Story: Liza

The last five years of my service was a hard time for me. After my service injuries deteriorated, my mental health quickly followed.
I had no understanding or support from the ADF who just wanted more and more from me, something I was no longer capable of giving.

I had a full ankle reconstruction, then in 2014 surgery after surgery. In total I had 11 surgical procedures with 10 of them
between Aug 2014 – Jan 2018 from knee reconstruction, ankle again, right arm and shoulder surgeries and procedures to my lower back.

I applied for the ARRTS program simply to get some time away and relief away from my unsupportive unit. The cut off date had passed
so my Unit supported the application stating I would not be accepted due to this reason. I was very fortunate that I was indeed accepted.

The ARRTS program allowed me to speak with some of the other participants who had similar experiences and been treated the same way.
The program, supportive staff and especially the participants helped me with acceptance of my mental health and depression.
For the first time I didn’t feel I was ‘alone’ or this was ‘all in my imagination’ and that I had to just ‘soldier on’
and pretend everything was fine when it wasn’t.

My children came to see the show (end-of-program showcase) and for the first time I believe they finally saw ‘me’ and my struggles, which helped them
to understand some things I had never been able to explain or express in the right way to them before and vastly improved my relationship with them.
A joking comment from them, to lighten the mood and how they were feeling at the end of the show was “Yeah we’re not an arts family mum, we’re a sporting family”.
I laugh at this as I know they understand me better now. This program and the support it provided gave me a great deal of strength
that I needed at the time and I know they saw this as well.It enabled me to make changes in my life and to accept.
The first part of recovery is acceptance there is a problem you need to change and work on.
I cannot express in words the need for this type of program.

I have a copy of the work I did and to date I still have not been able to watch it as it is still distressing for me
and brings up a great deal that I am still coping with. I hope one day I will be in the right place to do so.