Childhood

[Robert_Edward]

Hello,

I am now nearly 63 years of age, and wanted to know if there are any people suffering from a mental illness around that age. I was born in NQ and was hospitalised at the age of around six or seven. Is there any one who else who were hospitalised at the psychiatric wards? I was administered ECT to one side of my head the left side, as there is a permanent burn mark there for proof of that treatment. It is a question that has never been answered as my family would not open up about my treatment. Possibly a Royal Commission would be warranted if and when these admissions were carried out in the nineteen sixties on children.

[White_Rose]

Dear Robert Edward

Welcome to the forum. Thank you for telling us your story. I am horrified that children were given ECT. How long did you stay in hospital? Do you know why you were hospitalised and given ECT?

Does the establishment/hospital you were in still exist? Sorry to bombard you with questions. I am wondering how I can help you. I wonder if you can access your records under freedom of information. I'm not well up on that but do you think it is worthwhile trying?

Even as I write to try and help you I am still thinking what an horrific act on a young child. How has your life been since that time? I wonder what scars, emotional and psychological, you have been carrying around since then. You have survived to reach the age of 63. Congratulations. I am certain it was not an easy journey.

I have not been in that situation but I wanted to reply to your thread and acknowledge your pain. Would you like to talk some more about your life, just in case there is no one on the forum with the same childhood experience. I would like to think there were not many children who went through that dreadful experience.

We are always here to listen and chat.

Mary

[Robert_Edward]

Hello,

My entire life is one of extremes of the unknown in a way that I did not enjoy my child hood and then entering teenage years were about the same. That particular hospital is not existent anymore and the freedom from information is too daunting. In my teenage years I was sexually harmed by older males whilst at home and other places where I lived. My schooling was one of survival and mostly complying with my parents to send me to a normal school. I went to High School but didn't succeed in most subjects being an industrial class. The bullying was extreme from both teachers and some students. . I did manage to find employment with Australia Post for which I worked for around fifteen years, it enabled me to have a roof over my head. Then later on I was entitled to the old Invalid Pension now the DSP since 1991. I was diagnosed with Chronic Depression and Schizophrenia at a Mental Hospital in Goodna a suburb of Ipswich Qld. So my plight at present is the dominating degree of depression, and that I have just been seeing a new psychiatrist. He has put me on a new drug and commenced about two weeks ago. So now I am entering a new phase of my life that I hope will eradicate this dominant illness that I have been enduring now for over a year. I have had depression in the past that has lasted many years, so I must have a desire now as before to overcome this terrible illness.

[Robert_Edward]

Hello Mary,

Well my life has been a struggle, at an early age at primary school I had not many friends at all. I witnessed a horrible accident whilst leaving school where an elderly gentleman was hit and died a the scene, there is very little that I can remember about that incident. I certainly changed from that time on with possible psychological problems possibly PTSD. I did not do well at school academically and waged school a few times, with teachers using physical force against pupils, including myself. During my primary school period I was bot sexually abused and was used to have acts in the sexual scene with a then paedophile but then it was not openly discussed. In High School I was bullied frequently by other class members and did not do very well there either. I gained employment where I worked for around fifteen years and that was a hard struggle to be able to perform duties and sometimes found it very hard to stay at work. My mother was an alcoholic and my father a psychopath that was told to me by a psychiatrist a few years ago, with his treatment of me and the treatment to animals. I was diagnosed after being admitted at a psychiatrist hospital in 1989/1990 and from there into care at a group home that was run by two alcoholics and I live there for six years constantly depressed. I left there to live by myself with a part time job cleaning and found that very hard to continue with. I moved into Public Housing house and lived there by myself for about six years. I then met my wife there through a friend of mine and moved in with her where she lived. We married in 2006 and have both struggled over the years as she as Bipolar and myself with mainly Chronic Depression wit a few times being Psychotic. She has a degree in psychology and many other qualifications in nursing including psychiatric. She now has Parkinson's Disease and it is getting much harder for her both mentally and physically. So now I am going through a long period of time being depressed, and have a new psychiatrist who has put me on some new medication and at present it not worked. So I suppose it could work soon or not at all, so it very difficult day to day. That is a small part of my life and there are other segments that also was very difficult to withstand. So thanks for replying to my post and hope to hear from you soon.

Kind Regards,
Robert