bipolar disorder and has previously attempted suicide three times.

She said: “I had bad thoughts and I wanted to do stupid things. I thought; what’s the point even trying?

“I don’t think people have empathy with sufferers until they have walked that road themselves.

“It’s very difficult to explain how you feel.”

Now a burlesque performer, she said: “I had days where I wouldn’t get out of bed, wouldn’t open my door or anything.

“There’s an awful shame and taboo around depression, you feel like you should be in an asylum or locked away. When you’re at that lowest ebb you don’t feel like it’s worth living. You can’t do it on your own.”

The 40-year-old got help from her doctor and charities, now controls her condition with medication, and has since written a book about her struggles.

She praised Oxfordshire Mind, and said: “I support them 100 per cent. I was able to reach out to them. They were fantastic.”

Suffering from post-natal hell

BECKY Tegg is now a happy mum to Lucy, six, and Maisie, three, but that was not always the case.

The 38-year-old had severe post-natal depression after Lucy was born.

• Happy: Becky Tegg with daughters Lucy and Maisie, left

The marketing manager, from Bicester, said: “Nothing can prepare you for your first child.

“I was constantly worried about everything – had she eaten enough, had she slept enough?

“Even if things went well I worried about what could go wrong.

“At one point I said I didn’t want her any more, I wanted to give her away because I didn’t feel I could do it.

“I felt so helpless.

“What should have been a happy time was just horrendous.”

She turned to Bicester’s children’s centres for support, and said: “The help was amazing, knowing that there were people to listen to you.

“Some people think they are failing if you get depression, but you could be the best mum in the world and still get it.

“There’s no rhyme or reason. It doesn’t mean that you’re bad.”

• Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.