When Lisa Cartledge’s father took his own life just six weeks shy of her 18th birthday in 1986, she spent decades dealing with the stigma of mental illness.
“I spent most of my adult life really dreading the ‘How did your father die question’ because the minute you say ‘He took his own life’, people look at their feet, they lose eye contact, they’re uncomfortable. That [reaction] was dictated to me by society and I allowed that to happen,” she said.
So when suicide touched Ms Cartledge’s life again 2014 when her husband Sean took his own life, she refused to let their children – Thomas, Edward and Olivia – face the same shame.
“I said to myself: ‘No way’. My kids are not going to not reminisce about their dad, or say his name, or live with other people’s awkwardness.”
The Victorian has helped organise a three-week walk to encourage open conversations about suicide and mental health. The Beechworth to Bridge walk arrives in the Blue Mountains on April 18 after starting in Ms Cartledge’s home town of Beechworth near Albury-Wodonga on March 31. It finishes at the Sydney Harbour Bridge on April 21.
Ms Cartledge said the event is all about acknowleding “the elephant in the room” of mental illness and suicide.
“We’re setting that bastard free,” she said.
The team of walkers will be at Blackheath Memorial Park on Wednesday, April 18 and Springwood’s Buttenshaw Park on Thursday, April 19.
“We want people bring their water bottle and walk for the day or walk for an hour. Or they can meet us in the pub afterwards (Gardners Inn at Blackheath and the Royal Hotel in Springwood). We are staying in country pubs because we're country people and we know the issue is, unfortunately, huge in country areas.”
Ms Cartledge’s children – now aged 28, 25 and 21 – are right behind the event with her daughter Olivia joining her the whole way.
“They understand and they're really supportive. They know they are my driving force,” she said.
For more information visit www.b2b.org.au
If you need help, call Lifeline: 13 11 44
