Suicide doesn’t just take one life, it sends shockwaves through everyone affected, writes Caroline Roodhouse.

There are moments when everything feels heavy at once: responsibilities, expectations, the quiet pressure to keep going even when I’m tired.

I have used IFCA’s National Helpline Service many times throughout the years to navigate difficult situations in foster care

I caught genital herpes before the internet. I knew nothing about it and was not particularly bothered… Then I was sent an American magazine with a long article that taught me to think that ‘genital herpes was terrible and it would ruin my life.

I’ve struggled with my mental health since a traumatic childhood, still do, but the night I rang the Samaritans, I was at my lowest.

I reached out to The Migraine Trust support services at a point when my chronic migraines with visual aura were becoming increasingly debilitating.

In 1991, I underwent surgery. Three years later I was informed by the Transfusion service that during a transfusion, I had been infected with Hepatitis C

I did not deal with each of the losses, and now looking back, I kind of went into shutdown as it was just too much to process at once

I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2017 after experiencing months of vague symptoms

I reached out to the RASA 24/7 Helpline during a really difficult time. I had recently moved to a new city and didn’t have any kind of support network yet. After experiencing sexual abuse, I was dealing with a lot of confusion, anger, depression, and isolation.

Matthew had been a dairy farmer all his life. At 52, his life was farming: early mornings, surrounded by nature, the outdoors, his cattle, and — most importantly — the companionship of his older brother, with whom he had shared both work and life.
But when Matthew phoned Rural Support in 2025, things on the farm had changed.

I heard of the Child Death Helpline when I saw a poster in my doctor’s surgery.