Local Mental Health Worker Says, "Let's Kick Dr Death's Arse Out of Town"

Okay, he didn't. But he did say that as someone who works in mental health in Brighton he has had to go to four funerals from people who have committed suicide in this town, who were in his and the care of his employer. Care in the community, no doubt, is not easy, either for people who work in the field, nor for those who are left 'in the community' but left to fend for themselves by and large. I was greatly impressed tonight with his passion for his work.

He agreed, unlike the few people with whom I have been at loggerherds, on my telegraph blog today, that what people need is care and compassion, rather than a syringe, an overdose or an 'Exit Kit'. Each suicide, he said, is a tragedy, a waste of human life which is valuable. Love, as St Paul says, always protects.

He has a great deal of compassion for those excluded by mental illness and has been in shops and places where they are judged harshly at the time in their company and resents the exclusion they face. A welcome member in my indie band! I know someone myself in YMCA whose sufferings from mental illness are huge, the voices in his head, the loneliness and frustration all get to him

If this b**tard, Nietschke comes to town and starts selling the suicide kits and gets the kind of publicity he's after I know for sure some people will be tempted. I don't say he is evil, but I do say that what he is doing is evil...even though he thinks he is doing good.

I have been arguing with people this morning on the Telegraph about it and I find it so hard to comprehend those who think that Dr Death is doing people a favour. There simply isn't enough love in the World today and nowadays people think that love is about putting a loaded gun in the hands of those who suffer. It isn't. In a way, I think this is very related to what the Holy Father said about solidarity with those who suffer and avoiding the 'quick fix' to HIV, which doesn't go to the heart of the matter - which is about a humanisation of our selves and self-giving love.

I can be quite a depressed individual myself at times, which is why I make music. Catharsis. The mental health worker is the new lead guitarist for the band. We're named after St Christina the Astonishing, patroness of those with mental illness. We're a bit rubbish, really, but that isn't the point. Even if we get booed off-stage, God loves "losers" and I for one, will always rejoice in that. We talked about maybe getting funding for chaps and chapesses who do suffer mental health to do music, which would be a jolly good thing.