Risa Rosello needed a reason to get up in the morning.
Diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1999, Ms Rosello can see and hear things that are not real.
She has managed her condition while working as a nurse, studying a degree in early childhood education and travelling.
"But it [schizophrenia] always gets in the way," Ms Rosello said.
"For the last six years I didn't do anything, I was unemployed because I was incapable of thinking straight … it was debilitating me," she said.