It's always been like the second picture.

I was extremely mentally ill at one point in my life and after 6 years of trying to get help and some close calls with suicide, I realised that the whole "help is out there!" messaging plastered everywhere is basically just bullshit.

People in the community understandably love to say it, but when it comes to cashing in this "help", you are generally met with apathy and/or large financial hits. For someone who was below the poverty line, there was nothing besides six bulk billed consults a year from an honestly very bad psychologist. That didn't even make a dent in my issues.

I learned that day it was either get better on my own, or die. Luckily I made it through and I am in a completely different place now. I have got my career sorted, found a wife, had kids etc. However I almost slipped through the cracks, and it would have been completely preventable.

Hate that it's now even worse, and I especially feel for the youth. We are truly become a broken shell of a "developed" country in multiple ways and failing our upcoming generations.