50.

I had just finished another really long shift at a restaurant, coming home to a loveless relationship (ex bf was asleep as he usually was by the time I got home,) sat in front of the TV and had my usual breakdown with leftover sushi and a bottle of Asahi. I was working 7 days a week, all shifts at least 10 hours. I had missed out on so many events with friends and haven't seen my family in ages. I was one of three wait staff in an extremely busy sushi restaurant that also did delivery.

I just couldn't do it anymore. It was extremely lonely. I was exhausted.

Did a 3 day teaching course, moved to Austria to get a teaching qualification, travelled the world (including NK. That was weird.) Now back in the UK, about to start a job in IT.

Papertache

49. 

Lying in bed depressed and couldnt sleep. Did only gaming at that time and even that felt dull.

That was 6 years ago. I started a sport (bouldering), got a job in the gym a year later which forced me to speak with people. Finished an apprenticeship as a sports teacher. Started studying nutritional science and got an amazing girlfriend.

Groghnash

48. 

It was actually fairly recent, about a month ago. I was sitting on the couch eating junk when I realized I'm never going to look the way I want to if I keep being a lazy bum. The next day I started eating better and trying to exercise a good amount. I've stopped gaining weight and I'm about to start on keto and doing yoga so I can start actually lose weight to work towards being who I want to be.

MeshMemer

47.

I saw pictures of myself from a bad angle and realized just how fat I'd gotten. I was so used to seeing myself in a mirror from that one angle, and didn't notice how bad my weight had become. Seeing that different perspective on my body was really jarring.

Buckled down and lost 35 lbs in 3 months. And most importantly, I didn't gain it back! Held obesity off for a year so far!

chonchonchon12

46.

I was probably 16 and realised how depressed I was for the last year. How I never went out of my room, didn't eat, always tired, always empty. Even vacations didn't make me excited. So I decided that I will pull myself up and did. Now I'm in a happy relationship (just moved in together), got into my dream school and couldn't be happier. I still sometimes fall into a dark place, but I don't allow myself to stay there

TerkaCh

45.

I think around 19 or 20. Drinking and blacking out all the time. Smoking and trying so hard to be cool. It also started giving me anxiety.

Realized that I needed to reevaluate myself. Quit drinking and smoking. Focused hard on school and stopped hanging out with my old friends. Now in my final year's of my Ph.D. and feel so much better about myself.

nmcqrad1256

44. 

I used to be very into World of Warcraft in high school. I would play whenever I had the opportunity, I would only stop when my parents insisted, and it occupied my thoughts constantly. So at one point, I was given a great housesitting job; I would stay at their house, fully stocked with cereal, cookies, and frozen pizzas, for a week, away from any distractions.

I played nearly twenty four hours a day, I stopped only to eat, sleep, and bathroom. It was about 5 days in when I realized I hadn't showered in the entire time I'd been there, I hadn't eaten a vegetable, and I was wearing nothing but a pair of 3 day old boxers. It was then I realized it was time to pull the plug. I haven't gotten that engrossed in a game ever since, and I shower regularly

jbeldham

43.

Actually less than a month ago. I've always been a semi-athletic person and was always slim and defined. Some backstory: I've been practicing karate from many years, my master have seen me grow in what I am now. 2 years and 4 months ago I started dating a girl and it just seemed like a really stable and loving relationship. About 9 months pass and we have the first big argument over something really stupid but we get over it. But something is changed in both of us. Arguments get a lot more frequent and I start to eat unhealthy foods and stop curing myself.

Another 15 months of relationship pass and we decide to break up. Finally I see the results of 15 months of a toxic relationship. I've gain some weight, lost muscle, have no more energy to train properly and my whole diet is a mess (this of course is combined with the psychological damage).

When I see myself into a mirror I could not believe what I saw. It struck me so much that in less that a week I was already training at my maximum capabilities and completely change my diet. It's been a month now and I'm starting to see results, hopefully when I'll go back at my karate course in September I'll be better than ever.

