Caroline Roodhouse - surviving and thriving after loss by suicide

Episode take-away: Find out what the specific thing is which helps you deal with losing someone you love and if you come from a world where silence is the norm, find a way to break it.It’s coming up for 10 years since Catherine Simpson’s sister, Tricia, took her own life. In the aftermath of Tricia’s death Catherine – who’s a journalist and writer – went on a quest, picking through Tricia’s diaries, to try and get a better understanding of who her sister was and why she decided to take her life. The resulting book When I had a little sister is beautifully crafted, hugely thought provoking, at times funny and of course desperately sad. Most of all its profoundly honest.Catherine never thought she’d be able to write about Tricia, that she’d find it too hard, but the process of writing, when she came to it, felt like she’d spent time with her sister which was very healing and thought provoking. “In a way it was almost been like a joint project with Tricia to try and de-stigmatise mental health, to talk about suicide”It’s a story of frustration and anger certainly, some of which is directed at the consequences of growing up in a rural community where feelings were never discussed and silence prevailed, but more than anything else it’s a story of deep affection “in a way it’s a love letter to Tricia…a loving memorial to her”.If you need someone to talk to, you can text Mikeysline on 07786 20 77 55 or contact via messenger, webchat or X. Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.Or come and visit at 4 Strothers Lane, Inverness IV1 1LR, Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.Follow Mikeysline on socials XFacebookInstagramSpeaking of Suicide hosting is supported by D and D Paving Ltd. Speaking of Suicide is produced and presented by Adventurous Audio

17 Nov 202346min

Episode takeaways: support makes all the difference and breaking the shame cycle means change can happen. Struggling with an eating disorder significantly increases your risk of suicide so don't struggle on your own.Gemma's takeaway is “please don’t give up on yourself, seek support, reach out…it is possible to have a life after an eating disorder”Gemma was very young when she started to struggle with how she felt about her own body. What started as over exercising spiralled into a long-term battle with bulimia and eventually, she attempted to take her own life. This is a hugely honest and insightful deep dive under the skin of how isolating and shameful it feels to have an eating disorder.Eventually Gemma managed to find the support of others and gradually turned her life around. She says “recovery is not a straight line, its not easy” but recover she did and she’s now sharing her story with the aim of giving hope to others.If you need someone to talk to, you can text Mikeysline on 07786 20 77 55 or contact via messenger, webchat or X. Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.Or come and visit at 4 Strothers Lane, Inverness IV1 1LR, Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.Follow Mikeysline on socials XFacebookInstagramSpeaking of Suicide hosting is supported by D and D Paving Ltd. Speaking of Suicide is produced and presented by Adventurous Audio

3 Nov 202342min

Episode takeaway: Everyone is different. Xani found cycling as his way forward but yours might be writing or journaling or walking or something else, work with whatever helps you to make sense of the grief of suicide. Xani had planned that it would be his sister Alice helping him cycle his tandem but after she took her own life at the start of 2022 he decided to turn the back seat of his tandem into a way of both remembering her and helping others.In the summer of 2023, on what would have been Alice’s 30th birthday, Xani set off to cycle 3500 miles round Great Britain by tandem inviting people impacted by suicide to take a seat, help him pedal but also so he could listen and learn from the sharing of their stories. Pennie caught up with Xani on day 80 of his 88 day journey to learn what he’s discovered about himself and those who’ve travelled with him on this challenging but enlightening ride. Xani found Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide a particularly useful organisation and Rory O'Connor's book When It Is Darkest. If you want to find out more about Xani's fundraising efforts through Tandem Against Suicide click here. If you need someone to talk to, you can text Mikeysline on 07786 20 77 55 or contact via messenger, webchat or X. Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.Or come and visit at 4 Strothers Lane, Inverness IV1 1LR, Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.Follow Mikeysline on socials XFacebookInstagramSpeaking of Suicide hosting is supported by D and D Paving Ltd. Speaking of Suicide is produced and presented by Adventurous Audio

20 Okt 202328min

Episode take-away: how to build resilience in the face of bullying through drawing on your support network, asking for help, growing your confidence and your sense of perspective.“He was the smiley one that everyone would go to for a laugh”16 year old Neve lost a good friend to suicide when he was just 13, now, in a bid to inspire other teens to feel more able to share when they’re struggling and hopefully be less afraid of the consequences of asking for help, Neve is opening up about her own battles with depression and anxiety. Hearing from Neve gives a great insight into some of the barriers which stop teens from speaking out about their problems. One of the biggest issues for her is fear of judgement, how you’ll be perceived if your peers know you’re asking for help. She readily admits, however much the adults in her life provide support and an ear, “most of me is shaped by my friends”. Neve says a lot of her peer group worry that they’ll be bullied if people know they’re having mental health problems. Neve herself was subjected to photos being taken of her and constant teasing and intimidation but now, having lost her friend to suicide, she’s worked hard to re-gain her confidence and is determined to reach out to others, so they feel less alone.Joanne, Neve’s mum, also shares her worries as a parent of a teen in the digital world and the capacity for bullies to hide behind the keyboard. Hugely engaging and insightful, Neve talks with a maturity way beyond her years and provides a real beacon of hope, even offering an olive branch of empathy to the bullies themselves.If you need someone to talk to, you can text Mikeysline on 07786 20 77 55 or contact via messenger, webchat or X. Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.Or come and visit at 4 Strothers Lane, Inverness IV1 1LR, Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.Follow Mikeysline on socials XFacebookInstagramSpeaking of Suicide hosting is supported by D and D Paving Ltd. Speaking of Suicide is produced and presented by Adventurous Audio

