In the 1990s during my A-Levels I developed ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome after three-weeks of type A or B influenza caused my immune system to collapse and never recover. I didn't get diagnosed for some years, so had to drop out of university, and suffered a “breakdown" more properly known as a major depressive episode.

Robert has had Bipolar Disorder since he was nineteen. His family desperately tried to help - but shame and embarrassment about mental illness always made talking difficult. He had depression for over a decade. And despairing of a normal existence, he nearly ended his life.