Talking is something we do on a daily basis, be it with friends on WhatsApp, colleagues in the office or during a quick phone call with a family member while sitting on the bus.
However talking, as in discussing our emotions, how we honestly feel about daily life and the struggles we're constantly battling in our heads, is something many of us hide away from for fear of appearing too needy, the 'moany' one in our friendship group, vulnerable or 'different'.
It's a dilemma known all too well by model Adwoa Aboah, who has recently opened up about her own struggles with mental illness that one led to an attempted suicide.
In a video campaign promoted by Heads Together – the mental health charity spearheaded by Kate Middleton and Princes William and Harry which works with numerous organisations such as CALM, Minds and the Anna Freud Centre to encourage people to talk about their emotions – Aboah opens up to her mother Camilla Lowther about the severity of her depression over the years.
Her mother recalls: 'You'd been to Glastonbury, and you came to my office and said, 'I'm exhausted'. It was the first time I suddently thought, 'something's wrong', and we had to sat down and have a talk, and that was the start of it really.'
Having self-medicated with drugs from a young age and taking an overdose in 2015 at a rehab centre in London, which resulted in a four-day coma before recovering in a psychiatric hospital, the 24-year-old explains: 'The whole time I just felt more and more tired, but I thought, 'I've got to keep up the pretence, keep it together'.'
'When you're that unhappy, it's scary, it's dark and horrible. I didn't know how to tell someone that I was depressed. I went to meetings and talked and talked. Now I'm here and I'm happy, and I didn't know it was going to be something that simple, to talk,' she adds.
Her mother, Camilla - who is the founder of artist management agency CLM - revealed how common it is to mistake someone's seemingly successful lifestyle for a sign of happiness.
'Look at you, you're beautiful, you have an amazing house, life is great. But that's probably one of the worst things about depression which is there's nothing to physically see. I just thought you had a problem with drugs, until you tried to kill yourself,' she notes.
The Calvin Klein mode, who has spoken out about her battle with addiction, bipolar disorder and depression admitted: 'I couldn't believe talking was that simple, I thought it would be something so complicated,' she reveals.
It may sound difficult, but opening up a dialogue with friends, family members or charities to discuss mental health, emotions and struggles with one's battles is the most powerful and helpful tools in overcoming the struggles of mental health.
Two heads are always better than one.
Watch the video below:
