Why we need to talk about suicide

This episode marks the first anniversary of the Wellness Unwrapped podcast – and I’m so grateful to have you joining me as a listener.

My guest for my anniversary episode is not a famous doctor or an author. Alice Hendy is someone who you won’t have heard of - but who I think deserves to be heard the world over.

The topic of this episode is very different from what you may have come to expect from this podcast. Though it’s not something that I’d ever planned on tackling, I honestly believe it’s the most important and urgent conversation that I’ve shared to date.

Alice throws a spotlight on something that is tearing more and more families apart: suicide.

As you’ll hear, internet searches for how to kill yourself are soaring during this pandemic – and our young people are particularly at risk. It's something I'm acutely conscious of, following a spate of suicides amongst my son's fellow students at university.

Alice’s brother, Josh took his own life on 25th November 2020. He was 21 years old.

Following Josh’s death, Alice has made it her mission to ensure that more support is given to individuals in mental health crisis who are searching for harmful content online.

She has leveraged her expertise in IT and cyber security to create Ripple Suicide Prevention. Through Ripple, someone in the depths of despair will be urged to seek the mental health support that they deserve and need, in a way that works best for them.

Although this conversation is deeply moving, you'll hear that Alice is also sharing an inspiring message of hope that lives can be spared.

You can find out more about Alice's work here, plus how to contact her and how to help with crowdfunding.

www.ripplesuicideprevention.com

[email protected]

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ripplesuicideprevention

Please do support Alice by following her on her social media pages:

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Ripplesuicideprevention

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/Rippletools

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/ripplesuicideprevention/

Linkedin:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alice-hendy-ripple-suicide-prevention-87a486202/

Here is a leaflet which Alice has produced to help parents protect their kids from some of the dangers that are now horrifyingly common online.

https://www.ripplesuicideprevention.com/programs-6

You can find me here:

https://peppermintwellness.co.uk/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/PeppermintWellness

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/peppermintwellness/

Please be aware that the content of this podcast is upsetting and is not suitable for children.