As Aimee’s husband was battling post traumatic stress and a conversion disorder, Aimee realised she also needed to talk to someone about how she was feeling.
While living in regional Victoria presented challenges, Aimee was referred to a counsellor who helped her process the experience of supporting a family member with mental illness.
She now encourages others who are struggling to not be afraid to ask for help.
If you or someone you know needs support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyondblue on 1300 224 636. In an emergency, call 000.
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If you or someone you know needs support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyondblue on 1300 224 636. In an emergency, call 000.
In all honesty it’s probably pretty much back to the way it was beforehand. If not a bit better. You know kids at school, family holidays, little day trips. Yeah all those things that we hadn’t been able to do for the last nearly four years. So yeah, I suppose it’s starting to go down the whole ‘normal’ path once again which is awesome.
Tessa would have been three and a half, roughly, when Pete actually broke down.
Tessa was born in 2012 and there was just little things I noticed after we had her, just little behavioural differences and I suppose as the years went on, being overly busy with CFA, always being away, doing courses, not being at home, you sort of start to think that somethings not right, somethings wrong, you start to questions yourself.
But then he got sick few times and took longer to get better, when doctors were saying that things should be improving, so I questioned him and I said you know do you think you’ve possibly got PTSD and he was like “no no I’m fine I’m fine”.
If he hadn’t broken down the way he did, then yeah, things would be very different as well. I think we were just lucky that it came out in such a physical form for him to realise that there was something quite drastically wrong.
For those of us living in rural towns, it can be very hard to access the services we need – very very hard. Some people have had to go to other towns and travel you know an hour, an hour and a half, two hours away. Whether it can just be a counsellor more so than a psychologist or a psychiatrist.
I’d heard of PTSD. I sort of knew a bit about it. But just to learn that because he had broken down so dramatically with the conversation disorder part of it too, I had no idea. No idea what was happening.
I spoke to the GP that Pete was seeing and just said I need someone to talk to. He recommended a lady here in town and she was fantastic.
She had a lot of experience with PTSD and trauma and all those sorts of things. She actually had worked at the Austin where Pete had had treatment. So for her to sort of understand what he was going through with treatment. So for her to understand what he was going through with treatment could help me to understand it. And she could give me ways to help myself and to help him as well.
Just someone to talk to about what I was going through, what I was experiencing, other than friends and family. Some who it didn’t affect personally I suppose. Just to go and just go ‘bleugh’, get it all off my chest.
If you think you need help and you need to see someone, don’t be afraid to make the appointment with your GP or even talk to a close friend or family member and say “Hey, I don’t feel right, something’s not right. Can you help me? What do you think I should do? Can you come to the doctor with me? Just, you know, be someone there to support me while I try and work it out.”