My name is Jordan. I’m 22, about to turn 23, and I live in Roseville.

In high school, I started self-harming, and I withdrew quite a lot. Then I got to Year 12 and took on three major works, which was probably a very bad idea. I ended up moving out of home because my home life was just so disruptive, and that’s probably the most alone I’ve ever felt. I somehow managed to finish, and I got into media at university.

By this point, I was living with a long-term boyfriend of mine. He was very supportive at the start and really helpful, but I started to really backslide. My depression just got on top of me, my anxiety got worse, and I was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.

I went on to ReachOut and read a lot about it, and it helped me understand because it was written in a way that I could relate to. I started failing my way through university quite a bit, and in the end, my boyfriend found it a bit overwhelming and broke up with me. That led to me massively backsliding, and that was around the time I first tried to kill myself.

My mum suggested that I admit myself to a psychiatric hospital. I was there for a couple of weeks, and I actually found that really helpful. It set me up with a routine, and I met some other people who I could connect to for the first time in my life. They understood me. There were psychologists there, and that was really helpful. I thought I’d sort of gotten back on track.

After I came out of the hospital, I switched back into my old ways. Then, out of nowhere, I started doing CBT with one particular psychologist. I found I really connected with her, and she was really helpful. She gave me a lot of tips and techniques to manage my depression and anxiety. I was on a different kind of medication as well, which I think helped.

Through ReachOut, I also learned a lot about self-care. I’ve started volunteering with ReachOut, and I’ve found that it’s given me a lot of purpose. It’s made me happy, actually.