Reed and Kellen
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.
Kellen’s son, Reed, lives with schizoaffective disorder.
Kellen lives in a caravan and tries to support Reed, who lives nearby.
‘I've seen the deterioration in my son's treatment,’ Kellen told the Royal Commission.
When doctors admitted Reed to hospital with psychosis, Kellen travelled several hours every day to be with his son. Doctors at the hospital had told him they’d let him know what was happening with Reed’s treatment.
Kellen said that one day, when he wasn’t there, Reed was ‘wheeled off against his will, the first of a course of a dozen ECT [electroconvulsive therapy] treatments’.
‘They stopped me from seeing him, you know. I stopped a doctor. I tapped on the window of the door, they took me into a room, [Reed’s] eyes looked crying, they were red. He was the most upset I had seen him dealing with what the doctors [were] putting on him.’
Kellen said he had to do his own research to find out what ECT was.
‘There's lots of pros and cons, but the thing that concerned me greatly was … a nurse or something, she said it done him good. That was utterly hogwash. He's [still hearing] the voices, still through heavy sedations. They just made him speechless and turned him into [a zombie]. He used to have an excellent memory, you know, yeah.’
Kellen said he tried to stop the treatments.
‘I didn't do a good job … He got it done anyway.’
Kellen said many patients in hospital mental health units had no-one to speak up for them. He made a point of talking to other patients when he visited Reed.
‘It’s nothing special, it's just being a sincere friend. But it was special to them, you know?’
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.