JCIP #362 - Mick Rowe

In episode 362 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Mick Rowe.Mick is the Founder of Suicide Sucks C.I.C, a mental health organisation centred around suicide prevention, which aims to provide a safe space to talk about suicide, grief and mental health. Through Suicide Sucks, Mick published her first documentary as a filmmaker about her brother’s death from suicide in 1996, who was just 27 years old at the time. Suicide Sucks also has its own podcast, which Mick hosts from her camper van, and also puts on her own events. These include one staged radio play, two stand up to suicide comedy nights (one in 2025 and one in 2026), and a special art exhibition called ‘Voices of Hope’.In March 2024, she set up Suicide Sucks as a Community Interest Company (CIC), and since then has started her first campaign called ‘Have you got 8 Minutes Mate?' In this episode we discuss her journey with Suicide Sucks, how the death of her brother fuelled her desire to start it, a deep dive into the documentary, the imposter syndrome she felt around filming it, and some of her favourite moments running it so far. For Mick’s mental health journey, we discuss the grief of her brother's death, the factors which contributed to it, a mental breakdown she had when she turned the same age as her brother was when he died and how the grief almost cost Mick her marriage.We also discuss a serious back injury in 2018 when she two slipped discs and had a sciatica, why the grief played a role in it, how she recovered from it through a non-traditional method and what she learned about the relationship between her physical and mental health.As always, #itsokaytoventYou can find out more about Suicide Sucks here: https://www.suicidesucks.co.uk/.You can watch Mick's documentary here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjaAVAeFogU.You can follow Suicide Sucks on social media below: InstagramYouTubeTRIGGER WARNING: this podcast contains a deep discussion of grief, loss and the impact that losing a loved one to suicide can have, which some listeners may find distressing or upsetting, so please listen with caution.Support Us:PatreonPayPalMerchandise