Stigma must end now

However, now she is comfortable saying he took his own life. Searching for answers following David Laxton’s death, Ms Waight was confused, unsure why he had taken his life. 

“I didn’t see it coming at all,” she said. “There were no red flags, he had a bit of an issue with drinking (...) but there was never a real red flag,” she said.  

“The last conversation we had was, ‘I love you and I will see you tomorrow’.” 

Mr Laxton had been working on giving up alcohol at the time and given anti-depressants at time. Something Ms Waight believes may have played a part in his death. 

It was the long list of questions, of which Ms Waight had no answers, and the stigma which meant she told some people a different story. 

“It is a fleeting moment in time and we just think ‘oh they must have been going through something at the time’, it is an automatic stigma that you connect and think something major must have happened in their life. I suppose for me, nothing happened and to realise this had happened and having no where to turn (had an impact),” she said.  

“There were no signs, (...)  there was nothing that showed me that those moments were going to be his last.”

The reaction that comes with telling some people her partner had taken his life that caused her not to tell others.  

“It didn’t make sense, and I wasn’t telling people because I didn’t want to explain how he passed and if you say he passed from a heart attack, there isn’t  those 20,000 questions.” 

However, since then Ms Waight has been able to tell her children and wants them to be ok to talk about it. “I suppose once they have been privy to this it is the questions that come with it,” she said.

“I want them to talk about it, it doesn't need to be hidden, people need to know.

“Because along with family of the person that has (taken their life), there is 50 other people who don’t have anyone to talk to about it. It shouldn’t be the case at all. You should be able to call anyone for a general chat (about it).”