"From a place of isolation, asking for help seemed like trying to engage with someone who spoke another language. My name is Jack and 4 years ago, I came to a point where I felt my lowest. I was studying abroad at a university in Scotland and over the course of 3 months into my first year I went from a happy 18 year old starting a new adventure to broken human being. Those around me didn’t notice because I very quickly learned how to mask how I truly felt and continued to live foreign to who I once was. The downward spiral happened quickly. I was feeling heavy and dark from the moment I woke up until the moment I fell asleep. Sleeping became an escape from the stranger I was becoming, it was a way to avoid the suicidal thoughts and the pain that ran so deep - facing it seemed impossible. I began to slowly drift away from social plans, university and any contact with people that I didn’t have the strength to wear the mask for. Knowing this pain of battling against your mental health, the stigma attached to it and that feeling of loneliness every day for 4 years, I am finally ready to talk about it openly. I want to help those in a similar position that I was in and I want to raise awareness that it can happen to anyone.”