Warning: This post features thoughts of suicide and details drug use.
At the peak of her addiction to ice, ex-model and former professional race car driver Kate Amoroso was suicidal and spending $2000 on drugs a week.
In a feature story on news.com.au this weekend, the 44-year-old, who aspires to run for South Australia’s state parliament under independent Nick Xenophon’s SA Best party, said being detained by police and promptly admitted to a psychiatric facility in Mount Gambier three years ago ultimately saved her life.
“At one point I got knives from the kitchen and tried to put them through my back because I couldn’t see any way out and wanted it to end it all,” Amoroso, who suffered drug dependency as a result of childhood trauma, said of the eight-day bender that culminated in a police siege.
“When the police finally convinced me to open the door and put my hands behind my back, I handed them a small square battery and told them to destroy it because it was a bug… I thought my house had been tapped.”
While she’s now clean, the mum-of-three said there’s a lot more Australia can do to help those addicted to narcotics make a full recovery – particularly those who are suicidal.
“… We need more rehabilitation centres, and mandatory rehab and detainment under the Mental Health Act,” Amoroso told journalist Candace Sutton.
“There’s only a small window when an ice addict will want help and if they didn’t get it because there’s no rehab centres that window closes.