6 Okt 202348min

Episode take-away: The value of finding a vehicle to process our grief journey through suicide and why writing might be a good way to process pain.Heartbreakingly honest and deeply thought provoking. Only a few weeks after Victoria lost her younger brother Sean to suicide she asked to share her experience of loss with us. Victoria felt really strongly that hearing about the early stages of grief is important, so anyone else going through a similar loss could find someone they could relate to. Throughout the episode we also hear some excerpts from Victoria’s diary – read by an actor. Her writing is a searching, honest, raw and painful sift through the mass of emotions that come with losing a loved one to suicide. Questions of why Sean made the choice he did and whether she could have done anything to change his mind continue to spiral round and round and are reflected in her writing and thoughts. We’re publishing this ep on 22nd September, one year on from Sean’s death, in memory of his loss.Credits: Victoria’s diaries are read by Ali EllamIf you need someone to talk to, you can text Mikeysline on 07786 20 77 55 or contact via messenger, webchat or X. Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.Or come and visit at 4 Strothers Lane, Inverness IV1 1LR, Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.Follow Mikeysline on socials XFacebookInstagramSpeaking of Suicide hosting is supported by D and D Paving Ltd. Speaking of Suicide is produced and presented by Adventurous Audio

22 Sep 202348min

Episode take-away: The value of honesty and how to break the cycle of shame, isolation and helplessness that comes with addiction.“We need to change how we view addiction so that people from all walks of life feel able to emerge from the shadows and seek help”. Open, brave, honest and seriously inspiring, in this episode Rachel Smart, a journalist and recovering addict, who’s battled with depression and suicidal thoughts over many years, shares her story and how she managed to turn life around, emerge from those shadows and get her life back.For Rachel, her slide into addiction happened when she started working in a bar, mixed with a particular crowd and got regular access to drugs. But, far from solving the depression which she’d been battling with for large parts of her life, her drug use made her anxiety and depression much worse. Rachel describes life as an addict as feeling “suffocating, overwhelming, a dark cave you couldn’t escape from, a failure”, she goes on to explain how ashamed she felt of not being able to get her life together. Eventually Rachel moved to a new city and changed jobs but even then, her drug use continued. Then, one day, she heard about an online ‘recovery room’ which she decided to attend and bit by bit, by listening to other people share their stories and listen to hers, she found hope and was able to make the decision to stop using. After 2 weeks she stopped her drug taking and has now been clean for over a year. Now she wants other addicts to know they’re not alone, not a failure and that there is help out there.If you need support for addiction the following might help:Addiction Counselling InvernessGamblers AnonymousCocaine AnonymousDrug Addicts AnonymousMarijuana AnonymousEast Coast Scotland Narcotics AnonymousIf you need someone to talk to, you can text Mikeysline on 07786 20 77 55 or contact via messenger, webchat or X. Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.Or come and visit at 4 Strothers Lane, Inverness IV1 1LR, Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.Follow Mikeysline on socials XFacebookInstagramSpeaking of Suicide hosting is supported by D and D Paving Ltd. Speaking of Suicide is produced and presented by Adventurous Audio

8 Sep 202336min

In June 2022 John Gibson started walking the length of Great Britain, 1200 miles from Land’s End to John O' Groats, with the aim of starting a national conversation around suicide. His walk was in response to the moment in 2019, when John’s son, Cameron, took his life without warning. Left reeling and feeling utterly helpless in the aftermath of this devastating event John found walking a huge part of his finding his feet again so, along with founding The Canmore Trust charity, John decided to walk and talk about suicide with the mission of better understanding what can be done to prevent families like his going through the tragedy of losing a loved one to suicide #onemanwalkingamilliontalking. In this deeply moving and thought-provoking episode, which is sponsored by D&D Paving Ltd, Pennie Stuart meets John as he crosses the Highlands and nears the final few days of his walk. Support or get help from MIkeyslineSpeaking of Suicide is produced by Adventurous Audio

6 Okt 202246min

In this episode of Speaking of Suicide Dan joins Kev Stacey from Inverness’s 42 Cycling to explore the benefits of the wide-open environment on our mental health. Former Black Watch soldier, Kev takes Dan on a #RespiteRide and along the way talks about his experience of being injured in Iraq by an IED. The aftermath of the attack led Kev to struggling with his mental health and a gambling addiction. It was the power of the bike that helped him pull himself back from the dark places that came in the aftermath of his injuries. Today, he is using his experiences and love of cycling to help other people with their own mental health. His Respite Rides are a way to widen your horizon, to focus on one thing, to find calm in the chaos. To join Kev on a Respite Ride or find out more visit 42 Cycling Follow him on Instagram Remember it’s okay not be okay and MIkeysline is here for you if you need immediate help and support. Speaking of Suicide is produced by Adventurous Audio the podcast platform is supported by D&D Paving Ltd.

29 Sep 202256min