• SOME while ago I witnessed an incident whereby a young man took his own life outside the block of flats where I live.

Although I did not know this young man I felt very distressed and deeply saddened by what I had seen and wondered what could have been done to prevent his death.

It made me realise a few things about living in a block of flats where certain people can feel isolated and anonymous.

Sensitive people can feel very depressed when living in this kind of block, which incidentally resembles a prison.

Having lived in the building for over 10 years, I know my own depression and anxiety has worsened. The noise and the undesirable neighbours make it an unpleasant place to live.

Now we also have all kinds of people coming in and out of the building thanks to residents letting out their flats through companies such as Airbnb, and what started off as about two key hubs outside the main entrance has now multiplied to around a dozen of these unsightly black hubs. Permanent residents like me don’t know what kind of characters are staying in the building.

Residents need to be treated with more consideration and their wellbeing and mental health might even improve.

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