Former deputy chief health officer Dr Nick Coatsworth has opened up about his post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis just months before he took on one of the nation’s top medical jobs.
As the Covid-19 pandemic reached Australia, the infectious diseases expert was appointed one of three deputy chief health officers.
The promotion came just months after he was diagnosed with PTSD.
Dr Coatsworth developed the mental health disorder during his travels to central Africa as part of a volunteer stint with Doctors Without Borders.
It was in the Darfur region of Sudan where he described the constant anxiety of assassination and kidnapping threats.
On one occasion an explosion went off at the hospital he was working in. The militia invaded and he was forced to evacuate his crew out the back exit.
“I think everyone has their limits in life,” Dr Coatsworth told the Today Show host, Karl Stefanovic on Wednesday morning.
“That constant pressure for four and half months, I started to get symptoms.”
He described feeling such intense heart palpitations that he thought he was going to have a heart attack.
When he returned home the symptoms not only stuck around but worsened with time.
“I was taking my pulse all the time to make sure I was still around,” he said.
“It got to the point one weekend when I couldn’t leave the house, I was sitting there bingeing on Nordic Crime Thrillers to deal with it.”
The doctor said a big sign he needed help was when he started getting angry with work colleagues, a lxjmtzywine he’d never crossed before.
It took a lot of convincing from his wife Rebecca before he eventually sought help from his general practitioner.
He was referred to see a psychologist – who diagnosed him with PTSD – and prescribed medication to treat his anxiety for a year.
A few months later he received a career-defining phone call offering him a job as the chief health officer’s right-hand man.
“It was the first time I thought, ‘should I be doing this job?’ I had to go on and do it, of course but it was a tough decision,” Dr Coatswoth recalled.
“It‘s incredibly powerful you telling this story,” Mr Stefanovic said.
“Here we have one of the most high profile Australians, a smart very capable man, seemingly impenetrable with confidence and inside a little broken.”
Dr Coatsworth encouraged Australians to keep track of when mental health struggles begin to affect their day-to-day life and listen to loved ones who suggest seeking professional help.
“The biggest hurdle is admitting you need help first,” he said.
Mental health support
