A former member of Nicola Sturgeon's Government has said he considered killing himself after he quit over inappropriate texts to a woman.
Mark McDonald told a newspaper he was so low after losing his ministerial job in 2017 that he contemplated suicide twice.
After losing his Ministerial job, McDonald also quit the SNP and has represented Aberdeen Donside as an independent.
McDonald confirmed last week that he will not stand again as an MSP.
Speaking to a newspaper, he said if his wife had not woken up early and found his note, he would have killed himself.
He was also critical of some former colleagues who believed his temporary suspension from Holyrood was not severe enough:
“After my suspension there seemed to be a mentality among some MSPs that I should have been given a harsher punishment. I never said my conduct did not merit any sanction and I duly served the punishment.
"I hope that since I have demonstrated that I have truly reflected on my behaviour and hope that most people who encounter me would say I am not the person I was in 2017.”
He added: “Coming back to parliament, I felt I was being punished multiple times for the same thing. I haven’t spoken about this before but recent events have made me feel like we can’t carry on with this culture where people can’t atone for their mistakes.
"At Holyrood we talk a good game about these things. I haven’t seen any of it from within the SNP with a few honourable exceptions.”
