It is 7:30 am. I reach out to turn off my alarm as the sun rays creep through my window. I have a quick breakfast and head outside for the university on foot.

As I walk, I spot a familiar face, Sara. We say ‘hi’ and she tells me that she has now applied for Optometry and may be joining my university soon. I congratulate her and walk on, thinking, wow, that's surprising – not that she applied for Optometry, but the fact that she even made it so far.

I was introduced to Sara many years ago, when I was completing an assignment for Psychology. Sara had told me that when she was young, she used to cut her wrists with a blade whenever she felt something wasn’t going her way. Her suicidal symptoms had appeared at the young age of 16.

When asked why she hadn't told her family or sought help, she said what most people would have said, “I didn’t want them to think I was crazy or losing my mind” – a response which is very common, because of the way society frowns upon depression or any other illness associated with the mind.

Also read: Suicide, and the warning signs we miss

The only reason that Sara was saved from the road to suicide was because a friend had spotted the scars on her wrist. It was her friend who notified a teacher, who also happened to be the school counsellor.

The school counsellor sat with her everyday until her suicidal thoughts disappeared. Self-surveys were used to monitor her progress, diaries were kept for recording her thoughts; she was able to speak about her problems knowing that her problems were not going to leave the room.