Megan Thee Stallion on Creating a Safe Space for California Youth to Talk About Mental Health (Exclusive)

Megan Thee Stallion knows what it's like to be in poor mental health — that's why she wants to create a safe space for teens to talk about their struggles.

Earlier this month, the Houston rapper partnered with the California Department of Public Health for the “Never a Bother” campaign, a new youth suicide prevention initiative that raises awareness and support for California youth.

For Megan, mental health has always been an important topic of conversation. When she thinks back to her own darkest moments, her sense of community was key.

“As someone who has had some very dark thoughts… during some of the worst times of my life, I just felt like I had some good people around me who made me feel loved, who made me feel heard “I feel like they cared,” the “Mamushi” rapper, 29, tells PEOPLE exclusively.

She continues, “Even when I felt like I was being difficult, when I felt like, 'Oh, I'm such a burden. I don't even feel like talking to anyone about it. It would just be better if life was like that.' Only in one direction. Life would be better without me.'”

After a while, Megan realized these intrusive thoughts weren't true – and she's grateful that her inner circle was always looking out for her.

“If I could do this for someone else or if I could help point someone to these types of resources, I would definitely do it because I know what it feels like and it's not a good place to be you can be. So if I can.” “Help, that's what I have to do,” says the “HISS” rapper.

She also began to notice that through social media, so many young people have access to “crazy stuff” that can make them “depressed.”

To protect her mental health, the “Sweetest Pie” rapper began therapy and found solace in the gym.

“I started training really hard. The gym really helped me create a space where I could take out my aggression in a healthy way and just unwind and clear my head,” she says.

“I felt like I didn’t even know where to start working on myself. After I did therapy, I felt like, man, I need to do something different. And just the gym, the gym really helped me,” she says.

On Thursday, Megan released a Prime Video documentary titled In her wordswhich gives fans a glimpse into her rise and personal struggles.

“I was in such a dark place that people couldn't even ask me how I was doing without me bursting into tears. I had a lot of problems with my mental health,” she says. “I feel like people watching this will see…If my favorite artists could go through something like that and get through it and come out the other side, I could do it too.”

There are two resources available for anyone struggling with their mental health: 988 and Teen Line, where anyone can call or text to speak to a trained counselor who can help.