A staffer on Parliament Hill has chosen to open up about the severe depression he suffered from working in a high pressure environment.
26-year-old Paul Wernick attempted to take his own life twice while working for Liberal MP Francis Drouin.
Joining the Evan Solomon Show, Wernick says there are two vastly different sides of working in government.
"It's just this combination of, you want to please your boss," said Wernick. "You want to get things done, you enjoy getting things done, you're serving the public good. There's a real good feeling to it. but then there's kind of a darker side to it, which is that the atmosphere and that the House of Commons, in general, is not caught up to the 21st century in terms of mental health."
Wernick says after one attempted suicide, he was back to work just days later.