Sorry for the long story, writing this it's a huge weight off my shoulders. Thank you for reading and have a good day

Tharby-Kirbos

42. 

A few weeks ago.

(I've always been healthy, 130lbs active.)

Couple of weeks ago I realised that i had been sitting at a computer everyday for the last 4 years and I weigh 170lbs and essentially live on junk food.

I get overly exhausted from the lightest of exercise. Started going back to the gym and eating right again. Feel abit like a frog on a hot pan, unaware of the damage done because i've become indifferent to the slow change.

It's really tough, and I could only work out for 30 minutes the other day. But I know that in a couple of months I'll be able to workout for over an hour and feel much better for doing it!

madding247

41.

I was standing crying in the rain in the middle of the night at 18 years old after I'd moved out while my parents berated me and screamed at me on the phone because my university grades were slipping. And I realized that I never saw anyone else out there being yelled at when I was.

They are no longer part of my life.

CriticalHitKW

40.

Stepped on the scale for the first time in months and saw that I was 208 pounds, the heaviest I've ever been. Looked up my BMI online and sure enough, 208 was obese for my height. I've always been a little heavy, but in the last year I just blew up like a balloon. I started doing keto on June 1 and now I'm down to 186 pounds. I ain't lookin back!

butwhole420

39.

I gave all my time and energy to a job that didn't appreciate it. I have depression & anxiety and work was a decent distraction, but the workload was piling up and I never felt like part of a team. Some of the senior staff were so catty and nasty. I was working overtime to get the never ending to do list finished (because they didn't train anyone else to help with my job) and the next day there was always someone unhappy with something I hadn't done, when I'd done 50 other things that were also 'urgent'. I was exhausted.

Got to the point where I was crying when I got home, and crying in the morning before work, trying to find any excuse not to go. I confided in my manager (who was just an oblivious lump - I have no idea how he ended up a manager) and all he said was "Oh crumbs....I hope you feel better soon". Yeah, no. My notice went in shortly afterwards and I'm now in a much better job that takes my mental health seriously.

hanzolo_

38.

Right now, actually. I can't seem to find a job with my current certifications and portfolio, so I think I might have to figure something else out. For reference, I finished my last certification course in September 2018 and have been applying for jobs since. I've had a rare handful of phone interviews, but nothing has ever come from them.

CMShortboy

37. 

Every couple months since a year after graduating high school. I wasn't a POS, but close. I was a huge jerk for sure, but there wasn't one big moment that made me think about myself and my choices. It just sort of happened one day. I thought about where I was, how disappointed I was, where I wanted to be, and realistically what I had to do to get there.

I think everyone needs to reflect and self evaluate themselves now and then, just to see if you're happy where you are. Whether you're happy or sad, up or down, you can always improve, for your self and the ones you care about. It doesn't necessarily have to be something huge either. Purposeful positive changes no matter how big or small are good for everyone.

Make an effort to give people compliments. If you admire something about someone, tell them. It will make their day if not their week. Small things.

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight.

Orbnotacus

36.

I always asked myself, "why doesn't anyone like me? Why doesn't anyone want to be friends with me?" And then I kinda realized that I was a jerk. I was very cold and showed little to no emotion in front of others, and I was extremely defensive and sensitive. When I finally came to that realization, I was ashamed of myself. I didn't want to be that way, nor did I want others to feel bad about themselves because of the way I acted.

That's when I decided I needed to make a change. I apologized to a lot of people I had mistreated and started working towards being a better person. If you looked back at me from the past, you'd never know I could be capable of being the person I am today. My life has definitely changed for the better since I finally decided to be honest with myself and change.

tandyyman

35.

