by Shane Varcoe –  Feb 17, 2026

Every day in Australia, we lose nine people to suicide. The connection between substance use, mental health, and suicide is undeniable – trauma drives people to self-medicate, substance use deepens isolation and depression, and what starts as numbing pain can end in taking one’s life. Yet research shows us something remarkable: the vast majority of people contemplating suicide don’t actually want to die. They just want the suffering to stop. And that’s where intervention can change everything.

In this context, I spoke with Rob Nicholls and Jenny Nicholls, a couple whose personal journey through trauma and substance use has equipped them to train ordinary Australians to recognise the signs and save lives. Rob is an ASIST Trainer with Living Works, the world’s leading suicide prevention organisation, and Jenny is the author of Shattering Deception and Revealing Truth, a powerful memoir of her journey through childhood abuse, trauma, and the destructive coping mechanisms that followed.

Shattering Deceptions & Revealing Truth – Seeking a Healthy Out from Trauma – A Conversation with Suicide Preventionists

Jenny grew up in a home marked by her mother’s occult involvement, alcoholism, drug use and violence. Rob’s early years were shaped by party culture and alcohol as a social lubricant. Both understand firsthand how substance use becomes an escape from pain, how trauma creates patterns of self-medication, and how exclusion – whether through disability, mental illness, or addiction – increases suicide risk. The constant hypervigilance from Jenny’s childhood created patterns of anxiety that eventually led to her own suicide attempts.

Key Takeaways:

• Most people thinking about suicide haven’t lost hope entirely – they’ve lost hope but hope there could be hope. That thin thread is what intervention can grab hold of.
• Substance use and suicide share common roots – trauma, isolation, and pain drive both self-medication and self-harm. Addressing one requires addressing the other.
• You don’t need to be an expert to save a life – Rob shares stories of barbers, neighbours, and strangers who simply noticed someone struggling and asked, “Are you okay?”
• Desperation harnessed to hope is powerful – but desperation harnessed to hopelessness is devastating. Creating pathways to hope is essential.
• Both the fence and the ambulance matter – prevention and intervention must work together. We can’t neglect either end of the crisis.

Shattering Deception and Revealing Truth by Jenny Nicholls shares her lived experience of childhood trauma, substance use, suicide struggles, and her journey toward healing and recovery.

Source: Shane Varcoe – Executive Director for the Dalgarno Institute