Landen

A year after Landen started his PhD his supervisor retired. The new supervisor seemed uninterested in Landen’s project and Landen became depressed.

Landen told the Royal Commission he’d been diagnosed with depression and anxiety 10 years beforehand and used medication to manage his symptoms.

‘I knew that I could not increase the medication dosage any higher, or I would be sleepy all the time. So I moved my next appointment with my psychiatrist forward.’

While waiting for his appointment, Landen spoke to a university counsellor. Initially he thought she wasn’t listening to him and was surprised when she suggested taking him to hospital for an assessment. He thought it would be easier to go with her than disagree.

When they arrived at the hospital the counsellor told the nurse she was worried about Landen’s ‘presentation’. They were told to wait. Landen said, ‘She did not talk to me at all during this time’.

After three hours he was seen by an emergency department doctor who asked him to wait for a psychiatric assessment. At that point the counsellor left.

Some hours later, eager to return to university, Landen explained to the nurse he wasn’t feeling suicidal and asked to leave. He reassured her he had an appointment with his private psychiatrist. The nurse told him they couldn’t legally detain him.

Back at university, Landen received a call from the emergency department doctor warning him to come back immediately or she’d call the police. He found the call inappropriate and insensitive and was glad he wasn’t feeling suicidal.

‘I was not on a treatment order yet, so I don’t think that this was legal – but I didn’t know that at the time.’

Landen returned to hospital and after waiting for around eight hours someone finally assessed him.

He was asked a series of questions he thought were ridiculous, such as, ‘do you hear voices of people not in the room?’ He asked the doctor if they’d heard of telephones.

He was also asked if he had ever considered harming himself and told them he had in the past. ‘I do not recall actually being asked if I felt in any way suicidal.’

Landen accepts he may have been too literal with his answers but was taken aback when the doctor informed him he was going to be detained based on his responses. A security guard was asked to watch him.

The next morning Landen was transferred to a mental health hospital. But when he arrived he learnt his treatment order had not been verified by a psychiatrist because no psychiatrist was on duty at the first hospital. It was not until mid-afternoon, more than 24 hours later, Landen was seen by a ‘real’ psychiatrist.

The psychiatrist agreed Landen wasn’t suicidal and revoked the treatment order. But they insisted Landen remain in hospital while they changed his medication.

Landen protested, concerned about an unfamiliar doctor making changes to his medication.

‘I have no idea why they considered that my own GP, psychiatrist and psychologist were not up to the task of treating me.’

The new medication had adverse consequences. Landen started having suicide ideation which worsened when they tried to bring him off the drug too quickly.

During this time Landen’s parents had been away. As soon as they returned they spoke to the psychiatrist and took Landen home.

The drug withdrawal symptoms continued for some time and his psychiatrist told him he should never have been given the different drug.

Landen told us he has experienced this type of neglect for most of his life but he said, ‘not from people who are supposed to be trained healthcare professionals’.

‘Hospitals should have properly qualified staff available at all times to correctly assess someone. Simply trying to give people medication (especially when they are already on medication) is not proper treatment. And if the patient happens to have a psychologist, psychiatrist or even a regular GP, then those people should be contacted immediately for advice or even called in to assist with treatment.’