After years overcoming thoughts of taking his own life, Michael Johnson, 39, of Santa Rosa has an important goal top of mind: keeping others enduring their own struggles alive.

Ten years ago, while living in Los Angeles and working for an animation studio, he began a slow descent into darkness after a marriage engagement fell apart. He did the exact opposite of prevailing advice, isolating himself.

Secure mental health facilities, where the care was often inadequate or even cruel, only made it worse. It was people family and friends — who kept him alive.