I often joke that out of all the councillors on Basildon Borough Council, I have been picked up the most by the police. This is not because I have committed any crime, but because when I was in mental health crisis, the police were the only people who cared.
In over a decade in and out of mental health services, I have been asked am I suicidal more times than I care to count and I always find it a very interesting question to consider.
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I always like to think I come across as a confident, outgoing and extroverted person. As a local politician, I can interact with hundreds of people over the course of a week with a big smile and grin, but what the majority of those will never see is a dark void inside me, and a deep disconnect I have with the world.