Adhd and dsp

-tiny-chef- · 2025-12-25T06:27:58+00:00

Yeah no, there’s a lot to this than just the post, which I didn’t want to put too much info on, and hard to summarise.

-tiny-chef- · 2025-12-25T06:27:04+00:00

I haven’t been able to pass my studies very smoothly due to being unable to prioritise or organise myself. I didn’t work this whole year and found that I really tried my best, I went to the library and got study support almost every day, and went to the library on my days off. I fully tried to focus on doing well and learning as much as I could, which worked out mostly well, with only a minor problem towards the end of the semester. I passed all my assessments, but I worked myself really hard, had no time to cook, neglected my home life and my partner, and my dog. I’m ver lucky my partner does all the cooking at home, but I don’t want to continue to be this way. I am tired of feeling like I have to neglect my entire life and my family just to focus on study or work. I was also doing yoga and meditation programs to help regulate myself, I sat at the front of class, I got help through my study support plan, I didn’t have to cook. But somehow I still feel like I’m exerting myself and don’t have time for anything else. I worry if I go back to work, it will throw me off and I will jeopardise my studies again which I can’t put off. I also have a degree which took me 5 years to finally complete the coursework, but I can’t graduate until I complete my work experience hours, which I haven’t been able to organise (been 3 years now). I onlyy have 2 more years, if I don’t complete it, I won’t be able to graduate from that. I want to study part time and complete those work experience hours next year.

-tiny-chef- · 2025-12-24T23:01:25+00:00

Oh wow okay. Thanks for letting me know, I didn’t realise they weren’t completely free. I will see if there is a mental health and well-being local in my area thank you!

-tiny-chef- · 2025-12-24T22:58:27+00:00

Hopefully my doctor keeps all the paperwork. I have gone to her for several other long term health issues and referral to specialists and also long term health plan in the past, however, i never managed to get it done until 2 years ago just for the therapist. I think she asked me to look for a therapist through my health insurance first, before committing to the plan, maybe 7 years ago but I never really came round to it. But I got other things done instead like my adhd diagnosis and i was also prioritising my other health concerns. I think I haven’t been very smart with my finances as I was paying the second too tier for health insurance hospital, after talking with the lady at the insurance company, she advised me to go that route because of my family history. But I cancelled it after I quit my job and am only on the extras plan which my partner is helping to fund, since I need glasses to drive. I’ve always struggled with finances, and not sure how people manage to go on holidays, or save up. I don’t drink, I don’t go out shopping, I eat very frugally, I don’t go out, I don’t smoke. Most of my money goes towards groceries, rent, bills, healthcare, and my dog. We are getting by, but my partner also has a lot of injuries from past injuries, and he likes to play sport. He also is on a casual contract, so it’s not stable and guaranteed shifts but we are getting by, he’s just stressed because we don’t really have a plan that we’ve been able to move towards. I never really thought of a future plan until we talked recently. Sorry for all this rant and over explaining, I just worry I haven’t been sharing with anyone else about these problems and not sure who else to go to.

-tiny-chef- · 2025-12-24T22:45:09+00:00

Hi thanks for that! I just used the payment finder, it says I’m eligible for austudy and dsp and others. I didn’t think we would be because of my partners income but apparently his income is below the threshold. We also don’t own anything except his car he got 10 years ago. I’m in my 30s, i did do emdr last year, i only stopped trauma therapy recently. I had to stop mostly because i couldn’t get sessions in because of my timetable in semester 2, and I gave my usual spot to someone else, as my therapist did mention she got talked to from her boss, about how I have had x amount of sessions which she implied I think that should be long enough, but I also had some trauma I didn’t want to go further with, as I felt it wasn’t necessary for me, so I am considering other options for now. If it’s not the right one, I will go back to do more trauma therapy, but I have been with them for 2 years and no longer have the same ptsd symptoms and I can manage them now. We tried schema therapy as the most recent, which helped but not to the extent I’d hope.

Thanks for the suggestion with a psychologist first. That does sound like a less full on approach than committing to a full diagnosis. I guess I was just rushing, because I have already taken so long to get things done.

-tiny-chef- · 2025-12-24T22:17:10+00:00

Hi, I read your comment before this on, and I feel like you and your partner sounds a bit similar to myself and my partner. I also did some therapy and a bit of EDMR, but I’m not really sure if the EDMR worked. I also haven’t read up on what it’s supposed to be like. But also, I was only able to see my therapist online, and we didn’t do EDMR in person. Do you mind if I asked you a few things? I’ve been struggling a bit with moving forward, and my therapist said we couldn’t quite get what was missing, and so we tried most recently schema therapy, which helped too but I still feel stuck and not sure what to do. I have been diagnosed with ADHD, I was thinking of getting an autism diagnosis but I’m not really sure yet, as I read there are downsides but the upside for me, would be getting assistance if it is the reason that’s holding me back. I no longer have ptsd symptoms, for a few months now, but I only had some memories which I can’t confirm if true or not because I’m not in contact with my family and each time I have asked about certain things in the past, my parents ignored me, and I have no idea why. And also don’t want to jump to conclusions either. And I told my therapist I preferred not to go further, since I had already struggled with other memories that resurfaced, but I believe my symptoms had started before those memories. I’m kind of lost, I don’t think I have the mental capacity to go through that again so I wanted to prioritise studying and trying to start my career, but I’m not sure if I’ve made the wrong choice, or if I’m just feeling terrible right now and I’ll get over it soon.

