Niko
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.
Niko is a First Nations man in his 40s living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Niko told the Royal Commission that doctors wrongly diagnosed bipolar disorder because he was ‘somehow delusional’ and had ‘all those aggressive symptoms’.
‘I was bipolar [but] it’s pretty much complex PTSD. That’s what I have.’
The NDIS supports Niko with therapy, but a few years ago it cut his funding.
‘I started to get support and I liked myself. For the first time in [more than 40] years I liked myself. And then I was stupid enough to think that I was entitled to some form of justice, so they turned my health off.’
Niko and his partner run a business, but it suffered when his mental health deteriorated.
Niko said he’d like to ‘get well again’.
‘The problem is I can’t find that therapist.’
Niko told the Royal Commission that because his partner also has a disability, the government took their children away.
‘They banged on saying she had an intellectual disability when she had a learning disability, and they wouldn’t even comply with the court order to make reasonable adjustments because they don’t have to. That’s what happens when you deal with justice, mate, they’ll do whatever they want.’
Niko said that when he was younger, he was in trouble with the police. He now worries that the government is perpetuating ‘a very vicious cycle’ by taking away his children.
‘They’re the ones that are growing up, you know, square peg when they’re a round one. They’re never going to fit into life, they have destroyed them. That’s as simple as that. They’ve destroyed them. Disconnected them, rebirthed them, they’re … finished. It’s just a matter of when they’re either going to get chemically restrained, killed, in jail, one of those wonderful, wonderful flow on effects from the systems.’
Niko said he doubted the Royal Commission would be able to ‘do anything’ to help him, but ‘maybe someone can help the next poor bastard’.
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.