Howie
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.
Howie, in his early 30s, has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
In the mid-2000s he served in the defence forces and was badly bullied. He was medically discharged and later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), panic disorder and anxiety disorder as a result of his experiences. He receives incapacity payments through the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act.
In the mid-2010s, a series of difficult events in Howie’s life and changes to his medication led to a period of suicidal ideation.
One night he took an overdose of pills and went to a bar. The police came, handcuffed him and put him in a paddy wagon.
‘Rather than engaging with me as somebody who was clearly going through a mental health crisis, they started treating me as if I was a criminal,’ Howie recalled.
The police took him to a local hospital. Staff there were also unsympathetic.
‘Nobody sort of cared about what I was going through.’
When Howie asked a nurse what drug he was trying to inject him with, the nurse refused to say.
‘He didn't want to tell me what was going on. He was just basically saying, “The doctors told me to give you this. You're either going to take it or I'm going to get security to come in and give it to you.” And he just wouldn't listen and wouldn't explain to me what treatment I was being given. And basically, without explaining what was going on, he then went off, got six or seven security guards to come in and pin me down and I was then shackled to a bed and forcibly given this medication.’
Howie discharged himself from the hospital and was then admitted to one for veterans, where he had a much better experience.
‘I was actually informed of what was going on with my medical treatment,’ he said.
He told the Royal Commission that while in hospital he was ‘petrified’ he would be given electroconvulsive shock therapy, which can be administered without the patient’s consent. Consent is an issue for people with disability, he said.
‘The legal paradigm that surrounds all of this is such that the law does not treat individuals with mental health impairments or disabilities with the same level of respect and dignity that other areas of the law treat everybody else with. They just assume, “Yep, we're going to do stuff to you.”’
Howie has had recent involvement with the court system, and encountered similar discrimination there.
‘The fact that I have mental health disabilities has been weaponised against me.’
He has also experienced it in the education sector, where he sought adjustments to allow him to participate in a program of study.
‘It seems to be a constant struggle – especially in the tertiary sector – to obtain reasonable adjustments if you are a person with disabilities. The onus always seems to be on you as the individual with disabilities requesting the reasonable adjustment to prove why you need the adjustment, rather than the institution accepting that they need to make their material and their courses more accessible.’
Howie explained that the main adjustment he wanted was to be allowed to attend lectures and workshops remotely.
Eventually, the university agreed. But the process didn’t work. Transmission of three-hour classes cut out after an hour.
‘It was literally an IT issue that could have been resolved by whomever doing it – and they just didn't do it.’
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.