Corinna

Corinna Jones sits behind her desk looking every inch the model businesswoman. She will enthusiastically tell you about her amazing career as a CEO of Richmastery which allows her to travel, get involved in charity work and inspire others. Ask her about her family, and the 33-year-old will proudly tell you about her two wonderful children and loving husband Phil. This is a woman with her feet firmly on the ground, who appreciates all she has and is determined to live life to the full.

But Corinna still just about remembers a very different time in her life. 

"I find it difficult to remember now - when I look back it really feels like another life," she said. Corinna was just 23 years when she experienced first-hand the true depths of depression.

"My son Jack had just been diagnosed with obstructive apnea, a condition which meant he would stop breathing two or three times a night," explained Corinna.

"I also had my daughter Cheinnelle to look after, she was just 4 at the time, and basically I just wasn't sleeping, felt really weepy and just didn't have any energy.

"I remember going to my doctor and saying I'm just so tired. "Because of Jack's condition we were also being looked after by the fantastic Plunket Family Centres and it was someone there who recommended I visit my doctor and was then diagnosed - I had post-natal depression.

"One of the hardest things about the diagnosis was that people around me would look at me and say ‘but you don't look depressed'.

"One of my coping mechanisms was to always do my hair and make-up, no matter how low I felt - so I guess from the outside I didn't fit the stereotype of someone suffering from depression." Corinna believes this in itself is an important message: "The fact is there are no stereotypes.

Mental health problems can affect anyone at anytime in their lives even if they are not going through any particular trauma." Fortunately for Corinna she was never too scared to ask for help and was determined to beat her depression. "You have to ask for help, however daunting this feels and however difficult it might be to trust a complete stranger with your most personal thoughts and feelings - please ask for help. "And don't give up.

Maybe the first time you ask for help you don't get the right support for you - and that can happen - but just keep asking. "We are so lucky in New Zealand because there are the resources out there to help people." Corinna was put on medication and accepted help from a variety of experts including respite nurses who were able to come to the house and look after Jack.

When he was 13 months old Jack had a successful operation to correct his condition and Corinna started to rebuild her life. But the trauma didn't stop there for this young mum. Just a few years later Corinna's lost her first husband Mark to suicide.

"That would have been about 7 years ago now and that just left me with huge amounts of grief and guilt," said Corinna. "I think mental health problems are so much harder for men to confront - they don't talk about things in the same way women do and often just end up feeling inadequate.

"Mark was bi-polar which meant he was up and down, and could be happy about something one day and angry about the same thing the next day. "After he was finally diagnosed I encouraged him to seek help and he did attend the psychiatric wing at Middlemore Hospital.

"But I know that he let his treatment slip." Corinna firmly believes the stigma associated with mental health issues needs to be broken down.

"If Mark had had cancer there would have been no question of him seeking the right help and treatment - but there is this stigma and even the words ‘mental health' can be really scary for people. "But there is light at the end of the tunnel and there can be no shame in seeking help and making a better life for you and your family." Corinna is a shining example of someone who has come through that tunnel and is now living life very much in the light.

"There are no quick fixes and I am not saying it's easy but there is light - even when you can't see the light it is there. "And the reality is that despite all the wonderful expert help and support out there you do have to find your own way through. "I found writing a diary, setting goals and forcing myself to think positively even when I really didn't feel positive helped.

"There are also tons of really great self-help books out there which helped me...I also started to take better care of myself with healthy eating and exercise, "Now I'm at a place in my life where I'm not ashamed to tell my story and hope that in doing so I hope I can help other people. "I fully support the campaign to raise public awareness of depression as I think it's really important we talk about depression.

"My message is just ask for help. There are times in our lives when we all need help.

"So please - don't be afraid of the word ‘mental health' and don't be too scared to pick up the phone and ask for help."