Personally, I'd never payed much attention to Mental Health in my life. I always had thought we've just got this super clever brain that can do anything and won't go wrong or break.

Last year at the end of September having had a great few months of new experiences, jobs and partying I reached my breaking point, I began to feel exhausted.

It all seemed so innocent at first, I was tired and wanted to stay in bed, didn't have much of an appetite and wasn't keen on socialising. However it gradually grew worse and worse and i found myself bed ridden and not being able to be my usual self. I was very anxious and was having a lot of panic attacks as i refused to leave my room for most of the time. At this point I decided to go home which was where the doctor told me I had had burnout/extreme exhaustion a short term mental health DISEASE. This was due to excessive overload of activity I had done over the last 4 months with little rest just trying to do too much. That was all it took. Over the next 4 months up till mid February I can honestly say i've never felt worse and to those who know me reading this you will know I am generally a happy, outgoing chap who loves to socialise. This was not the case, I could barely string a sentence together let alone talk to my friends and complete everyday activities like going to the shop. My mind was just racing. I was very very low at this point and had little hope left I was going to get better, it was horrible. Imagine just not being able to be yourself and having doubts 24/7 that you will ever get out of this hole.

Luckily for me thanks to the great support of my close friends and family who know who they are, I started to feel better. Luckily for me I only had a short term illness but many aren't as lucky. In aid of stopping the stigma for mental health I will be raising money by running for the charity Heads Together at the Leeds Half marathon. We all need to talk about this, one conversation is all it takes.