'It's just too much to deal with'
Kirsty, who is 14, felt like things couldn't get much worse.
Kirsty's parents had split up four months ago after a series of arguments, and she was now living with her mother who is seeing another man. Kirsty's father has found the separation hard to deal with and she found that upsetting.
The break-up with Kirsty's father had caused her mother to be physically and verbally abusive towards her, but Kirsty said that had stopped in recent weeks. However, since her mother is a nurse, she has to work a lot of late night shifts. This has meant that Kirsty has to care for her younger brother, who suffers from ADHD and dyspraxia, a lot of the time.
To make matters worse, Kirsty's grandfather, whom she is very close to, had just been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
All in all, Kirsty was finding life quite hard to deal with and she wanted someone to speak to.
Get Connected's Helpline Worker, Ben, spent a while exploring what Kirsty wanted to do and went through some options with her. Kirsty thought just talking it through with someone supportive would help. Ben gave her the details for Youth2Youth, a helpline staffed by young people around her own age, and connected her to Childline where she could get counselling.