Help get this dumpster fire a diagnosis

I'm Sarah Alice, a more often than not mouthy activist and advocate for women's, queer, and trans rights.

I'm raising funds to go towards getting a formal ADHD diagnosis so I can access treatment to better get parts of my life under control that I've been struggling with. The situation around my mental health is about as dire as it gets, as recently I was admitted to hospital because I tried to permanently solve problems with unhelpful solutions.

It was while I was in hospital that the mental health team highlighted that ADHD is a likely diagnosis and causing a lot of problems with being able to regulate and manage emotions in times of crisis. The problem is that it is prohibitively expensive, not covered by medicare, and I'm desperate to get help so I don't end up where I did again.

This is possibly the most real you will have seen me talk about myself because I've always been able to hide my problems behind standing up for others. Now I'm kind of admitting that I need some help... with getting help.... because that's how messed up mental health is in this country.

I'll be talking about the process, what's involved, what happens, and where to go to get help throughout this whole "journey" (God, I've become a fucking cliche) so it's able to help others who might be struggling with the same or similar things.

I'm happy to answer any questions people have about this whole process from start to finish, so you are more than welcome to get in touch via twitter at @hemlockandenvy (formerly @sarah_alice_x).

Anyway, thanks for your time and help.

Sarah Alice

Edit: Target has been updated because as the situation has unfolded, having to navigate the public mental health system has proven to be a nightmare. I've been advised the best way to start getting things sorted as the situation has gotten worse is to try getting access to a private clinic that will be able to teach me skills needed to manage ADHD, cPTST, and MDD. The gap cost for this is $750, on top of taking out gold tier private health cover, otherwise I'm looking at ~$1300 per day.

Any help is greatly appreciated, and I can keep you updated with blogs, artwork, and God help me, I'm contemplating TikTok.

Edit Edit: For transparency's sake, my dad has been listed as the person it gets sent to because I initially didn't have a license to be able to have it put in my name. Now that I do, I should probably get around to fixing that.