When I turned 40 I did some soul searching. And SOMEHOW I realized I'm not what I thought I was. I'm actually good Looking. Tall and strong, well built with all my teeth and hair. These are things that I knew, in my head, but didn't feel until that night. Since then.... I've found a new partner who's amazing. Beautiful, supportive, smart, funny. I've started a business that's doing well. I've gotten my finances more or less squared away.

I've done things that I never thought were possible. Singing in front of a crowd. Wrote a book. Built amazing things. And, the other night my girlfriend and I hooked up with a swinger friend and her girlfriend. I've realized that although I've always thought I had bad luck, in actuality...I live a charmed life. And, If I'm honest, I always have.

maxthearguer

34.

When I was sitting in a restaurant with my abusive mother for visitation and she kept pushing my buttons to get me to blow up at her in front of the restaurant staff. I ended up walking home in the rain that night, all the while having her tail me and yell from her car to "stop being so unreasonable". On the bright side as I got home, she parked in the driveway and called the police, when the officers showed up they were very understanding and helped calm me down. Never had to go on another visitation after this happened, thanks to the guy who represents minors in court.

unhappy_hippie1971

33.

When I was really young, I was angry a lot (mostly hormones because I started puberty VERY early). I always had trouble controlling my anger and would hit my sisters if they annoyed me, one day I realised how shorty that was and simply stopped, I would instead leave the room (sometimes they would follow so I would just shut myself in my room) I at one point bruised my knuckles punching a chest of draws in anger, but I haven't hit anybody in years (except in a playful way).

mozzatits

32. 

My friend had just betrayed me in a huge way(sabotaged and destroyed a handful of friendships through gossip until one was smart enough to talk to me about what she was saying) while I allowed her to live rent free in my home during her divorce. It was the last straw in a series of dramatic events in our group of friends. I decided this wasn't the lifestyle or social group for me if everyone was so willing to be fickle about loyalties. I left and developed fewer but more meaningful friendships from then on.

friendlyantisocial

31. 

The day I realized I'd been living for everyone else's happiness, and hadn't been putting my own happiness as a priority. This was close to 3 years ago.

I've since started grad school (5 classes left!), changed careers and received a promotion, sought therapy and meds for my me talk health, and have eased off contact with family that's been a toxic part of my life. I am the happiest I've ever been, but more importantly, I feel like me, and I feel strong. I love who I've evolved into and I love the family I've curated around me. I don't feel alone anymore, and I feel loved. While some of my curated family is blood (namely my mom), it is mostly made up of people I've met that are genuine and compassionate folks. I adore them all, and as best I can tell, they adore me too.

illytaria

30.

It was 6am on a Monday. I was unemployed, about to get kicked out of my apartment. All I had was 10 bucks I stole out of my gf's purse. And I had an interview later that day.

I didn't even care. I threw on some dirty clothes and went to the bar down the block— earliest place open near me.

Walked in, bartender's in the can. I thought about raiding the register and just walking out. When she came out I was ashamed.

You know how some bars have that mirror behind the bar? Everything is so much clearer in the light of day. She looks at me and she's like, "really?" (They all know me there.)

I held out the ten nodded. When she turned around I caught my own gaze in the mirror and thought, "this has to change."

She was like, "good luck," and handed me a roll of quarters. Laundry day, amirite?

UncleNicky

29.

Mother lost her job at the start of last year. Had a nervous breakdown and fell into depression. I was a 1st year college student, and quickly found a part-time job so we could eat. My life became 24/7 work, school, taking care of her. The thing is, she started drinking and lying in bed all day, every day, and refused any sort of treatment.

It was draining me in every single way imaginable, became antisocial, my grades fell, I got fired from my job. After a year of this I fell into depression as well, at which time my father (my parents are divorced, he lives out of country) stepped in, said this is ridiculous, tried to get her treatment. She refused again, and got insulted that he thought so little of her. Then he just came to me, offered me treatment and said we need to get you a roommate and your own place.

Since I've moved I passed all my exams, got a new GF, and am currently looking for a summer job.

