An Australian man has had his faith in humanity restored after people around the world responded to his call for help on social media.
Rob - who goes by the handle @big_bumpy on TikTok - took to social media last month to share that he was struggling with his mental health.
He posted a video of himself looking down, alongside text asking viewers: "Can someone sit with me? I'm not doing so good."
"Having a pretty tough time. Sit with me???" he captioned the clip, adding the hashtags: "#depression #fyp #sitwithme #mentalhealth #mensmentalhealth #reachout #hatethis #whyme #rockbottom."
Check out Rob's post below:To Rob's surprise, it turned out a lot of people were up for sitting with him and helping him through the rough patch. Since he posted it, his video has racked up over 2 million views, 247,000 likes, and 38,000 comments from users around the world.
Many were eager to let Rob know that they were there for him. "Hey dude.. am I late? *pulls up a chair," one commented, while another wrote: "I will sit with you and better still I will meet for some coffee and breakfast if you would like."
"Life is way too short to spend another day at war with yourself! I’m here brother and I will sit with you," a third added, while a fourth made it clear Rob was not alone. "32,000+ are sitting with you," the commented.
Others congratulated Rob for reaching out to others, commenting: "Its brave just admitting your not doing good" and "Asking for help is the first step towards no longer needing help. Well done."
In a follow-up TikTok, Rob thanked people for their "overwhelming" support.
"THANKYOU ONE AND ALL. Your support has been truely overwhelming, great to know there are so many caring people in this world," he captioned the clip.
"I'm blown away at the response," he told his followers, before going on to let them know: "I'm doing a lot better. But yeah, it was just a real rough week and a real bad day and it just got the better of me."
Rob finished the clip by once again thanking all those people who had reached out to him, saying: "I'm so overwhelmed at the support from people I've never even met and across the world. It's insane. So from my heart to you thank you very much - it meant a lot. I appreciate it."
If you're struggling with mental health, Rob's story is a reminder that you're not alone. We also encourage anybody battling mental health issues to reach out to a medical professional or a loved one who can help them find support.