 Please note that Rey's story contains references to family trauma, substance abuse, alcoholism, self-harm, body image issues and maybe triggering to some people. In 2021, we released our first ever comic strip, Journeys Through Mental Health, illustrated by Sabah Khan and made in partnership with Richmond Fellowship. The following is an animated version of one of the three stories featured in the comic, based directly on real interviews with young people with lived experience. Mental health recovery and what that means is determined by you, not by other people, it's possible for anyone and you can find things that will help you in so many places. Rey found a way through the problems in a very particular kind of sport. When I was born, my mum and dad were together but they had a very turbulent relationship. My dad did a lot of substance abuse. He was always in and out of prison. I've seen him get arrested countless times. Mum and dad ended up separating when I was still young. When I was a bit older, I learned that my dad had gone on to have another child. I had a little baby brother that I only met when I was 12. My nan, who me and mum had moved in with, ended up having to take care of both of our children, which was really hard for me as my little bro was still seeing our dad. When I think about it now, I realise it had really affected me. I started acting up against my mother. I started bunking off school, getting into trouble, not doing my homework and I became really noisy because it was just me and my mum. We're both quite strong and stubborn characters. We're both loud. We're either the best of mates or we can't stand each other. It got to the point where my mum couldn't have me here anymore, so I went and stayed with my granddad. I was with my granddad for six months, during which I never really spoke to my mum. It wasn't too bad to start off with. Grandparents, you know what they're like. They like to baby you. Though he liked having me there, my granddad has bipolar disorder and he's an alcoholic. So he already had his own struggles. The social services were already involved by this point and after a failed attempt at moving back in with my mum, when she ended up being violent with me, I was sent to foster care. I was in foster care for six months. It was awful. I guess it could have been worse. I was with an old couple. The foster dad was really lovely, but the foster mother was really horrible and mean. I didn't understand why she'd always yell at me. I told my school how much I was struggling at home, so that when I went into foster care, my head of year was really able to support me. They had a separate room for people who were struggling, where you could go to if things were getting too much. They had two teachers in there and they were the loveliest. I don't think I would have bothered with school if I didn't have that room. A place that I knew I could just go. It got me through school. When it was my GCSEs, all my tutors helped with extra tutoring to help boost my grades. I guess I was really lucky. It was a small school and you couldn't really hide behind anything. Also, because they were so nice, you didn't want to take advantage of that. Finding accommodation for myself has also been challenging. I was in temporary accommodation which lasted five months when it should have only been two weeks, but then Richmond Fellowship's castle project got back to me and I moved in here. It's only four of us sharing. It doesn't feel like a hostel at all. It feels like a house, a home. My room is big and spacious and I have a TV, sofa, wardrobe. It's big. We get some key worker support too. Mental health support and even life skills like budgeting. It's a great place to build up from. The other thing that has kept me going is judo. It's my thing. Last year, I went to Belgium to compete and I got a gold medal. I also have helped coaching and refereeing in the sport. When I was younger, my mom was writing about a coach in a university who ran judo and she used to take me along. It was then that she suggested it. Do you want to try it? No. You get to throw people. Yeah, but I don't want to be thrown. I guess there is that. But then I went and I had a brilliant time, so I stuck with it. Judo was how I got through most of it. My judo has been the one constant, especially when I was in care. I wasn't seeing anyone and I missed my grandad a lot. And because we all fight in weight categories and I'm in the open, which means it's all over 78 kilos, seeing people who are the same weight as me but different shapes and sizes has been an eye opener. I used to self-harm and I'd get called names, which wasn't nice. Judo has given me the confidence to appreciate my body. I'd end up training with a lot of university students, which gave me lots of role models to look up to. That motivated me to do well. Even if I wasn't competing, I'd travel up and down the country with people, just to go and watch. But the best thing is hearing your name get called out for a win. It's the adrenaline of it all. I felt so proud because I'd struggled so much. I was doing it for myself, exploring what works for me, and tracking a few people over while I'm at it. If I were in charge, I'd like to get people to look at alternative ways to deal with things. I've been on 90 depressants. I've learned that it's not the case of trying to get over things, but more about understanding what isn't working and trying to work on that. Or if things are playing on your mind, finding ways to manage it. I like to put some music on and do my makeup, or get my coloring book out, or just go out and spend time with my friends. Those are the kind of things that have worked for me. I know it's different for everyone. We know that finding routes to mental health support is not easy, but there are still ways. Ray has found a lifeline in the most unexpected of places. The human condition in all of its diversity has so many shared overlaps. Getting support can help us see that. At the very least, it can be comforting to know we are not alone. This comic is based on interviews with young people with lived experience of mental health issues. Their names and physical appearance have been changed to protect their privacy. Journeys through mental health is each other's first comic strip, created out of conversations we've been having with young people with lived experience of mental health issues. If you or anyone you know are struggling with mental health issues, there are resources on our spotlight page on young people in mental health. The address is www.eachother.org.uk backslash young-people-and-mental-health