FlashyFire2525

28.

Freshman year of college I joined the karate club, in order to obtain the next rank you need to pass three things, kata, self defense, and sparring. I just got my yellow belt (the order in my style goes white, yellow, orange, green, purple, brown, and black) and was testing for orange.

Well you know about the freshman 15? I gained 25 pounds since starting, and I was already overweight to start, and sparring consists of fighting consistently for about 2 minutes. I finished kata and self defense and was about to start sparring, I was already exhausted. After just one minute I couldn't breathe, I was hyperventilating. I managed to pass my test and swore I never wanted to be that unhealthy again.

J lost almost 50 pounds since then from joining weight watchers, I'm testing for my purple belt, and now I can spare for about. 6-7 minutes without a break.

Camoflauge-Hat

27. 

Let's just say that it was a gradual realization that, no matter how many people I would talk to, that I still had no friends. No one REALLY cared about me outside of wherever I met them. So I had to start changing my way of staying in my own head and reading too much and not doing anything at home. It's been a gradual change but I'm starting to building up a social life after years of not having one.

axeboio298

26. 

I was unhappy with my weight for a while but never was motivated to fix it. Then my first baby died after I delivered at nearly 24 weeks. I was close to dying from severe preeclampsia, but they were able to save me. He was so behind in his growth they couldn't help him.

10 weeks after he passed I got up, literally looked in the mirror and decided to take control. Preeclampsia can have lasting effects on your overall health and being overweight/obese is a risk factor to develop it in future pregnancies. I want to be as healthy as I can be for my family, and make the most of the second chance the doctors gave me.

40 pounds down and I'm pregnant again. Cross your fingers for me.

thisisnotgoodbye

25. 

Waking up with drugs I didn't remember buying, with the an awful booze hangover. Thinking about all the awful stuff I could remember doing that night/morning, the look on my friends face when I said I was going to join others and keep partying. Then doing a line to try and kill the hangover.

Sitting there, feeling the same shame I felt every morning- that heavy cloud of anxiety, disappointment, and unhappiness.

Happily sober for almost two years now.

hailkelemvor

24.

Friday morning. I woke up with a lacerated ear, a black eye, and a hairline fracture in my right wrist. According to friends, I didn't make it out of the doorway of the place where we were drinking. It's neither my first blackout, nor the first time I was injured during one (cracked my head on two separate occasions DUI on a bicycle), but I have come to terms with the fact that my alcohol tolerance has dramatically decreased in the last few years. It would be a preposterous lie if I said I'd quit cold-turkey, but it is evident that I must endeavor to drink less in the interest of survival.

quequotion

23.

After my first wife died, I spent a lot of time with her family and especially her sister (long story). About the one year mark I come to the realization that I didn't see myself "moving on" as I should have been. Mainly because I was still spending about much time with her family (75% with the sister) as my own family. I constantly reminded of the life I had and lost and by being with that situation, it was never going to let me move on.

I had plans to "take a break" from her family but the drama with the sister accelerated them leaving my life. After that and the dust settled, I moved on, met the next love of my life and we are engaged. I haven't spoke to anyone in that family in a few years.

chewedgummiebears

22. 

When I realised that I was worthy of having a fulfilling life.

I suffered from anorexia from the age of 12-20 and spent the entirety of high school on the verge of fainting. I was scared of absolutely everything from food, sitting, social gatherings, travel, family dinners, events you name it. Any situation that compromised my sense of control was traumatizing. I went to therapy for most of that period, but that was when my parents forced me to.

I was completely closed off and took nothing from the sessions because I truly wanted to remain sick. When I finally decided I wanted to take the leap towards a life resembling happiness that is when things began to slowly change. Today I am 22, have a full time job and great relationships with my body and those around me. I am soo much more flexible and able to adapt to new situations. I still struggle from time to time, but I am now equipped with the tools to combat those fears and life a well balanced and healthy life.

clubpenguinusername1

21. 

