Rosabelle
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.
‘They don’t believe the person with the psychiatric disability because what would we know? We’re not really in touch with reality. If you have a PTSD diagnosis, you’re second-rate in the psychiatric world as well.’
Rosabelle is in her late 50s and lives with psychosis, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety. She had been sexually abused as a child and was in an abusive marriage for nearly 30 years.
Rosabelle told the Royal Commission she has had seven different diagnoses, including ‘some rotten ones’.
‘The treatment for each one is totally different. I had the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder at one point. And whoa, don’t ever tell anyone in the mental health system that. The discrimination and the assumptions are things like, “You are manipulative. I cannot believe one thing that you say.”’
An emergency department once threw Rosabelle out at 2 am and she walked for miles in her pyjamas to find a motel.
‘Because they decided how I had borderline and what I was really there for was a room for the night … I mean, there are psychiatrists that refuse to treat people with borderline. And as it turns out, it’s not what I have anyway.’
Doctors have put her on 15 different medications in the past two decades.
‘They sedated my life away, and that sedation was the reason my husband was able to sexually abuse me.’
Rosabelle said specialists used ‘antipsychotic drugs to control behaviour’ instead of understanding the cause of her anger.
‘They don’t try and help you other than, “Here, try this medication.” And for trauma, that doesn’t work. And it was just this rotating door of coming off one and then going onto the next. Because the depression, which I clearly had, was a result of life. It wasn’t a result of chemical imbalance up here. But they don’t ask that question … All of this results in neglect. My physical health has been neglected since I got a mental health diagnosis.’
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.