When you suffer from a mental illness, you know that love can’t cure you any more than it can cure cancer. But it sure can’t hurt either.

Riley Rankin knew his girlfriend Denisha Bracey was suffering from anxiety and panic attacks and was going through a particularly tough time this summer. So he came up with a very thoughtful gift for her to celebrate their 2-year anniversary.

Rankin created his own “love pills” so she could see how much she was loved whenever she needed to.

He started with empty gelatin capsules from the pharmacy. But the key was writing 60 little notes on slips of paper and putting them in the pill capsules so Bracey could open one – or “take a pill” – whenever she needed a pick-me-up.

Bracey first started suffering from anxiety as a teenager and then around the age of 17, she began having panic attacks. Spending time separated from her family had only made things worse recently and she felt she wasn’t helped by therapy in the past.

While his girlfriend doesn’t like to take pills, he figured this “medication” would be just the right thing. So he “wrote a prescription” for 60.

“I said to her that when she goes through them all, she can come back for a refill.”

Each note contains a message of love or a quality Riley has that her boyfriend appreciates about her. He said it took him about 2 hours to come up with all 60.

According to Huff Post, some examples of the notes include

“You should run for Miss Universe because DAMN”; “Be proud of yourself, you are amazing and think of all the things you’ve accomplished!”; and “Your positivity is so refreshing and inspiring.”

The gesture was designed to show his appreciation and respect for his girlfriend for telling him about her issues early on in their relationship.

“It’s really good to tell people what you’re dealing with before you get involved,” Rankin said.

While Bracey was nervous to tell her new boyfriend at the time, she knew going into their relationship with honesty would be the best way to start off on the right foot. She learned the hard way in previous relationships that hiding her health issues would be a problem.

In fact, Rankin suffers from anxiety as well and now the couple is able to rely on each other for support and each has a good sense of what the other is going through.

Rankin also admitted that his girlfriend often does more for him that he does for her and this was his way of giving back and showing compassion.

And, as you might imagine, Bracey loved her gift.

“Gifts don’t have to cost $100 to be meaningful, a couple bucks and some creativity,” she said.

Bracey told HuffPost, she was “very confused” by the gift at first because she thought Rankin was giving her medication.

“Once I read the label and opened it up, I was really overwhelmed because I couldn’t believe he took the time to make such a wonderful gift for me,” she said.

While it’s important to remember that sweet gestures can’t cure anxiety and it’s best to speak to a doctor about dealing with mental health issues, it sure doesn’t hurt to have a loving partner by your side.

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Source: Bored Panda, Huff Post, @denixsha via Instagram