Marilyse
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.
Marilyse is in her 60s and has schizophrenia.
She told the Royal Commission that a few years ago she went to a hospital emergency department during ‘a mental breakdown’.
She was waiting for hours and ‘never saw a doctor’. In the early hours of morning, she finally got to speak to a nurse.
‘She said you have to leave, you have to go somewhere else … So I had to walk home,’ Marilyse said.
Back home, Marilyse’s condition worsened and she rang the ambulance service.
‘They told me not to ring … unless it was a matter of life and death. So I was kind of treated like a subhuman.’
A neighbour ended up calling the police, who had her admitted to an acute mental health unit at the same hospital where she had tried to get help earlier.
A few days later, she was transferred to a mental health rehabilitation centre.
‘The very first night I was there, I was collected by two nurses, a male nurse and a female nurse … They told me to take my clothes off and get up on the bed and then … um, I had to open my legs.’
Nobody explained the reason for the examination and Marilyse described it as an assault.
‘That's what it felt like to me. I closed my eyes really tight … It's not like they were doing an internal. It was just an external thing.’
When her NDIS service provider was informed of the incident, they organised an advocate for Marilyse. Cheryl, the advocate, had to ‘battle’ with the director of nursing before she could visit Marilyse.
‘She told me that there was no need for me … and I wasn't allowed on site,’ Cheryl told the Royal Commission.
Cheryl said this breached Marilyse’s rights under the Mental Health Act.
‘Everyone has the right to advocacy.’
When Cheryl was eventually allowed to visit, staff ‘fobbed [her] off’ whenever she tried to raise an issue.
While Marilyse was in the rehab unit, she was placed under the public trustee.
Cheryl believes that during this period the housing department ‘coerced’ Marilyse into giving up her flat.
‘They said that she willingly gave up the unit, but she wasn't in a mental state to fully understand what she was signing.’
From the rehab unit, Marilyse was sent to another mental health facility.
Marilyse said the medical staff there intimidated her. Once, she was on the phone with the NDIS about her package when a nurse walked in.
‘She wanted to know all the whys and wheres. She said that it wasn't my money, it pays their bills … We had an argument.’
The nurse told Marilyse’s psychiatrist, who ‘threatened’ her with a needle.
‘I just stopped talking … It just is the way these medical professionals treat some people.’
Marilyse is still on the public housing waiting list and under the public trustee. Whenever she wants something she has to ‘beg them for money’.
She recently tried to have the financial management order revoked but was unsuccessful.
‘They used my history to say that, no, we still don't think you're mentally capable of looking after your money.’
She says the trustee relies on psychiatric evaluations which don’t reflect the reality of her ‘moving forward’.
‘They're not taking note of that, it's all historical … ‘I'm basically quite independent.’
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.