Watch: PN’s Julie Zahra Saved A Love One From Suicide, Invigorating Her Devotion To Mental Health Issues
PN candidate Julie Zahra came in contact with an experience that changed her life forever, the day she saved a loved one from an attempted suicide.
The story was unveiled in Ħerġin, a PN documentary that shines a light on individual candidates.
Zahra recounted a time when an unnamed family member had met with a difficult situation, one which saw no way forward. No solution.
“I was always careful to see what the reaction would be, but sometimes, the intentions of persons in a certain state can elude us.”
“But luckily, I was able to intervene in the last moment. I saved [his/her life]. I remember it like it were yesterday.”
Zahra kept the identity of the person in question hidden from the public. Though the experience was most assuredly one that paved the way forward in her political career. Her goal? To contribute towards the improvement of mental health, by any means necessary.
The process, she maintains, starts with education.
“Mental health is a subject that is very much close to my heart because I was once a bystander to the effects of poor mental health.”
“I believe that education is the basis of everything as far as mental health goes. So it should be our responsibility to educate our children, and teach them what mental health truly is,” Zahra said.
“We also need to teach them how to react when people are passing through difficult moments. Moments like anxiety or depression, which require the intervention of specialised carers.”
What do you make of this?