Unemployed Dad Who Tweeted Saying He Was 'Not OK' Receives Over 100,000 Replies

By Samantha in For The Win On 20th October 2020

Edmund O'Leary has been out of job for the past 18 months. Feeling depressed, the dad took to Twitter to tell people he is not feeling well and has hit rock bottom. If people see his message, it would be helpful if they say hello to him. Within a few hours, Edmund's tweet went viral with people from all walks of life and around the globe dropping messages of love and support to him.

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This sweet dad took to Twitter to admit he is 'feeling rock bottom' and asking people to say hello to him if he sees his message.



Last week, unemployed Edmund O'Leary, 51, posted on Twitter to say: "I am not OK. Feeling rock bottom. Please take a few seconds to say hello if you see this tweet. Thank you."



 

Since then he has received messages from more than 100,000 comments and 300,000 likes.


People responded to dad's tweet asking him if he is alright?



Edmund, from Epsom in Surrey, has been out of work for 18 months. He was previously working as a mental health worker, having also had jobs in sales, travel, and television engineering.




 

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Appearing on ITV's This Morning he opened up about what prompted his post, saying: "On Friday I was feeling very depressed and isolated and I have a Twitter friend who writes similar things. I thought if it worked for him it could work for me.

"The phenomenal response is a lot about timing, it was daytime in America and a lot of people were sick and tired of all the bad news on Twitter.

"I will keep in touch with some of these people, I would need to employ staff to reply to every tweet."

 

Among hundreds and thousands of messages that Edmund received, they were from people from all walks of life including actors, mental health workers, and journalists asking Edmund how is feeling!

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In an interview with The Sunday Times he said he wanted to 'be honest' on social media about how he was feeling.

"Most days are really rubbish," he said. "And yesterday was another day I was feeling really low. I thought: 'I'm going to be honest.'''

He added: "This year has been absolutely horrendous. My mental health has really taken a battering.

"I live on my own, I'm divorced, I don't have much family support."

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Edmund had been hoping to see his son Patrick, 22, graduate with a first from university and take his other son Connor to Dublin to start his PhD, but couldn't do either because of the pandemic.

He told ITV: "Suffering with depression during normal times is one thing. But to end up suffering with depression during a global pandemic, where there is little good news, is devastating."

Giving a message to other people, Edmund encourages other people in a similar situation to reach out if they need help or support.

He told This Morning: "I've had many men reply to me and say they couldn't do what I did.

"They called me courageous and were applauding me. I would say to men try to reach out for help and don't feel alone.

"I think we are in for a pretty awful winter, by all accounts. Reach out for help, reach out to loved ones, and seek medical help if necessary."

 

 

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