With every storm comes a rainbow at the end

My name is Latisha McCrudden, I am 22 years of age and grew up in the village of Lisacul. I am a final year law student at the University of Galway and an activist.

Mental health became a big struggle in my life from the age of 14. Looking at me from the outside in you would never think I was struggling; I was a good student in school, doing karate three to four times a week and smiling to anyone I encountered in my day-to-day life, but behind close doors I was struggling to see light at the end of the tunnel and was attending Pieta House twice a week in order to save my life.

It was a period of life that in crowded rooms I like I was the only one there, every day was a struggle to pretend I was ok and every night I went to bed I prayed I wouldn’t wake up again in the morning. I attended Pieta House for six months and talked about things that I never spoke out about before. Things I thought had no effect on me had a profound effect on me when I talked about it. I learned in this period of my life coping mechanisms on how to cope in my dark and down periods, what triggered my mental health to decline and positive healthy attitudes to take on to help with my mental health.

For two years I coped well. I had my down days here and there like everyone else but for the most part I got on well. When I was 16, I struggled and found it hard to grasp my mental health once again. This time I felt great shame as I believed it was my fault. I had already gone through this once before and I felt I shouldn’t have allowed it to happen again. However, anyone going through mental health struggles will know that if we had the choice of not struggling with our mental health we wouldn’t, it’s just something we cannot control. I handled my mental health difficulties very differently this time. I tried to cope by going on a strict diet and adopting a rigorous exercise plan but it resulted in me developing an eating disorder where I lost over four stone in the space of four months and with that I would randomly faint, I became anaemic and suffered with low blood pressure. I felt ashamed even more isolated than at 14. I really did not know how I was going to pull myself back.

I was only two or three weeks away from beginning my Leaving Certificate cycle, and I already knew I wanted to study law at university. I feared that, unless I acted, I would lose the chance to pursue my lifelong dream. I returned to Pieta House and also sought support from CAMHS. Through treatment for my eating disorder, I realised that when life felt beyond my control, I tried to regain a sense of control through food. I attended sessions at Pieta House for a time and, eventually, the darkness lifted and I could see hope again.

I came across a quote saying how sometimes you must fight a battle more than once to win it, and that has been my story with mental health. This year, 2026 has been the hardest year of my lift personally with situations and circumstances that I have had to overcome. Back in May of this year I wanted to end my own life, with scenarios that took place in my life, but I held onto my faith, something that has gotten me through my most darkest moments, I worked on the health coping mechanisms that I learned when I was 14 and 16 and I returned to normal counselling once a week to get me through this area of my life in a healthy way.

Instead of letting depths of darkness seep into my life before I’ve turned my struggle of life’s obstacles now into purpose as I am returning to karate something that helped me all through my childhood and teenage years and I am a finalist in Miss World Ireland so I can put my energy and time into good.

Mental health struggles are nothing to be ashamed of. They hit us all in some way of form at some stage in our lives. I have learned a simple smile from a stranger in my darkest days can mean so much and you never know what anyone is struggling with behind closed the doors. Sometimes the biggest smiles hide the loudest cries. I know I will struggle with my mental health all my life, but I am not afraid of it or ashamed of it, and with every storm comes a rainbow at the end.