ADDRESSING MENTAL HEALTH WITH POSITIVITY

My name is William Yeates and I was born in 1959. My wife, Nicole and I have three children, Liam, Samantha and Caitlin, and two grandchildren, Alaska and Haven. I have an identical twin brother, Peter, who is also married and has two children. Although, I have two elder sisters and a younger brother, it appears that the decision by Peter and myself to take on the role as primary carer for our father (who had dementia at the time) and act as his advocate, supporting his rights during a bitter separation battle, resulted in our exclusion from all family gatherings and celebrations. This is one of the reasons I am passionate about advocating for the rights of those who have been diagnosed with Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease.

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After graduating with a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree from The University of Sydney in 1980, I decided to enter the field of education and became a senior teacher of chemistry, physics and mathematics. Over the next 35 years, I gained experience in 7 different Catholic private and systemic schools in the Sydney metropolitan region. During this time, besides completing two Master’s degrees, I have held the following leadership positions – Year Co-ordinator, Science Co-ordinator, Curriculum Co-ordinator, Deputy/Assistant Principal and Acting Principal.

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In April 2014, I suffered a ‘depressive episode’ that resulted in a diagnosis of non-melancholic Major Depression. In the years that followed, I initiated a claim for Workers Compensation and legal action in the Federal Court of Australia, for alleged ‘bullying and harassment’ that were both eventually settled out of court. Unfortunately for me, the memory, thinking and reasoning issues that I had suffered as a result of my depressive episode, appears to have been the trigger for the diagnosis of Younger Onset Alzheimer’s Disease that I received in July 2019, at the age of 59.