One recovery aids others

"Sometimes when I've been unwell it has been such a dark, lonely and scary place," the 36-year-old says.

"I had lost hope but they (friends and family) held on to it for me, like a torch to light the darkness.

"I want to use the painful and difficult experiences that I've had with mental illness to help and benefit others."

Mr Harrison is working as a community peer worker at Life Without Barriers' new Christies Beach office.

The Tusmore resident works one-on-one with people with a mental illness to share ideas about recovery.

He has also given talks at such places as Noarlunga TAFE and Flinders University to help break down the stigma of mental illness.

"If we are more accepting of people with an illness, they are more likely to open up and ask for help," he says.

After losing his father Jack to asbestos cancer at the age of eight, Mr Harrison struggled through his teenage years.

In 1993, he was diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder, an illness that includes disordered thinking, depression, anxiety and some psychosis.

He says that for the past three years he has been improving with the support of his family and friends, the right medication, a stable job, healthy diet - and scuba diving.

"I find it really relaxing and love to take in how beautiful it is with the way the light reflects off things in the water," Mr Harrison says.

"It's very calming and soothing."

This week the Southern Times Messenger launches the Open Your Mind campaign in partnership with mindshare, a new mental health website launching on October 12.

Mindshare is an online mental health community, which shares the personal stories and experiences of Australians living with mental illness and their support workers through film, visual art, poetry, music and education.

The Open Your Mind campaign aims to better inform the community about mental health, reduce stigma and get a conversation going.

Mr Harrison has helped to create a video for the website, Questions, in which a support worker feels the sting of stigma and discrimination on a blind date at a pub.

He also plans to start a blog through the site.