WISE Employment - Job Network

Overcoming Mental Illness
anne garton overcame her illness to become a national triathlon champion

One in five Australians will experience a mental health problem in their lifetime.

Anne Garton is one of these Australians.

Anne shared her inspiring story with over 80 employers and job seekers with a disability at the annual WISE Employment Employers’ breakfast in Hobart on Tuesday, 14th November 2006.

Always a high achiever at school, Anne had her whole future ahead of her. When she finished school, she followed her dream to become a police officer. Part way through her training, Anne became inexplicably ill.

Anne was suffering from a severe mental illness that left her fighting for her life. At times she was suicidal, and she was eventually hospitalised. Anne was eventually diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder, a complex bundle of mental illnesses rooted in childhood trauma.

Unable to continue her training, Anne struggled to maintain a lifeline to the rest of the world. At one point during her recovery, she decided to write a list of challenges she would like to achieve before she turned 30. At the top of her list she wrote, ‘compete in a triathlon’.

At first her own doctors thought she may be too unwell to train. Anne, with the support of her family, persisted and has gone on to have victories at a state and national level. Last year Anne was chosen to represent Australia at a major event in Hawaii.

WISE Employment’s Regional Manager for Southern Tasmania, Colleen Hooper, believes Anne’s story is great example of how an illness can affect someone’s ability to maintain their place in the community.

“Often the first thing to be affected by the person’s illness is their ability to go to work,” she said.

“We all might complain about work from time to time, but work does more than provide us with financial rewards – it always provides us with social contact with our colleagues and the broader community.”

Colleen believes the Employers’ breakfast is a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge the many Hobart employers who support WISE Employment’s service and their job seekers.

“We work to find lasting employment for job seekers with a disability or other significant barriers to employment,” she said.

“The Hobart community is so supportive and our employers are really willing to give someone a chance.”