Eight years ago, Jonny Benjamin scaled the railings of Waterloo Bridge, ready to take his own life by jumping into the River Thames.

The then 20-year old, a former JFS pupil, had recently been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder - a form of schizophrenia - and, overwhelmed by the stigma of his condition, felt that life had become unbearable.

But a fortuitous encounter with a passing stranger, who recognised what Mr Benjamin was about to do and started talking to him, changed his mind. He climbed back over the railings and has since devoted his time to raising awareness for mental health and breaking the taboo.

Two years ago, he launched the international Find Mike campaign to find and thank the stranger he credits for saving his life, who later turned out to be personal trainer Neil Laybourn. He then made the Channel 4 documentary The Stranger on the Bridge, in partnership with the mental health charity Rethink, about his experiences.

And this month, he has turned his attention to breaking the silence over mental health issues inside schools. On Thursday, he launched ThinkWell, a workshop designed for children between the ages of 13 and 18 in schools across the UK.

Mr Benjamin said he was inspired to create the project because of the "massive gap in the national curriculum when it comes to mental health".

He explained: "We know that young people are suffering more than ever before with poor mental health, with 75 per cent of all mental health problems starting before the age of 18.

"More young people than ever are being admitted into hospital for conditions like eating disorders, self-harm and depression. It just doesn't make sense to me that there is no education around the issue."

The project will involve a ThinkWell team, comprised of workshop leaders and a qualified therapist, visiting every secondary school in the country that signs up to deliver a 100-minute session aimed at encouraging discussion around mental health by screening excerpts from Mr Benjamin's documentary and organising interactive activities.

They will also provide a "safe space" in an adjacent room for those who wish to discuss their feelings in private.

Sessions will vary, depending on the age of the pupils attending, but will all be focused on delivering four key messages: mental health issues are common; talking about mental health issues is essential; reaching out for help is a positive step; and recovery is possible and achievable.

"We are trying to show that the issue isn't just for a one-off lesson," Mr Benjamin said. "We want to make it OK to talk about mental health. I find it concerning to see young people on social media platforms like Twitter talking about things like self-harm. They are becoming more isolated as social media grows.

"Some schools don't even have a counsellor. It is vital that we get in there and open the dialogue."

Mr Benjamin explained that ThinkWell is intended to be the starting point for putting mental health on the curriculum as frequently as physical education. A few months after their first visit, ThinkWell leaders will re-visit schools to ensure they keep the conversation going.

Eventually, they hope to expand the project to include children in their final year at primary school.

According to the campaigner, there is still a shocking amount of stigma associated with mental health problems inside schools, with 90 per cent of children who have suffered problems in the past saying they faced discrimination as a result.

Mr Benjamin stressed that breaking the taboo at school was the key to opening discussion around the topic, providing a platform for pupils to seek help and, hopefully, combatting the worrying rise of mental health disorders among children.

"If someone had come into my school and spoken to me about what mental health was and what I could do, I reckon I would have sought help sooner and probably wouldn't have reached the place that I did," Mr Benjamin said. "I just wish we had people telling us that it is OK to struggle. That is what everyone needs to hear."

He added that the taboo can, at times, be even harder to break inside the Jewish community. But because of charities like the Jewish Association for Mental Illness (Jami), this mindset is changing. He now plans to visit Jewish schools alongside Jami to spread Thinkwell's message even further.

"Ultimately, it just starts by talking," Mr Benjamin said. "But it needs to be spoken about continuously - in break times, in lessons, during extracurricular activities. That is the only way we will not only raise awareness for mental health, but tackle it as well. It needs to become something normal to talk about; something that people are not ashamed of."