Avsnitt
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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 twitter. Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.
Or come and visit at The Hive, 19 Academy Street, Inverness, Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.
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Speaking of Suicide hosting is supported by D and D Paving Ltd.
Speaking of Suicide is produced and presented by Adventurous Audio
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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 twitter. Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.
Or come and visit at The Hive, 19 Academy Street, Inverness, Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.
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Speaking of Suicide hosting is supported by D and D Paving Ltd.
Speaking of Suicide is produced and presented by Adventurous Audio
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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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 twitter. Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.
Or come and visit at The Hive, 19 Academy Street, Inverness, Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.
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Speaking of Suicide hosting is supported by D and D Paving Ltd.
Speaking of Suicide is produced and presented by Adventurous Audio
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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 twitter. Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.
Or come and visit at The Hive, 19 Academy Street, Inverness, Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.
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Speaking of Suicide hosting is supported by D and D Paving Ltd.
Speaking of Suicide is produced and presented by Adventurous Audio
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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 Ellam
If you need someone to talk to, you can text Mikeysline on 07786 20 77 55 or contact via messenger, webchat or twitter. Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.
Or come and visit at The Hive, 19 Academy Street, Inverness, Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.
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Speaking of Suicide hosting is supported by D and D Paving Ltd.
Speaking of Suicide is produced and presented by Adventurous Audio
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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 Inverness
Gamblers Anonymous
Cocaine Anonymous
Drug Addicts Anonymous
Marijuana Anonymous
East Coast Scotland Narcotics Anonymous
If you need someone to talk to, you can text Mikeysline on 07786 20 77 55 or contact via messenger, webchat or twitter. Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.
Or come and visit at The Hive, 19 Academy Street, Inverness, Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.
Follow Mikeysline on socials
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Speaking of Suicide hosting is supported by D and D Paving Ltd.
Speaking of Suicide is produced and presented by Adventurous Audio
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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 MIkeysline
Speaking of Suicide is produced by Adventurous Audio
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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.
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Mike McCathy’s son wrote him a farewell letter. Ross asked his dad to campaign for better mental health support for people like him, people in need. That was all Mike needed to pick up the baton and devote himself to developing one of the biggest suicide awareness and prevention initiatives the UK has ever seen - The Baton of Hope.
Dan Holland talks to Mike about Ross and the aim of The Baton of Hope to create a society where suicide and suicide prevention are openly and widely discussed. Where we inspire hope through action and support. Where we remove shame, stigma and silence.
Find out more about The Baton of Hope
Support or get help from MIkeysline
Speaking of Suicide is produced by Adventurous Audio the podcast platform is supported by D&D Paving Ltd.
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Imagine you are a cancer doctor who starts to worry that you too have cancer but that worry then grows and grows into an all-consuming obsession. Every day, day after day you go into work where you are having to diagnose and treat people with cancer, which all the while feeds your own horror that you might have it too. Sounds like a version of hell but that’s just what happened to Russell who Pennie talks to for this episode of Speaking of Suicide.
We don’t often hear from doctors about their own health problems - perhaps we’re so often worrying about ourselves that we don’t stop to think about the pressures that caring for us all might have on their mental health - but in this episode we’re going to hear an utterly open and honest chat about what it feels like to become mentally ill when you’re a health care specialist.
Support or get help from MIkeysline
This episode of Speaking of Suicide is sponsored by Travis Perkins Inverness
Speaking of Suicide is produced by Adventurous Audio
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International Shinty legend, BBC Radio Scotland presenter and acclaimed musician Gary Innes was 16 years old when one of his friends took their own life. At school it wasn’t talked about, it was moved silently to the side. Over the next 20 years a further 5 of his Lochaber Shinty Club teammates would do the same thing. This horror shook not just the world of shinty, but the whole of Lochaber. It left Gary feeling frightened about what would happen next.
Today Gary is trying to talk as much as possible about his teammates and our mental health, about remembering it is ok not to be ok, that there is no shame, no stigma and there should be no silence.
Mikeysline and The Camanachd Association have started working together to raise awareness of mental health issues, and in this episode Dan Holland speaks to Gary about his six teammates and what he feels the world of Shinty should be doing to help further support players and their families.
Support or get help from MIkeysline
Gary Innes
Camanachd Association
This episode of Speaking of Suicide was sponsored by HSBC UK and is produced by Adventurous Audio the podcast platform is supported by D&D Paving Ltd.
