Creed
Content Warning: These stories are about violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation and may include references to suicide or self-harming behaviours. They may contain graphic descriptions and strong language and may be distressing. Some narratives may be about First Nations people who have passed away. If you need support, please see Contact & support.
Creed is a First Nations man in his 40s who has antisocial personality disorder, a cognitive impairment, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression.
‘[I was] abused sexually by [a family member]. Then eventually I got kicked out of home,’ Creed told the Royal Commission. ‘In the past, because I never did trauma treatment, my anger was, oh, pretty bad. Yeah, it always led to jail.’
When Creed was in jail, the doctors ‘didn’t really sit down and talk’ to find out the cause of his depression.
‘They go, “Yeah all right, you've got depression. Here, take this [tablet].” And that's it … I've seen quite a few guys kill themselves over small things.’
Creed said one man he knew diagnosed with depression ‘ended up hanging himself’. Another First Nations man went to the office to ask for help ‘because he wasn’t coping’.
‘The workers turned around and said, “Go back to your unit, we'll talk to you the following day about it.” Then they … found him dead.’
Creed said he received appropriate trauma counselling only after finishing his sentence.
‘When it comes to PTSD and that sort of thing it's taken me, what, like 20-odd years, right, to actually finally get counselling. And basically a treatment for PTSD and for depression.’
Creed’s advocate told the Royal Commission there’s never been a plan to help Creed transition from jail into the community.
‘There just isn't the resolve to work with people with disabilities [leaving jail] in a way that helps them to move on. And now that we have NDIS we have the ability of support services to come up and provide a less restrictive response, and it's just not happening.’
Disclaimer: This is the story of a person who shared their personal experience with the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability through a submission or private session. The names in this story are pseudonyms. The person who shared this experience was not a witness and their account is not evidence. They did not take an oath or affirmation before providing the story. Nothing in this story constitutes a finding of the Royal Commission. Any views expressed are those of the person who shared their experience, not of the Royal Commission.