No exact moment in time one could point to and say that's when it started.

"On paper I have nothing to be depressed about", says Madeleine Quirk.

A happy, "normal" childhood with two parents, two sisters - one older, one younger, a bright girl who was very good at school.

Madeleine headed to university in Melbourne to study engineering, for all intents and purposes a young woman ready to take on the world.

She was to spend the next decade starting and stopping course after course before settling on and completing her degree in earth science and psychology.

Looking back, Madeleine says, there was pressure (unconsciously perhaps) to succeed and she lacked confidence and self-worth.

"During that time I didn't have a strong enough sense of self," the 42-year-old Beechworth resident reflects.

Her friends and family were "completely unaware" that on the inside her brain wasn't entirely well.

At 22, Madeleine went to a doctor, was handed anti-depressants and told to see a psychologist.

"That was sort of it," she says.

"There was no follow-up, no explanation, I didn't tell my family (and) I wasn't particularly active about looking after myself."

Later she recalls " a couple of minor breakdowns" as her frustration at not knowing what to do or where to turn grew.

It wasn't until her late 20s that Madeleine "started investing in myself".

"I took myself off to the public library (before the days of the internet) and looked up depression in some introductory psychology books," she says.

"Everything I read resonated with me; I photocopied the pages and took them home to show my parents."

That was the defining moment - "that's when I realised I wasn't going to be fixed by walking around the block".

Madeleine is now pro-active about managing her recurrent depressive disorder.

When the heavy clouds of her illness roll in, she gets to her psychologist and reaches out to family and friends; she has learned to ask for help even though "I'm incredibly self-conscious about being a burden on other people".

"When it rears its ugly head, I know I need to address it, and I need to take a break," Madeleine says.

"Being mentally unwell is just like being physically sick and you need to take the time to get better."

After living with her parents until the age of 32, Madeleine "made the best ever decision to take up a job at Beechworth".

She had completed her DipEd to become a teacher and taught at the local high school but now works at the hospital.

She's open about her mental health struggles, compounded in recent years by psoriatic arthritis, starting a blog - Chronic Madness - because she wanted an "honest voice out there".

And now she's joined the B2B committee to support the 2021 three-day suicide prevention walk from Beechworth to Bright, that sets off today with 80 walkers.

Madeleine will drive the bus and act as first aid officer for the walk, which she describes as a fantastic event to bring mental health and suicide to the forefront of conversations.

"It's an opportunity to walk, talk and support in a safe space with like-minded people," she adds.

Living in a smaller town like Beechworth has made Madeleine more acutely aware of what is happening to herself and her community.

"Your understanding is more tangible because of the closer connections; it's more evident and profound," she says.

This "incredibly extroverted" woman has spent 20 years navigating the minefield that is the mental health system; she knows too well the desperation of not knowing where to turn.

"What I know is having access to timely help is critical in saving a life," she says.

Walk details