Misdiagnosed and Strugglingggg: Ariana's Story

Ariana Evans is organizing this fundraiser.

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Hi y’all, it’s Ariana

If you know me, you will know it took a lot for me to make this campaign because I pride myself on being independent and being able to “make things happen” by myself. Unfortunately, I’ve found myself in a situation that I can’t use my strategic skills or charisma to get out of haha. I know everybody is struggling in some way or another, so I appreciate anything that anyone can spare big or small.

TLDR; misdiagnosed mental health issues, inter alia, started an avalanche of challenges that have been persisting, most severely, since February 2024. There have been so many times I feel like things are working out just to be held back by financial issues. I am currently facing eviction (court date in February) and I just want to be able to focus on finishing my MBA without having to fight for basic needs.

Situation Overview

In November of 2021, I started therapy and was prescribed an antidepressant by my Primary Care Physician for what I thought was anxiety. My initiative for seeking out therapy was brought on after a particularly traumatic car accident and a period that I was having at least one panic attack per day for two weeks straight. However, due to the stigma of mental health in the Black community in addition to the complexities of navigating the healthcare, I did not realize what I needed was actually a psychiatrist.

If I had a psychiatrist or other qualified mental health professional, I would have noticed much earlier that a lot of my symptoms aligned with Bipolar I Disorder. I have been correctly diagnosed and receiving adequate medication now, but this misdiagnosis led to the persistence of many undesirable characteristics that changed me from a high-achieving student dual-degree student in undergrad, a young homeowner at age 22, an accomplished (but unfulfilled) employee making almost $100K by age 24 to someone at 26 that fighting to overcome a year-long free fall that has led to struggling in school while struggling to survive. (In an effort to keep this short, I’ll leave a more detailed timeline for a later time)

What I’ve already done

Attempted to rent out my house. However, after struggling to find a qualified tenant, I arrived at an agreement with a family member to rent out my house. This situation left me more financially strained and strained family relationships
Attempting to sell my house. After the family situation happened, I immediately shifted my focus to selling my only investment to get out of financial turmoil. However, it is wintertime and market demand is slower than at other times of year. I acknowledge that disclosing my financial challenges has the potential to negatively impact the sale as capitalistic systems will look to exploit my situation and undervalue a great home, but I literally have no other options.
Emptied my 401(k) to keep up with the costs of maintaining two homes.
Sold belongings
Explored Rent Assistance. However, I either “did not qualify” or was never able to speak to anyone when calling contact information provided online.
Leaned on family and friends for money here and there, but I know everyone has their own struggles and it is becoming increasingly hard to pay everyone back (even though I have thus far, it does limit the amount of money I can use to get ahead).
Worked!! I’ve had two different jobs since becoming a student at UNC. However, being a full time MBA student limits the number of hours you can work. Pay is also low and no matter how many hours I worked there was no way for me to pay for two homes, pay for food, and other necessities.

What I’ve learned

Short Term Disability Programs, as they currently run in many companies, depend on extensive, sometimes unclear documentation of your mental disorder. As someone who started their journey of self-discovery on my own later in life, it was very hard for me to provide the documentation necessary to attain the short-term disability leave/pay that I desperately needed (even though people who worked with noticed and acknowledged a profound change in my work product and personality and recommended I took STD.. I had documentation, but never could get a straight answer to what was needed to be provided to get the help I needed)
How debilitating a mental disorder can be on all facets of life and the importance of a healthcare system that focuses on the well-being of its patients (s/o to the UNC healthcare system, especially the Counseling and Psychological Services department!!)
Anti-depressants do NOT help mood disorders lol at least in my experience.
The importance of an emergency fund, budget, etc. I mean I knew the importance, but as a young single individual with no dependents I thought I always had time to worry about those things. You never know when health problems will hit. Young people.. the time is definitely now.
Bipolar disorder is the sixth leading cause of disability in the world. (World Health Organization)
Bipolar disorder results in 9.2 years reduction in expected life span, and as many as one in five patients with bipolar disorder completes suicide. (National Institute of Mental Health)
People with bipolar disorder face up to ten years of coping with symptoms before getting an accurate diagnosis, with only one in four receiving an accurate diagnosis in less than three years. (DBSA, 2000)
A gender bias exists in the diagnosis of bipolar disorder: women are far more likely to be misdiagnosed with depression and men are far more likely to be misdiagnosed with schizophrenia. (DBSA, 2000)
The importance of advocating for yourself and asking for help!

Call to Action

If I get evicted from my apartment, I will not have anywhere to stay as I have moved away from my family to pursue my MBA and try to better my quality of life. I will more than likely have to withdraw from my program (while still owing the student loans *eye twitch*) and move back to Indiana with the hopes of possibly resuming under “better” conditions.... But we know how complicated life can be and how hard it can be to go back to school once having to step back. Not impossible, but very difficult. I really want to finish and am asking for help to at least stop the eviction.

Thank you again for any help! <3