On the 17th of May 2020, Iwan Caudy passed away at the age of 20 years-old after an on-going battle with his mental health.

Iwan studied Chemistry at Oxford University and was always exceptionally bright. The only thing that rivalled Iwan's great intellect was his kindness. He did not have a bad bone in his body. He was funny, a loyal friend, was able to put people at ease in his company and cared immensely for others. He saw injustices in the World and struggled to justify being care-free himself when so many others have struggles he could not help with. We were all extremely lucky to be able to call Iwan our friend and we will all miss his laugh, his understanding, his kindness, but his company most of all.

With the express consent of his family, they have allowed me to share more personal details of his passing, in order to increase awareness and provision for individuals suffering with a mental health condition.

Iwan's struggle with his mental health was exacerbated, as it is for so many, with starting University in September 2017. Iwan was, unsurprisingly successful in his studies, and well liked, however this did not aid his social anxiety and declining self-esteem which resulted in extreme depression as he threw himself deeper into the academic rigour of his course. His mental health then worsened until he experienced severe insomnia and developed Dissociative Identity Disorder, where he described separate personalities within him contributing to his negative feelings and conflicting emotions.

In May 2019 he was able to take a year-break from the pressure of University to focus on bettering his mental health, however his condition and the pain he must have been in led him to self-medicate with non-prescription drugs. Ultimately, attempts to remove them ended in Iwan acting in a way that caused physical harm to himself.

In recent months, Iwan was undergoing therapy from a Private Psychiatrist. Progress was being made, however confronting the problems stirred up more pain and conflict in Iwan's mind.
Several days before Iwan's passing, a family dispute regarding Iwan's self-medicating led him to stay at his grandparent's. It is thought that Iwan's insomnia led him to self-medicate in the middle of the night and that on this occasion his body was unable to cope with its effects.

He was found in the morning barely breathing and tragically lost his life later that day in the hospital. Iwan expressed in the weeks prior to his death that he had no intention of ending his life and it is believed that he passed due to complications with the drugs he was using to alleviate the pain of his mental health condition.

The World is worse off after the loss of such a kind-hearted, brilliant person. Whether or not a difference would have been made if myself or others had reached out more: it makes no difference now, as regardless, we will always regret not being able to spend more time with you.

Iwan's friends and family would appreciate donations to 'Mental Health Matters Wales' in his memory, to better support other people experiencing the struggles that he did.

Words cannot describe the loss felt by his family and friends. Amongst the grief, at least we can be glad that you are no longer in pain.

We will always miss you Iwan.