This article reports on the results of an audit of 10,359 calls made to the national mental health helpline between January 1996 & June 1998 with the aim of describing the profile of suicidal callers. More calls were by, or about, women. The most common age group for suicidal callers was 25-34 years, while those under 25 were least likely to call the helpline. 55% of all calls related to people suffering from depression, & 31% were for people with psychosis. The majority of individuals who were planning suicide or were in the act of suicide at the time of the call were in contact with services; almost three-fifths of subjects reported problems with services. (7 refs.)