Tina Malone's husband took his own life.
Tina Malone's husband died in March
The 'Shameless' actress announced in March that her spouse Paul Chase had passed away aged just 41 and she's told how he had turned to drugs and alcohol after his mental health plummeted while he battled PTSD from his time in the army.
She told the Sunday Mirror newspaper: “I’ve not spoken about this publicly until this minute. It’s the first time I’ve said it and confirmed it. Paul did commit suicide. I believe in transparency.
“I’ll never get over it. I miss him so badly and I love him so much. One thing I know… he’s in a better place than here...
“He felt lost, he felt useless. He couldn’t fight any more. Drugs weren’t recreational. Drink wasn’t social.”
Tina admitted it is only her and Paul's 10-year-old daughter Flame keeping her afloat in the aftermath of his death.
She said: “If I didn’t have Flame I really wouldn’t want to be here.”
Tina - who also has 42-year-old Danielle from a previous relationship - told how Paul's mental health struggles spiralled in the last year of his life.
She said: “He’d concealed his PTSD, but imagine if you’ve been at war and you can’t count how many people you killed. How do you come back? He loved the Army but it left him scarred...
“The last 12 months were hell, a rapid downward progression. He was using prescription drugs and cocaine, he borrowed money and he lied. He was desperate.”
They briefly separated but reunited, and Paul was admitted to hospital for psychiatric treatments after earlier attempts to take his own life before being moved to an "under pressure" community facility because of a lack of beds.
Though he received invaluable specialist help, his mood swings still caused rows.
Tina said: “He thought he was a drain on me, he said he was no good for me. It was awful.”
The 61-year-old actress is planning to launch a charity called Paul's Flame on 28 May, what would have been her husband's birthday, in order to help other struggling ex-service personnel.
She said: “When he got drunk he’d ramble about the army and I’d tell him, ‘You have depression, you have emotional issues because of what you’ve seen’. But he’d sweep it away. He’d say, ‘How will I get a job if I have that?’ He admitted it in the end but by then things had gone too far.
“This is a man who served his country. The only way I can get through is by fighting for change, addressing the issues facing veterans and soldiers, trying to help others.”