Moshe
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.
Moshe told the Royal Commission he has been a victim of abuse and experimentation in psychiatric facilities. He says his illness is physical and the symptoms are caused by infections, but when he explains this to doctors and mental health professionals ‘none of them want to do anything about it’.
‘If I protest too much they just want to increase my medication and turn me into a vegetable, to shut me up. While the infections continue on.’
He says the ‘mental health system is not looking into diet, vitamins or infections which cause mental illness’ and they should be ‘re-educated into ruling these things out first before putting someone on a psychiatric drug’.
Moshe has tried to seek help from his family to no avail. ‘[They] gaslight me, stalk me and bully me, because they think of the mentally ill people as less than them.’
Moshe has a South Sea Islander cultural background and says his difficulties are exacerbated by racism and discrimination.
‘[The] Australian health system is racist towards minorities … they talk down to black people.’
The broader community also treats him with disdain.
‘The public in general treat the mentally ill with stigma and discrimination, so if I try to get justice for all the things that have been done to me I am met with that attitude as well as everything else.’
Moshe would like someone to ‘sit down, listen to me, about my infections and help me to recover’. ‘In 30 years,’ he said, ‘not one person, including the church, where I am a member’ has done this.
He also suggests ‘education in schools to the children about mentally ill and disabled’ will have a positive effect. ‘If they know the issues, they can have an educated viewpoint, it’s not being taught, so children grow up ignorant and this leads to fear about mental illness.’
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.