A Darwin couple who lost their daughter to suicide say the health system failed their family, and there isn’t a day they don’t question what more could have been done to save her.

And they’re now preparing to ride 3,000 kilometres across Australia from Adelaide to Darwin to raise awareness of mental health issues, and funds for the Black Dog Institute.

Sabrina Di Lembo died by suicide in August 2017 after suffering from anxiety and depression.

The 19-year-old became anxious over her upcoming university exams, and when she suffered her first panic attack she reached out to her family for help.

“In her perception [it] was a situation of failure because she couldn’t prepare for those exams, she couldn’t remember what she was reading to do the assignment that she had to do,” her mother Lidia Di Lembo said. “It was for her a big deal.”

Sabrina went to a local GP who diagnosed her with anxiety, and she started seeing a psychologist.

But as the weeks went on, her condition deteriorated.

“My daughter hadn’t been sleeping for three days and nor had I,” Ms Di Lembo said.

“I really needed some help to calm her anxiety and to help her sleep and rest.”

‘Conflicting’ advice from medical professionals

The Di Lembos took Sabrina to a different GP who prescribed her the antidepressant Effexor as well as Valium to help her sleep, but soon after she started to have suicidal thoughts.

Ms Di Lembo said she phoned the Northern Territory Mental Health Line for advice and asked for her daughter to be seen by a psychiatrist, but it wasn’t possible.

She said Sabrina’s dose of medication was instead tripled over the phone and the family was told to go back to the GP to get the new script.

“I really desperately wanted [Sabrina] to go in and see somebody face-to-face again,” she said.

When the family took Sabrina back to the GP, they said the local doctor didn’t agree, prescribing her with a double, rather than a triple dosage.

– Eleni Roussos

Read more: Parents of Teenager Who Took Her Life Say ‘Contradictory’ Medical Advice Failed Them

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