When I stopped my bike in the middle of the freeway at midnight coming off of a brutally hard shift at a job I hate and contemplated whether or not I wanted to die right there and then.

Also known as yesterday...

It's scary to suddenly contemplate suicide when you're in a bad place both mentally and physically. I didn't realise how messed up I've been feeling for the past three years until I looked at the darkness and felt that I didn't want to see the light anymore.

I'm handing in my two-weeks-notice on Friday.

DessertTheatre

20.

It took a lot of mess ups, A LOT. And every time I kept saying "that's it, I can't keep doing this. It's time to make a change" and a few weeks later i was still doing the same behavior.

I don't know what finally did it but I was finally able to say "don't stay out at a bar till 4am. Don't involve yourself with dangerous activity. Don't be a stupid jerk" and I got my life back in order. It's still a struggle because I constantly panic myself over the consequences of my behavior catching up with me, like I feel like I deserve to be punished for it or something, but I've stopped acting the way I used to. And that's a step.

Cool-thulhu

19. 

This actually happened to me a couple days ago. I have been going through a low period in my life. I am close to flunking out of college, have lied to many people, am not mature or independent at all. I hated myself (And still do to an extent). I was tuning my friend in on my life and talking to her about some things I was bottling up. When I told her that I did not know what exactly I wanted to do with my future, she made me write out my life goals and how I was going to achieve them

I had realized many times in the past that "I really need to be better and make changes", but yesterday... I really felt like I had to change. As I was writing these goals down and how I was going to achieve them, I realized these goals are going to be difficult to achieve. It will require lots of discipline, time, work, and mental strength. For the first time, however, I genuinely felt that I could achieve those goals and come out on the other side a completely different and mature person who I love. i can feel the happiness, thirst for improvement, and positivity flowing through me. I am hopeful and not scared anymore. I'm going to go out and slam dunk those goals!

JurgaBurgaFlinstines

18.

I used to be a MEGA pessimist with depression. Like seriously even the most jovial things were easily malleable into something negative. I always found a way. Not only did people hate me for it, I began to literally hate myself. I'd go back and forth in my head telling myself to shut up for once and think more positively. My pessimism and depression has lessened alot since then. I'm actual hopeful and open-minded now.

thatsameawkwardgirl

17. 

I found out 4 yrs back that my bio dad has diabetes and about a year back he lost his vision due to it. A few months back found out that my mom has diabetes too. I don't have diabetes but I'm what doctors call morbidly obese and weigh 320 lbs. I'm also visually impaired. About a week back I decided it's time for a change, I don't want to die when I'm 40. I'm 28 now. I think I have time to make that change. I asked my doctor for a referral to a weight management clinic and for which I've an appointment mid-August.

Carnegie89

16.

I had to have emergency surgery because I had a ectopic pregnancy. I would have bled out if I hadn't had surgery on time. I'm 30, overweight, didn't finish college and have a job I'm doing just to survive because I'm broke af. After a good look at my life I signed up for business school, I weigh 16 kg lighter(have 14kg more to go) and have a brighter future ahead.

dokides

15. 

After my ex & I split after 5 years. We moved to a different location to start our lives together only for that to end & in the process I didn't realize until after the break up and being single that I was pretty depressed and felt held down in that relationship. The relationship ended on a good note but I realized how much of myself I had lost/given up and I pretty much made a vow to myself to think clearer and to not put myself in a position where I am not okay if this other person decides to leave my life. All in all, I feel wiser & I love myself more bc of it.

kookiekimiko27

14.

I was in an abusive relationship and had wanted to leave it for months, but one day I had an epiphany when watching Requiem For A Dream (I figured that if I kept going as I was, I'd be miserable forever, so I should change my life - unlike how the characters in the film didn't do that and then succumbed).