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At 18, Sandy Clunas left Nairn in the north of Scotland and headed off to Australia to become a windsurfing instructor. In the following 10 years he travelled the world competing and teaching windsurfing, on the surface of it he was living the dream until it all came crashing down and he found himself in a very dark and difficult place, contemplating suicide. In this honest, open and engaging conversation Sandy shares how he’s managed to climb back up and start to love life again. He talks about his new career away from water sports and about how he came to start a podcast The After Hours Lounge aimed at supporting more men to talk about their mental health.
If you need someone to talk to, you can text Mikeysline on 07786 20 77 55 or contact via messenger, webchat or twitter. Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.
Or come and visit at The Hive, 19 Academy Street, Inverness, Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.
This episode of Speaking of Suicide is sponsored by D&D Paving Ltd.
The music is by Tom Ireland with special thanks to Dave Martin
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Pennie talks to Dylan Cathcart about how he managed to transform his life and ability to be open about his ups and downs after he decided to take the brave step of talking to a therapist. In Dylan’s words therapy has been ‘a tornado of an experience’ but he’s really passionate about how it’s helped him, and it’s fuelled his hope that he can help others too. As well as being open and honest about his own struggles Dylan’s set up a clothing company ACTIV3 Clothing which will help raise money for charities in the Highlands.
If you need someone to talk to, you can text Mikeysline on 07786 20 77 55 or contact via messenger, webchat or twitter. Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.
Or come and visit at The Hive, 19 Academy Street, Inverness, Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.
This episode of Speaking of Suicide is sponsored by D&D Paving Ltd.
The music is by Tom Ireland with special thanks to Dave Martin
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In this episode Pennie talks to her oldest friend, Bastie Morrison. Although they’ve known each other their whole lives, they’ve never discussed the fact that Bastie’s mum Jill took her own life when he was only 5 years’ old. Bastie wasn’t ever directly told about his mum’s suicide – something he feels was seriously misjudged at the time – and it was only through piecing together what little he knew that he eventually discovered the truth. Bastie shares his story with extraordinary insight and compassion, talking about how, after all these years, he’s come to a place of understanding and deep love for his mum along with the ongoing sadness that he never got to know her.
If you need someone to talk to, you can text Mikeysline on 07786 20 77 55 or contact via messenger, webchat or twitter. Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.
Or come and visit at The Hive, 19 Academy Street, Inverness, Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.
This episode of Speaking of Suicide is sponsored by MKM Building Supplies in Inverness with additional support from D&D Paving Ltd.
The music is by Tom Ireland with special thanks to Dave Martin
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What would you say right now to someone, a friend, a family member if they came to you and said they felt that life wasn’t worth living? It’s tough isn’t it. Even harder if you’re not expecting it.
For this episode of Speaking of Suicide, Dan Holland is in Edinburgh to meet and go for a walk with Christo Hudson. Christo is a former commercial pilot. When the pandemic took grip on our world and lockdowns became a way of life, like for so many of us, for Christo life changed very suddenly.
Today he’s a mental health first aid and suicide prevention trainer and it’s his story of going from the cockpit to the classroom that we can all learn something from. Christo describes someone opening up to you as them passing you a red hot ball. So today, we hear how to carefully hold and nurture that red hot ball you’ve been given.
If you need someone to talk to, you can text Mikeysline on 07786 20 77 55 or contact via messenger, webchat or twitter. Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.
Or come and visit at The Hive, 19 Academy Street, Inverness, Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.
Speaking of Suicide is made thanks to the support of D&D Paving Ltd.
The music is by Tom Ireland with special thanks to Dave Martin
Christo Hudson’s Black Box Approach
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A real story of hope this episode as Pennie Stuart and Matt Wallace, founder of Clarity Walk, take a walk and talk through Reelig Glen. Matt talks about how a move to Glasgow left him isolated and increasingly depressed, so much so he became suicidal. His mental health started to impact on his physical health, and he became locked in a circle of misery. Thankfully Matt realised in time that he needed to make some dramatic changes, so he went on a digital detox, limiting his time on the phone and reconnecting with nature through walking. The impact was huge and now Matt’s helping others to help themselves through his Highland based social enterprise Clarity Walk.
If you need someone to talk to, you can text Mikeysline on 07786 20 77 55 or contact via messenger, webchat or twitter. Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.
Or come and visit at The Hive, 19 Academy Street, Inverness, Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.
