Rowena
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.
Rowena is in her late 20s and lives with schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
‘On a more personal note my interests are volunteering in the LGBTIQ community, riding motorbikes and partying on the weekend,’ she told the Royal Commission.
‘I’m someone who has a pretty well-rounded tertiary education. I have financial stability that a lot of other disabled people don’t. I have a strong support network who really look out for me and I’m in a reasonably well-paid job ... Even so, I experience a lot of risks and vulnerabilities that members of the general public never have to deal with or understand.’
Several years ago Rowena admitted herself as a voluntary patient to the mental health unit of a city hospital. The process required an initial assessment. ‘People usually spend less than 24 hours in that assessment unit. I was there for four days,’ she said.
Ten minutes into their first meeting, a psychiatrist told Rowena she had borderline personality disorder (BPD). In front of Rowena, she discussed with nurses the possibility of administering a medication just to get her out of the hospital.
‘At the end of the first meeting I was highly agitated and distressed.’
Rowena said that in the days that followed the psychiatrist was ‘dismissive’.
‘She felt that my severe distress was funny.’
Rowena’s employer supported her to work while she was in the mental health unit, but the psychiatrist was ‘outraged’.
‘[They] said that if I was really someone with a psychosocial disability I’d be unemployed like the rest of the patients.’
When the hospital discharged Rowena, it offered her no assistance.
‘I was lucky that a friend was able to pick me up at no notice.’
She also found that in her discharge notes the psychiatrist had written she considered Rowena to have a cluster B personality disorder. Rowena said she made this assessment without any formal diagnostic process.
‘I don’t consent to this being on my record and no-one has ever explained to me how this could be removed. I consider this to be an abuse of power and, to be honest, when you’re a neurodiverse person the world is antagonistic because of the way that we engage, communicate, move our bodies for example. We don’t react well to micro-aggressions because after a lifetime of them we get sick of it. But that doesn’t mean that we have BPD!’
Rowena shared several recommendations with the Royal Commission.
‘Number one is treat us like human beings. It’s a really basic one but it’s one that so many people get wrong. One example that comes to mind is by giving us choices.’
Another is to ensure psychiatric facilities are ‘more livable’.
‘It’s important for us in psychiatric facilities to have access to therapeutic and recreational opportunities that support that recovery model and don’t disempower us the way that the staff did to me.’
As well, value lived experience.
‘Unfortunately, I find that the health system does continue to privilege that clinical experience and professional qualifications above lived experience.’
Rowena remembers one nurse at the hospital who did support her. His partner had bipolar disorder.
‘He actually told the psychiatrist at least once that how she was talking to me was not okay, and that made a big difference.’
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.