Kayden

Kayden’s parents came to Australia in the late 1980s shortly before he was born.

He told the Royal Commission that as a child, his parents referred to him as a ‘bit stupid’ and ‘a bit slow’.

In preschool, Kayden’s mother took him to see a specialist who diagnosed him with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). She was so ‘ashamed of the condition’, she didn’t tell anyone. She was scared he would be taken away and have to go to a ‘special school with autistic kids’.

‘She was so fearful that she did everything in her power to brush this ADHD away.’

Meanwhile, Kayden struggled to control his impulses and became more and more frustrated.

In primary school, he was suspended for fighting and violent behaviour.

In high school, he dreamed of academic and sporting achievements but couldn’t ‘get his shit together’.

‘I could just never sit down and focus and get something done and I thought that was just normal. I thought it was normal to … feel angry, to be impatient.’

Despite ‘trying and trying’, Kayden wasn’t able to organise his thoughts.

Following school, he completed a business diploma but only achieved mediocre marks. He started working in his father’s convenience store.

Kayden struggled with day-to-day life and became depressed. He developed a drug addiction which led to psychosis and a criminal conviction. Kayden had a falling out with his father and was charged with assault.

‘There was no justification to my behaviour. I was wrong.’

Kayden saw a psychiatrist with his mother. The psychiatrist asked if Kayden had been diagnosed with ADHD as a child, but his mother said no. The psychiatrist prescribed antipsychotic medication, which had adverse effects because of Kayden’s ADHD.

Kayden began seeing a psychologist. He stopped taking the antipsychotic medication and stopped smoking cigarettes, but still had trouble focussing.

His father became sick and Kayden took over the family business. He didn’t succeed because he was disorganised and not able to take responsibility.

A few years ago, Kayden pleaded guilty to a domestic violence charge. He said he was drunk and squeezed his wife’s thigh too hard.

‘Just unacceptable. My behaviour was out of control, being too drunk.’

Through the court process, Kayden saw a psychologist who wrote a letter to the court suggesting he had ADHD.

About a year ago, Kayden had a breakdown. He asked his aunty if there was something wrong with him. She explained that he had been diagnosed with ADHD as a child.

‘I had to find out from having unacceptable behaviour, from being a bad person in the community … that I was actually diagnosed with ADHD during childhood.’

A psychiatrist confirmed the ADHD diagnosis and Kayden started taking medication.

When Kayden told his mother, she asked him not to tell anyone he had ADHD.

She said, ‘You know what, if you took ADHD medication when you were young, you’d probably be a mad drug addict, you know. You’d probably be out of control.’

Kayden says the medication has the opposite effect. It helps him control himself and ‘be productive’.

‘You’re going to be less likely to have addictive impulses. Even less likely to be impulsive.’

Kayden has recently returned to university. He was able to obtain special assistance which allows him to see an organisational psychologist who helps him with his timetable.

‘If someone just told me [I had ADHD] … I would have been able to make individual decisions for my life, which I feel I was denied the right to. I was denied my human right to know that I had this problem. I didn’t even have the chance that someone else had, to be the best they can.’