Eris

Eris, 70, is autistic and has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. She was only diagnosed recently, since she turned 65, making her ineligible for the NDIS.

‘You know, that business about if you're going to be disabled, do it before 65 because hey, if you don't, you're screwed.’

The diagnosis has given her new understanding of issues she’s dealt with for much of her life, including depression and complex post-traumatic stress disorder, and frustration about how health professionals have treated her.

‘So the kinds of things that you hear from people … You know, the doctors that say to you when you come in after a suicide attempt, you know, “Stop messing around, I've got someone over here who's having a heart attack that's really ill, I need to get to them.” You know, all the doctors that, you know, didn't even bother to ask me about my menopausal state. So, you know, no-one linked perimenopausal with the baggage that I had, to say, “Okay, this may be why she's off the rails.”’

Eris recognises now she has always been neurodiverse and believes it made her vulnerable, in particular to a sexual assault when she was a child.

Eris didn’t report the assault at the time but tried to do so later, twice. The first time the matter didn’t advance because it was too long after the event.

It was also too late the second time. By then legislative changes meant an investigation was possible, but the perpetrator was no longer alive.

‘I know that when I couldn’t proceed with the police [the first time], that had a profound effect on me because, you know, you kind of build yourself up to this point when you’re going to do this big thing and then they say, "Oops, sorry, too long ago." So then you let it die down. Then you build up again – "Oops, sorry, he's died." So, you know, same old same old.’

Police had no process in place to help Eris receive this news.

‘I can recall no feedback from them at all and no closure other than, "Oh, thanks. He's dead. See you later," and that was it.’

People in medical-legal sectors need better training, she said.

‘I just want there to be more focus on people actually being trauma-informed.’

Eris explained that she has found her own ways to effectively manage her mental health.

‘I have a personally curated mental health first aid toolkit of techniques learnt over 35 years of psychosocial treatment therapy,’ she said. ‘It includes mementos that have positive connotations. So when things are tough, I just rummage through my box – you know, pull out things, cards, things that are meaningful … I'm not into tarot but I like the cards. When I'm feeling down, when I can feel myself starting to slip … I go to my box and rummage.’

She would like to see education for teenagers that helps them develop similar strategies.

‘I think there should be a subject, you know, like people in bushfire zones and flood zones are encouraged to prepare an action plan … I just think that if there could be that kind of process where a kind of a – that kind of mental health curation. Prepare a toolkit … You know, what would, what could that look like? You know, what things could you do? Say you were on your own and you had to survive, you know, what would keep you propped up mentally? Like, for me it's, you know, literally my box of tricks.’