Axton
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.
Axton is in his 50s and was diagnosed a few years ago with autism. Prior to that, he had been misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder, which had serious impacts on his health and safety for many years.
It was a registrar GP in his rural home town who diagnosed Axton with bipolar disorder. He prescribed a regime of mood stabilisers and antipsychotics that made Axton ‘sluggish and compliant’.
Still taking the prescription medicines and unable to find any work, Axton moved to the city, where he began living in a backpacker hostel.
Axton was checking in with GPs at the local community bulk billing practice – they changed frequently – and they accepted the diagnosis as appropriate and kept renewing the medication.
‘There was no monitoring of the powerful drugs I was on,’ Axton told us. ‘A single visit to a psychiatrist confirmed diagnosis and I was to continue taking the powerful medication.’
‘Lacking any driving force,’ Axton remained living in the backpacker hostel and stopped looking for work. ‘I became friends with the marijuana smokers in the hostel,’ Axton told us, and became a ‘virtual smoker’ of marijuana, in addition to the powerful medications he was taking.
‘I had no supports outside the people living in the backpacker hostel. My family … did not visit me or care for me. I was on powerful medication and vulnerable to a cohort of drug users.
‘I had trouble feeding myself and difficulty leaving the hostel to manage errands. I gained a lot of weight.’
Axton continued in this condition for a year or so, and then ‘went cold turkey’ in an effort to ‘break out of the zombie like existence’.
Axton said he found help when he ‘stumbled across’ and then went to live in a yoga ashram. ‘The yogic lifestyle of the ashram was very beneficial and I noticed huge improvements in my health and well‐being.’
He believes it provided an ‘ideal environment for an autistic person to flourish’ and that its methods should be ‘studied and replicated throughout the world’.
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.