To the Man on the Tube Who Stopped (and Saved My Life) on a Dark Day

The thing which niggles me most isn’t my erratic moods, the inability to concentrate, the social anxiety, the low self esteem, the feeling that everyone has got this so much better than I do.. it’s with the daily grind and management of this condition. It’s the feeling that I’m not worthy of my kids, my friends, my life.. I’m just not good enough.

Every so often this hits me so hard I can’t breathe. I want it all to stop. Sometimes the thought that one day it might. just. stop. is enough to get me through to the next time. Usually. One day, though, it wasn’t.

Thanks to the one guy

who stopped

and asked if I was OK.

You were a beacon of light in the darkness

on the most desperate of endless dark days.

You didn’t even need to say anything else.

I don’t even know you name,

but you stopped and you cared and you looked me in the eye,

and you saved my life that day.

You won’t even know you did that.

I was just another face on the tube,

but you were the one who stopped and asked,

and I’m still here because of you.

If you or someone you know needs help, visit our suicide prevention resources page.

If you need support right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

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Thinkstock photo by Doug Menuez