To anyone struggling, you're not alone.
Todd Chrisley, Savannah Chrisley and her ex-fiancé Nic Kerdiles took to Instagram last night, Feb. 2, to share an emotional recollection of Nic's recent suicide attempt.
The Chrisley Knows Best stars began the nearly 20-minute long video by providing statistics about the coronavirus pandemic's negative impact on mental health, assuring anyone who's experienced increased depression or anxiety that they're not alone.
Afterward, Nic spoke his truth.
"I'm super grateful to be here today," Nic said. "As Todd mentioned, I recently went through COVID as well and now [I'm] reading a lot more about it to kind of understand why this situation might have happened that occurred the other night."
He continued, "With COVID and some of the things that I've had from COVID, I've been on medication and I decided to mix alcohol with it to a point that...I don't remember anything that happened that night and I was in a full blackout."
The next thing Nic knew, he had a gun nearby.
"I don't know where I was at in my mental state but between the depression, anxiety, the COVID effects. the medication, the alcohol, I did something that I never thought I would ever do," he explained.
Thankfully, Nic had previously made plans with his good friend Chad. "And if he wasn't there, I don't know if I would still be here today, to be completely honest," Nic said, also attributing still being here to "people like Savannah and Todd and Chad who came to support me and love me."
Recounting the experience wasn't easy, but Nic hoped that his story would help anyone experiencing a similar struggle.
He also wanted to tell it on his own terms "because we live in a world full of social media and people wanting to be the first to break a story for their own benefit, and TMZ wants to go ahead and do that."
Todd elaborated, but not before he issued an apology to Nic: "You're a good kid with a great heart and you don't deserve the glass bowl or the fishbowl lifestyle that you've inherited because of us."
With that, he explained that he received a phone call earlier that day informing him that "TMZ had decided to run a story about the unfortunate incident that occurred with Nic and him contemplating taking his life."
Todd continued, "And rather than celebrate that this young man is still here that he's surrounded by people that love him, and that he has the help that he needs...TMZ wanted to run this story so they can attach our name to it so that you will click on it so that they can turn his situation into income."
The reality TV personality provided additional details, but the takeaway was this: "Mental illness should not be made fun of it should not be taken lightly. And we should do everything in our power to lift those that are struggling with that up."
"So remember what I told you, son, when you [were] reluctant about doing this," Todd added. "You take your own power back. You tell your own story."
Added Savannah, "Suicide is a real thing. Depression is a real thing. Anxiety is a real thing. And there are so many different sources that you can go to get help. But obviously, you have the Suicide Prevention Hotline that you can call if there's no one else around, and that number is 1-800-273-8255."
Nic then reiterated his hopes that the video "can help at least one person out there that's going through it," to which Todd responded, "I think you're going to do better than that. I think you're going to help a lot more than one."