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Season 2, episode 26

This episode is special. Melissa had the amazing opportunity be have a chat with Narelle Fraser who is a former Victorian Police officer. She started her own podcast NFI, Narelle Fraser Interviews after her own diagnosis of PSTI.

We share Melissa Smith’s raw path from an 18-year policing career to being medically retired at 37 after PTSI hit hard and fast, revealing years of suppressed trauma. We talk through what helped her rebuild, from inpatient care and TMS to honest conversations at home and using her podcast to stay real about the good days and the brutal ones.
• reframing PTSD as PTSI and why “injury” reduces stigma
• starting as a teenage cop and learning fast at a sink-or-swim station
• everyday challenges of policing including the justice system loop
• a proud moment using iDAT to support a homeless man into rehab
• the fatal crash task that triggered a collapse and brought old memories back
• asking EAP for urgent help and waiting far too long
• masking symptoms and using extreme exercise to run from pain
• what a specialised psych hospital ward is actually like
• medication struggles plus the decision between ECT and TMS
• how family and friends respond and what they need to understand
• managing PTSI long term with tools, talk and self-honesty
• building Mad Mel’s Mic and what her kids learned from her recovery
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More information about Narelle can be found here:
https://narellefraser.com/