This is an ABC podcast.

When Rachel Green was just 12, she was diagnosed with PTSD.

Then, clinical depression and anxiety not long after.

You know, I experienced some quite long periods of suicidality.

Then at 18, she was diagnosed with ADHD.

And they basically said to my mum,

you need to just manage your expectations here.

She's never going to have a job.

She's unlikely to get married and grow up and have kids.

Today, Rachel is 41, and she still lives with ADHD,

as well as generalized anxiety disorder.

But thankfully, her doctor's worries never came to

fruition. She's both married and gamefully employed. My name's Rachel Green. I'm the CEO of

SANE Australia and we provide community and support for people and families with complex mental

health issues. But the way her diagnoses unspooled over a period of time isn't unique to her.

In fact, research conducted in just the last few years has confirmed that having any one mental

illness puts you at much greater risk of developing subsequent illness.

So regardless of what type of disorder you get first, whether it be substance use or depression

or anxiety or schizophrenia or personality disorder, you have an increased risk of going on to develop

other disorders.

And that's a problem for a whole bunch of reasons, but especially because it makes treatment

more complex and it can impact a person's overall health.

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