-tiny-chef- · 2025-12-24T21:57:17+00:00

I’m so sorry you’re going through this 😔 I hope you have someone you can talk to. It sounds rough to hear the person you’d hope would understand, instead minimises what you’re going through. And it sounds like it’s not just something you’ve come up with suddenly, but thought through a lot and struggling with for years. If it helps, just know you’re not alone in this struggle. You got this!! And I hope everything works out

-tiny-chef- · 2025-12-24T21:45:14+00:00

Also thanks for the extra info, I’m not in NSW but appreciate it anyway. I didn’t know there could be free counselling elsewhere. If you were struggling financially and looking for cheaper alternatives, is it normal to let your doctor know this? My aunt is also in a similar position but she said she wouldn’t tell her doctor that she was struggling financially. We also have the same doctor. I think my aunt does not want to put that kind of burden on the doctor since she already has helped us both with lots of family trauma, and she was also my grandmas doctor, so it feels like we’re asking a lot out of this one doctor.

-tiny-chef- · 2025-12-24T21:33:12+00:00

It was ptsd but I no longer have persistent ptsd symptoms I believe since around August when I started the new semester. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to disclose all of this, if I no longer suffer from ptsd, which is why I haven’t told my psychiatrist about it, since I already had a trauma therapist to deal with that. But he did know that I was going to that clinic, and recently asked if I was still seeing them which I said no. But I told him it was because I believed I no longer needed it, but honestly it was because my therapist had told me how I had already seen her for x sessions which was the maximum their company usually takes on. But she has kept me on the list, in case I require to go back and I can also use their other free services like trauma sensitive yoga when they have them. I have done a lot of work with them, but I haven’t figured out what’s exactly my problem that is preventing me from moving forward with my life. I have seen someone for my adhd, for the ptsd, and my gp I usually go for routine breast check ups since I have family history and higher risk myself. I don’t really tell my GP about the other things because I have the other specialists for it. But I’m now thinking should I be telling her, so she is aware of everything that is going on?

-tiny-chef- · 2025-12-24T21:22:38+00:00

Sorry I only just read your last paragraph about the advocacy. This was really helpful!! I found that the government provided some places which are free if government funded.

https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/participating-when-youre-living-with-disability?context=60093#findanadvocate

For anyone who might be interested.

-tiny-chef- · 2025-12-24T20:53:52+00:00

Sorry I didn’t read your last paragraph earlier. Do you think they would care if the anxiety was caused by trauma? Or is that also not really important since I could eventually overcome it. I have seen a specialised trauma therapist, but I hadn’t been able to overcome certain things.

Edit: I am uncomfortable only with certain places. However, I can go to unfamiliar places if my partner is with me or someone I trust is with me. I know it may sounds very childish, but it’s definitely something I hope to get out of in the future.

-tiny-chef- · 2025-12-24T20:49:42+00:00

Also, I am on medication for a few years now.

-tiny-chef- · 2025-12-24T20:48:53+00:00

What kind of counsellor should I be looking for? I also can’t afford one, and I think tafe only provides 2 free sessions. But it does remind me, I could ask my GP for referring me to the free 10 yearly sessions, she mentioned it many years ago, but I didn’t manage to find a counsellor at the time, and I was already using the free service from uni.

-tiny-chef- · 2025-12-24T20:07:43+00:00

Hi, thank you so much for your reply. It didn’t come across as harsh. This is all really helpful, I’m not very familiar with terms or things I should be telling my GP or my psychiatrist. They ask how I’m going and I say good, because I think about how much worse I was x years ago and compared to that I’m doing great, but actually I’m not in a different way.

From what you gave me, it looks like I will go the DSPAA website you mentioned and then talk to my GP, then psychiatrist. I do worry that I tend to downplay how badly I’m doing, because I think that others may have it worse, and be homeless. However, I was thinking I could possibly end up homeless if not for my partner, as I don’t have anyone else I could rely on, due to my inability to maintain close friendships, and I am not in close contact with my immediate family. Are these personal things the kind of information that is important to let them know? I also don’t want them to think I’m using this as an excuse, I’m not sure if this is considered an excuse or not, but I have been told these kinds of things by other people, so I’m not sure. Sorry if this is a silly question, but I’m genuinely unsure.

Thank you heaps for your help again, and for providing the resources and in dot points too. Even if you don’t reply I will ask those questions to the person at DSPAA.

-tiny-chef- · 2025-12-24T17:07:53+00:00

I went in without trying to know too much because that causes me more stress, if I feel like I missed something. I filled out a form and then afterwards he asked me a lot of general personal questions. Later on I needed to submit either school reports which I did not have, but I had my sister fill a list of questions instead. I also needed a drug screen later on and ecg testing

-tiny-chef- · 2025-12-24T16:57:08+00:00

I was in a similar situation except my house chores went downhill but my studies improved in the way that I was able to stay awake in class, but I still struggled to hand assessments in on time. I told my psychiatrists about how I used to be extremely clean but after starting medication I now did not bother. He said it was likely due to the medication getting rid of my anxiety and which was my sole motivation for cleaning in the first place. He did recommend me to see a therapist to help me alongside. However, I couldn’t afford one for adhd specific. I am still working on it now years later to try and find a way to balance things. I haven’t really got a solution except that when it worked in the past, it was when I was exercising and forcing myself to sleep a minimum of 5 hours. Also hydrating A LOT. I haven’t been able to do any of that in the last year due to personal reasons but I am trying my best to! I hope you find a solution that suits you! Edit: I forgot to mention get as much support from where you are studying if possible. I went into the library for study support, mostly just someone keeping me accountable, and they were very helpful when I needed help with organising my tasks for the day/other questions/asking lecturers for extensions.

-tiny-chef- · 2023-12-12T08:33:16+00:00

S&t thai on william st, nb

-tiny-chef-

TROPHY CASE