Shraddha Shankar is an undergraduate student who has suffered from mental illness for the majority of her life and has survived 13 suicide attempts over the course of her adolescence. In a powerful talk at TEDxUIUC, she shares her story publicly for the first time about the struggles she faced growing up with a severe mental disorder and her secret to finally finding recovery.

Shraddha is an undergraduate at Illinois studying statistics and is an executive education chair in the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Illinois. After enduring her own hardships, she hopes to empower and educate those who suffer from mental illness to help them meet their goals, regardless of the struggles they face. She is part of creating a nationally utilized suicide prevention program required for all incoming freshmen.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx