Twelve years ago Joan Talbot's world forever changed when her only son, Shannon, took his own life without warning.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But instead of letting the grief eat away at her, Mrs Talbot from NSW's Central West, has chosen to be a voice of reason and hope.
Mrs Talbot has marched in the annual World Suicide Prevention Day event by NALAG every year, but this year, due to COVID-19, she was asked to be a guest speaker for its online event, Talk Towards Hope, instead.
"I lost my son to suicide and he had four children, so I've done a lot of grief counselling and counselling with the children, and I've always done the march and spoke up about suicide because I believe it should be spoken about, it's kept very secretive and that's not a good thing," Mrs Talbot said.
READ MORE: Suicide register will help reduce the deaths
"We seem to be speaking with one another more each year, which is good because before no one was really game enough to say, well I've lost my son, or I've lost my dad, or a sister, whereas now, we do speak about it, and we should speak about it."
Mrs Talbot pleaded for those grieving from the loss of a loved one by suicide to 'not do it alone.'
"Seek professional help," she said.
"I think it's very, very important. Don't sweep it under the carpet and think that you can deal with it yourself, otherwise it will eat you away.
"I feel as though a lot of people who this happens too feel embarrassed and won't speak out about it. They feel a sense of guilt, because, in my case anyway, I had no idea my son was suicidal, no idea whatsoever, it came as a very big shock to think that he did take his own life, we had no indication over the years, and most people are the same.
"It's shocking, and it's not knowing how others are going to be and usually, rather than come and ask if there's anything they can do to help you, people just don't come, because it's easier for them, because they don't know how to cope with how you're feeling. But, you need those people to keep in contact with you, you need to be able to talk about it. If you keep handling it on your own it will bring you down.
"People need to talk to one another, we need to accept that suicide is a sickness, we need to reach out to people who have depression, you need to say hi, is there anything we can do to help, and we should be doing it all of the time. If you see someone who looks upset it doesn't hurt to ask them, can I help you, and you often see people in tears down the street, for some unknown reason, go up and say is there anything I can do help you, they might tell you to go to buggery, or they might say could you please get me a glass of water."
Mrs Talbot said her grandchildren, both Shannon's children and her other grandchildren, were a big help in giving her the strength to carry on.
"I had to work hard with them, so I couldn't sit and dwell, I couldn't just bring myself down with it because I had a more important job," she said.
Mrs Talbot said she appreciates the wonderful work NALAG does and hopes they can continue.
"And I hope people that are thinking about suicide can get the help they need. Very few think very long about it, it's usually a very split-second decision," she said.
Mrs Talbot said participating in events and being a mental health advocate is therapeutic for her. "We have a beautiful rock down there on the river that NALAG has put there to mark our day, and all of those things they do, the little things, they are good things, they're positive things and people are starting to cope a little bit better with it.
- If you or someone you know is in distress please seek help. You can call LifeLine on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 24.