Four years ago, I tried to die. I was abusing pharmaceutical drugs daily to survive, topping up with alcohol and other substances whenever I could. I was in an abusive relationship. I had isolated from family, lied to my friends, hidden behind work trips and public events, telling people I was OK. I had been in therapy, I’d tried getting sober on my own, I tried leaving my relationship multiple times. I tried to tell people what my head was saying. But it was too much. Too big. Luckily, I was unsuccessful. And as I came to, I called @samaritans. They kept me alive until I got to a safe place where I could process what just happened. Almost instantly, I wanted to live. It took another year for me to get sober. I got diagnosed with cPTSD and psychosis and started life saving medication. I lost a lot of friends. I rebuilt my life. I started a new job, moved out of my home city and started asking myself who I always wanted to be. Since, I’ve worked with Samaritans on a national campaign towards suicide prevention. Hoping people make the call before their attempt, unlike me. Today, I have a loving life partner, wonderful friends and family, hobbies, interests, a dog, years of memories and experiences, but most importantly my sobriety and mental clarity. Recovery is the single best thing I’ve ever done and continue to do. Life is worth living, even in the darkest days. It took me losing all hope and almost losing my life to realise that. The first three pictures are who I am today. Happy, fulfilled and unapologetically me. The last picture is who I was four years ago, when I wasn’t pretending. Understandably, I don’t have many of these pictures, and it often looked a lot worse. Today is #WorldSuicidePreventionDay Suicide is not inevitable. You can interrupt someone’s suicidal thoughts. Don’t leave it to the person suffering to speak up. You could save a life.