Hi guys my name is Karis and I'm raising awareness for the mental health charity MIND.

This charity uses the help of donations to educate the nation on what mental illnesses are, how they affect people and how to help. Their work ranges from providing support workers for those in need to training employers on what mental illnesses are, helping the families and friends of people suffering from them understand what they go through and much, much more.

Through creating awareness for such illnesses, charities like MIND enable people to feel confident in speaking out about their suffering and seek help, potentially saving lives.

My reason for creating this just giving page is because I have a mental illness named Cyclothymia, which is a milder form of the more commonly known condition Bipolar disorder.

The most common stereotype for bipolar disorder is that it makes people swing from one mood to another in a matter of seconds. In reality my illness causes me to go through prolonged periods of being extremely happy and excitable, to other periods of feeling depressed and isolated.

Suffering from this not only affected my life greatly but also that of those around me. Because of this, I became resolute in learning to manage it for the sake of my future and my friends and family. I started attending the mental health service CAMHS (Child and adolescent mental health service) when I was 14 having to attend up to 3 times a week and met with several psychologists and psychiatrists who provided me with medication, safety plans and training in managing my moods in order keep my life on track. I was told I wouldn't be able to leave my doctors until I was 18. However through determination and having such an amazing support network around me I was discharged on 20th February 2015 aged 16.

Due to learning to cope so well so quickly I was asked to represent CAMHS and another mental health service named Bromley Youth by visiting schools and educating people on what mental illnesses are and telling my story about how I got help and learnt to control my moods. Doing speeches at schools and meeting with people there showed just how little some people know about mental health which has made me more determined to raise awareness on a larger scale.

Getting the help I was given potentially saved my life and certainly turned my life around for the better, so I want to do everything I can to repay them and ensure anyone else suffering from the same problem as me gets the help they deserve.

A year on from being discharged I have decided to come out about my illness to everyone around me and use it as a means to not only raise money but raise awareness and show people that it is not something to be embarrassed about, and seeking help isn't looking for attention but getting the treatment you deserve.

I am doing a sky dive to raise money for MIND in the hope that soon mental illnesses will be considered the same as any other physical illness. If you feel able to sponsor me any money raised will be very much appreciated.

Thank you ☺️