Samir
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.
‘ADHD is a very bad secretary that I have … She’s very inclusive, she invites everybody to the party until the whole head is so full, then she blocks everybody.’
Samir is in his 50s and lives with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He told the Royal Commission he’s lived with ADHD all his life, but was diagnosed only a decade ago.
‘It’s really difficult to get a diagnosis because you can’t find the right people who have the expertise … Even now there are doctors in Australia who will say “It’s nothing, you have nothing.”’
Samir said he was originally diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but the medication made things worse. He thought about suicide.
One day, he was in a doctor’s waiting room reading an article on ADHD thinking, “Are they talking about me? How did they know so much?”’
‘Suddenly things seem to drop into perspective.’
Samir was a public servant at the time. He had always struggled to concentrate at work, and would sneak back after hours ‘to get through the job’.
‘[But] there was no problem in that role that I had because I was getting commendations.’
When a doctor diagnosed ADHD, Samir told his boss because ‘the narrative in those days was, if you come out and you talk about it, other people will be there [to help]’.
Samir said that after disclosing his diagnosis, his boss micromanaged him by watching what he did and reading his emails before he sent them.
‘I said, “What are you doing? I’ve been sending emails for the past [several] years. You do not need to read every email I send” … It wasn’t that they weren’t trying to be helpful. It was just that they did not know, and I did not know, what help I needed.’
A few years later, he resigned.
Samir now helps people manage their ADHD, which he describes as ‘just a different human design … just the way we process information’.
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.