Speaking of Suicide is made thanks to the support of D&D Paving Ltd.
The music is by Tom Ireland with special thanks to Dave Martin
Matt Wallace's Clarity Walk
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Cromarty is s a small tight knit, highland community where everyone knows everyone else. Katie Mackay and her elder brother Calum grew up there , Calum was always seen with a beaming smile around the village, he’d speak to anyone, he was proud and protective of his wee sister. But Calum was hard on himself, judging himself against others. His death came as a complete shock to Katie and her family. It rippled hard through the community.
This episode of Speaking of Suicide is Katie’s story of how she has learnt to live with the loss of and grieve for her brother. Katie talks to Dan Holland on the beach in Cromarty about how she has felt the waves of emotion and grief come and go. She describes how she has felt herself move the different recognised stages of grief and opens up about some the tools she uses to help her through these stages of grief.
Calum still plays a big part in Katie’s life and we hear how he is remembered every time she takes her dog for a walk, how Katie has challenged herself to climb munro’s spreading the word that opening up and talking about our mental health with someone is a conversation we should all try to feel comfortable having.
You can support Katie's munro challenge here
If you need someone to talk to, you can text Mikeysline on 07786 20 77 55 or contact via messenger, webchat or twitter. Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.
Or visit Mikeysline at The Hive, 19 Academy Street, Inverness, Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.
Speaking of Suicide is an Adventurous Audio production made thanks to the support of D&D Paving Ltd.
The music throughout the series is ‘Nana’ by Tom Ireland
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This episode is a bit different because it takes the form of a conversation between Shona Macpherson and Professor Rory O’Connor. Shona is a counsellor and life coach who works with Mikeysline and will be a familiar voice to you if you listen to the podcast regularly. Rory is one of the world’s leading experts in the field of suicide prevention, he’s Professor of Health Psychology, Director of the Suicidal Behaviour Research Laboratory and head of the Mental Health and Wellbeing group at the University of Glasgow. He’s passionate about trying to understand the root causes of suicide in a bid to work out what we can do to reduce the shocking suicide statistics worldwide.
His recent book “When it is darkest – Why people die by suicide and what we can do to prevent it” is a searingly honest search through this challenging and often upsetting subject. It’s a book that’s written with such compassion and humanity we couldn’t resist asking Rory to take part in Speaking of Suicide and, since it was Shona who first brought Rory’s book to our attention and is such a passionate advocate herself of finding ways to stop suicide, we thought it should be Shona who talks with Rory.
Rory O'Connor
If you need someone to talk to, you can text Mikeysline on 07786 20 77 55 or contact via messenger, webchat or twitter. Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.
Or come and visit at The Hive, 19 Academy Street, Inverness, Sun-Thurs 6pm-10pm & Fri-Sat 6pm-11pm.
Speaking of Suicide is made thanks to the support of D&D Paving Ltd.
The music is by Tom Ireland with special thanks to Dave Martin
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Each day across the 12 Days of Christmas Counsellor Shona Macpherson is joining Pennie Stuart, in collaboration with Mikeysline, to share some mental health skills, practical tips you can try which might just help when you’re finding life a struggle.
Today Shona encourages us to stand back and observe ourselves with more distance, watching our thoughts and emotions coming and going while learning to accept them and live with them, instead of seeing ourselves as defined by them.
Hopefully you’ll find some of these ideas helpful but they’re not a substitute for professional help so if you’re struggling, please seek support. Always remember its ok not to be ok and Mikeysline is available if you or someone you know needs help or advice you can text 07786 20 77 55, or contact them via messenger, webchat or twitter. Sun-Thurs 6pm - 10pm, Fri-Sat 7pm-7am.
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Each day across the 12 Days of Christmas Counsellor Shona Macpherson is joining Pennie Stuart, in collaboration with Mikeysline, to share some mental health skills, practical tips you can try which might just help when you’re finding life a struggle.
Shona talks us through an intriguing idea of standing in the future so we can look back at ourselves and how we solve today’s problems and struggles.
Hopefully you’ll find some of these ideas helpful but they’re not a substitute for professional help so if you’re struggling, please seek support. Always remember its ok not to be ok and Mikeysline is available if you or someone you know needs help or advice you can text 07786 20 77 55, or contact them via messenger, webchat or twitter. Sun-Thurs 6pm - 10pm, Fri-Sat 7pm-7am.
- Visa fler
