Share your Knowledge. It is a good way to achieve immortality. (The Dalai Lama, 2008).

If you were going to climb Mt Everest would you rather be guided by someone who has climbed the mountain, made it back safely and has the scars to prove it, or by someone who has read a lot of books about Mt Everest, but never actually set foot on the mountain?

As soon as you realise that the person you are talking to has been there and understands what you are dealing with, you instantly open up.

Individuals react very differently to different situations, and nobody instinctively knows how to deal with mental illness. However, along the way you learn an enormous amount whether you have a mental illness or if you care for someone with a mental illness. But, unless people are prepared to share their experiences with others, unfortunately, this really is the only way that this knowledge can be gained. Therefore, unless we are prepared to share this information then the only way to gain this knowledge is through pain and suffering. By sharing our knowledge repetition of the same pain and suffering and the ‘trial and error' aspects of mental illness can be avoided.

One of the main reasons I have started People Like You is because I don't want anyone to have deal with mental illness the way I did. The best way of preventing this from happening is by talking about my experience and sharing the knowledge that I gained along the way.

True knowledge cannot be gained through books and reading, true knowledge is only learnt through experience. So we need to share the knowledge that we have gained through experience so that others don't have to learn it the so-called ‘hard way'.

The knowledge that we possess is invaluable and should be shared with others so that we can all learn from your experience.

This is where People Like You comes in. People Like You is where you can share these experiences and this knowledge. PeopleLikeYou differs from all other organisations because it's not a politician or a doctor telling you what you should do, it's people like me, and people like you, talking about our experiences, exchanging our knowledge and sharing our support.

Lets bring it to the community, so that the sand can support each other. Share your knowledge, share your experiences and we can all alleviate a lot of unnecessary suffering.

So here's your chance, upload your profile so that your knowledge can be spread far and wide enabling others to learn from your experience. Login to the members area by clicking here.

Other lifestyle tips and experiences can be emailed to experience@peoplelikeyou.com.au .