Dealing with a mental health problem is tougher than can be put into words; it’s even harder when you’re on your own. I firmly believe that having a good support network contributes hugely to recovery from mental illness, and it is heart breaking to know that some people suffer alone during such a dark and terrifying time.

Mental illness has a way of twisting your perception of the world around you. You can be surrounded by a room full of people offering their help and still feel insignificant, disliked and lonely in a harsh, cruel world. The illnesses thrive off filling your entire existence with self-loathing and terror, telling you that you are different, nobody understands, nobody cares and therefore to turn to negative coping strategies. These thoughts are false, but that’s hard to understand when your entire outlook is being turned upside down, distorted and destroyed. This being said…