My name is Ida Väisänen. After training as a journalist I found myself in my first job in the UK, a whole new chapter in front of me.
However, things didn’t go as planned. Only a few months later I became increasingly ill with depression.
See, I had experienced things that I had never dealt with. I thought that by ignoring them they’d go away eventually, and I would be happy.
As my health deteriorated, I began to self-harm, attempted to take my own life and was finally hospitalised for almost three months.
Then and only then did things come to a halt. I had two choices, either get better or die.
From that decision, the journey towards recovery began.
Had I died, I wouldn’t had known that I have complex post-traumatic stress disorder which despite the name is a manageable condition.
What spurs me on is that by talking about my experiences, I might be able to help someone else.
This photo was taken soon after my suicide attempt and two weeks before I was hospitalised for 80 days.