Few days later, I left the girl (after 10 months together) and never looked back. I've been single since, but I've been so much happier. I didn't realise how much my mental health would improve.

AbhorrentIngestion

13.

I was drafted out of the coal mines. I did my dozen as a rifleman in the Vietnam boonies. Picked up some quality PTSD. I was discharged and home for a week before I showed up at the mine looking for my job back. The man said, "Sign here and we'll have you back in a week."

My family has been mining coal for 225 years. I looked him in the eye and said, "Thank you, but I don't think so."

nithwyr

12. 

My 24th birthday. I got blackout drunk and did a whole bunch of blow at the local dive bar with "friends" (people who were around because I had coke). One of them gave me a ride back home and the following day I had my parents give me a ride to go get my car. As they drove off, I found myself clawing the little rocks and flakes of coke from the carpet of my car, that I sloppily dropped the night before, and gumming them in some vein hope of not feeling like shit.

As I lit a cigarette and the crisp morning light shined through the windshield into my squinted, droopy eyes I knew it was time for a drastic change.

So I did, I haven't touched any kind of uppers since then. I bought a new car, moved out of my parents into my own one bedroom apartment, and even quit smoking. I cannot say that I miss the way I used to live at all.

tastesliketurtles

11.

I was suffering from severe bullying and decided to cut contact with all of social media until I felt like I was safe to use it. This was multiple years ago and I haven't suffered any bullying since. Back when I was young, I had no friends and didn't believe anyone truly considered me important. Today, I know who my friends are and although I'm currently on a break from social media again (not from bullying, I am trying to sort my life out whilst it is pretty chaos). I'm hoping to meetup with them in the near future and fulfill my hopes of becoming a more social person, something that each of them want from me.

ryanjames941

10.

I was in a really bad spot in life, beginning to wonder what the point of it all was but realizing my thinking was getting a bit dangerous. I went through my text messages to find someone to try to talk things through with and realized I didn't have a single person I could reach out to for help anymore. All of my text messages for the three years I had my new phone had been work related. It made me realize that I wasn't doing anyone any favors killing myself with a job. You have to learn to balance things or you'll lose everything that makes life worth living in the first place.

-gutterbaby

9.

After the mother of my child cheated on me and left me with full custody I was not about to let her feel like she got the better deal by leaving. So I got on anti depressants and made such intense lifestyle changes that I was among the most toned and appropriately muscular people I knew. Along with that I finished my undergrad and now am nearly finished the equivalent of a masters degree, all while raising our kid without her. It all comes from that point of thinking "I want you to regret robbing my child of a mother". Revenge bod is good but I went full revenge life on her.

-ThePurestAmoeba

8. 

First time: When I woke up naked, in a backyard koi pond, in a neighborhood I had never been in, without any belongings.

Shortly after the koi pond incident: Woke up in the middle of the woods. Luckily found my cell phone nearby. Friend figured out where I was and came to get me. Both times I ended up in a place without my car. Finding it was tough.
I quit doing drugs and stopped drinking after that and got help for my CPTSD. I tell people that I was lucky that I didn't end up dead in a ditch somewhere. They think I'm joking...but I'm not. Childhood trauma will try and kill you as an adult.

-poetic-jester

7. 

The day my now ex-husband and I started a verbal argument and I saw that each of my three kids had picked up something to use as a weapon to defend me, in case he got rough with me. That broke my heart and I knew it was time for a change.

-linda-stanley

6. 

I was working in a restaurant and they were rolling out this fancy new menu so for 2 weeks they had us all come in every evening to try the food with wine pairings. I'm not sure how it happened exactly but we ended up taking the excuse to all go out together after. So for 2 weeks we had our tastings and then went and partied together.

Before then my whole world was the guy I was dating and the friends we shared. These two weeks messed my head up real bad. People were nice to me, they wanted me around, they wanted me to participate. They laughed at jokes and sincerely listened if the chats got serious.

