Before him, I had it all figured out. I was career-driven, independent, and had no intention of settling for anything less than success. I was focused, determined, and full of possibility. My mindset? Unstoppable. Nothing could bring me down, I was happy, healthy, and full of light. Back then, I believed love was simple. That when you’re in a relationship, people don’t hurt each other. I’d seen my mam go through a toxic one, but I thought, that’ll never be me . I didn’t even

I was 16 when the world shut down, and strangely, something inside me switched on. While everything around me felt uncertain, I started building, partly because I didn’t know what else to do. What most people didn’t see was that, beneath the drive and presented on social media, I was already fighting battles that weren’t visible. My anxiety had started in secondary school - about 12, but it was around 16 time that depression first took hold. I was put on medication for a sepa