Zana Grant knows all too well how low you can feel when you’re battling your inner demons.
The 25-year-old has attempted to take her own life on more than one occasion and was recued from the freezing waters of the River Tay after one such incident.
That’s why she is so eager to see the introduction of a 24-hour crisis centre in Dundee, somewhere people suffering can go for immediate help when they feel they can’t go on.
Zana has been in a constant battle with her mental health over the years and cannot be sure when her next crisis may occur.
But she hopes to have come through the worst of it, and now wants to help others who are potentially in a similar situation.
Zana is starting her own career as a mental health nurse as well as volunteering for a mental health crisis group.
She is also in a new home and enjoying a life with a new partner.
“I am incredibly grateful to still be alive. I now want to support those who are in the same position I found myself in,” Zana said.
Zana’s peace with life is a stark contrast to the position she was in even just nine months ago.
Last July, in a brutally honest interview with the Evening Telegraph, Zana admitted when she was pulled from the River Tay by lifeboat crews in 2018, she felt nothing but disappointment.
She felt she had failed at what she had set out to do that day, and admitted she couldn’t guarantee it would not happen again.
“I did not want to survive, I had no idea that I would survive. This was no cry for help … I wanted to die,” Zana said at the time.
Further attempts would follow that day three years ago, but now Zana says she is learning to deal with her inner demons.
She explained: “I have been struggling with mental health issues for as long as I can remember and as a result of the pain I was experiencing I made several serious attempts on my life which left me with broken bones, fractured relationships and many admissions to hospitals.
“However, things have changed dramatically from that fateful night two years ago and I am incredibly grateful to still be alive and embarking on my mental health nursing journey.
“I want to support those who are in the same position that I found myself in.
”I would be lying if I said it had been easy because I’ve been met with many hurdles along the way.
“I think it’s important to note that recovery is not linear and there can and will be many bumps in the road – including relapses which I have had many of since.
“I have worked incredibly hard on myself with the support of my own mental health team to realise that a bump in the road is exactly that.
“Everything in life is temporary and things will improve.
“Relapses happen and that is just part of the process. Now I am able to forgive myself for the bad days and remember that there are always better days ahead.
“I am back to work, studying at university and volunteering for SHOUT a crisis text line.
“I never thought any of these things that would have been impossible as little as a year ago.”
Calls have increased for the introduction of a 24-hour crisis centre in Dundee following several high profile incidents already this year.
Dundee City Council leader John Alexander has voiced hopes some form of mental health crisis help could be available in the coming months, but a physical centre could take longer.
There have been calls from opposition councillors to fast track the service and Zana believes a crisis facility is needed “more than ever”.
She said: “It would give people somewhere to go when they are at their very lowest and in their darkest hour.
“I don’t know if it would have prevented me doing what I did but it would have given me an option.
“At the crisis moments I would have had somewhere to turn instead of having to wait several hours to speak to someone.”
SHOUT can be contacted by texting SHOUT to 85258 and you will be connected to a trained volunteer.