They were essentially strangers and they treated me better than anyone in my life ever had. And my god... I was happy. Do you have any idea what it feels like to realize what happiness truly feels like? When you haven't felt it in years?

2 weeks later I left my bf at the time. My "friends" decided that made me a bad person. So I cut them out too. I cut out my family as well, cause screw being their scapegoat.

I didn't just jump to the new friends either. I'm now married to one, and another I call my "music mom" but I didn't jump right in to it. I had finally realized I hated myself and that was wrong. I went all on hermit for a bit and got therapy and got my life together.

Then I rebuilt, and even though you can't escape struggles or the the mental illnesses I have my life is infinitely better. It's not even worth comparing.

-Daugher_Earth

5. 

I woke up naked in a bathtub. Not knowing how I got home, how I got naked, or why the shower was running and pleading with myself. "I dont want to be my parents."

I called the suicide hotline, told them. I am not suicidal but I cannot control my own thoughts. They gave me a list of resources for help in my area and the next morning I called every one. One of them was a non profit and wouldnt cost me much since it was sliding scale fee. I had to get an evaluation done, but in the past I always lied or hid information. I told myself, "not this time." I told them everything.

All the abuse I suffered as a child, physical, mental. The failed murder of myself by my biological grandfather on my mom's side. And more. Spared no details. An hour evaluation turned into 3.5 hours. I was Diagnosised with PTSD and that therapy changed my life. Sure I screwed up a bunch of stuff. But I am much happier now and still mess up. Just not as badly.

-Tedbastion

4. 

At a Denny's.

Late at night I was there with a girl I was pursuing and her friends. One of which sent back a bagel several times for not being toasted enough then being too toasted then being white bread then being not white bread.

The group was about 7 including myself. While the girl I was pursuing was amazing herself her friends were obnoxious but I had typically chalked that up to being youthful, it takes all types, various other excuses, but that bagel situation made the scales from my eyes fall away.

I was suddenly aware of just how loud our group was, how the servers avoided us, how rude the group was openly and loudly complaining of "such bad service." I started evaluating what it was I was doing and if this was a path I wanted to go down.

I gradually faded out of the girls life, I didn't want to be confrontational and don't think it's right to use ultimatums of "your friends or me" at that time.

There was another more personal experience that happened a bit later that only further confirmed my decision was the right one.

-Donnersebliksem

3. 

I had to crawl literally crawl over a mountain of trash and clothes the same size as my bed, if not bigger to go to sleep. Half of my king size bed was full of trash. Roaches started showing up. For weeks, I let them crawl on me. I was so depressed and immobilized, I couldn't even care about roaches crawling all over my body. Remembering that time makes me want to throw up. I'm glad to say I'm somewhere else now doing much, much better.

For perspective, during this low, low time I was an attractive, fit commercial model. My nails and hair were always done. I didn't smell. I did not look like who someone would imagine slept in roaches. Mental illness does not discriminate, nor does it have a look. Sometimes it doesn't even change your appearance. We really have no idea what others are going through.

-mlkjih

2. 

When I met a transgender woman in Colorado who was confident, happy and successful, and realised that I couldn't be any of those things if I was lying to myself about who I was.

Two days later she helped me come out of the closet.

So yeah that was how I started this month.

-Andreus

1. 

When I stopped my bike in the middle of the freeway at midnight coming off of a brutally hard shift at a job I hate and contemplated whether or not I wanted to die right there and then.

Also known as yesterday...

It's really scary to suddenly contemplate suicide when you're in a bad place both mentally and physically. I didn't realise how messed up I've been feeling for the past three years until I looked at the darkness and felt that I didn't want to see the light anymore.

I'm handing in my two-weeks-notice on Friday.

-DessertTheater

If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Transgender people can get help through the Trans Lifeline at https://www.translifeline.org/ or call US: 877-565-8860 Canada: 877-330-6366

To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/