This is an ABC podcast.

Just a quick note, this episode touches on the topic of suicide.

Take care while listening.

Growing up, not in her wildest dreams, did Alex Wollard think she'd one day be Dr. Alex Wollard, a PhD.

I grew up quite poor, and when I say poor, I mean very poor, so we were living in

Housing Commission and, you know, we had handouts from the Salvation Army.

And my mum, single mum, worked a lot to provide for four children.

And to make things a little more complex, my two brothers are autistic and my sister has some pretty complex medical needs as well.

So things were pretty tough growing up, and no one in her family had ever been to university.

It wasn't on my radar, I guess.

To top it all off, her teenage years would bring the biggest challenge, a traumatic event

that would turn her family's life upside down and send her mental health spiraling.

Yeah, it was a really...

I'm trying to think of the word, but, you know, it was devastating.

It was distressing.

My life changed.

If I had continued the way that I was going, I don't think I would be alive today.

You're listening to All In The Mind.

I'm Sana Khadar.

Alex says what she experienced as a teenager could be classified as a medical

trauma or vicarious trauma. And now as an adult, she researches various forms of childhood trauma

as part of her work. I'm Dr. Alex Wollard. I am a research fellow at the Telephone Kids Institute

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