Isaiah
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.
‘I have told numerous health professionals over the years but they do not understand the plight that I endured from a young age. All I wanted was for someone to tell me the truth of what happened to me.’
Isaiah, now in his 60s, told the Royal Commission he has led a life of ‘complete and utter misery’. He says the impacts of being neglected and isolated in hospital as a child resulted in his psychosocial disability.
He remembers when he was a young boy, being taken to hospital because he was ‘uncontrollable at that particular time’. He recalls a building that was a ‘large wooden structure’, and hospital staff putting him in isolation and ‘large doors being closed’ behind him. He stayed in hospital for a very long time, ‘maybe a year maybe less’.
When he eventually returned home, Isaiah noticed a large scar on the left side of his head. When he asked his parents about it, they said he’d been in an accident. Isaiah wasn’t convinced and told them he thought it was from electric shock therapy. But his parents insisted this wasn’t the case.
Isaiah says the abuse severely affected his social, family and academic relationships. ‘It is still a stigma in today's society if you do suffer from a mental illness, through my own life experiences.’
He says he has tried unsuccessfully over the years to access his medical records from that time. ‘All I wanted was for someone to tell me the truth of what happened to me.’
Isaiah recommends healthcare professionals be more open and transparent in their dealings with consumers with disability.
‘You have to listen to that person with dignity and respect, and to not try and flick off any allegations of mistrust and any form of physical or psychological harm to them.'
He is also calling on state governments to improve access to freedom of information records. ‘To be more open with documentation that is collated.’
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.