"Long wait for a diagnosis for ADHD only for it to be rejected"

So a while ago I was speaking to a councillor who highlighted to me I could be showing symptoms of ADHD. They passed that onto my doctor who then asked me to fill out a self referral form and add any extra information. He then sent off for a referral and I've been waiting over a year for this referral to come to anything, only to be told after asking for evidence for my uni course, that the referral had been rejected. 

I got sent this via text message, so not really any way for me to discuss this with the doctor or what steps to take next. They've asked me to fill out another questionnaire so they can re-do the referral which is my one positive from this. 

I'm so angry and upset though.  I sat and cried for so long and felt so hopeless. I've been waiting such a long time for this and it was rejected because they said symptoms must have been present since before the age of 12 and the doctor didn't reference this in the initial referral. I was never asked about when the symptoms began so I don't understand why this was the reason it was rejected.   It's like they didn't even look at any of the symptoms I had written and hadn't even considered asking the doctor for clarification.

The most frustrating thing is they have had this rejection letter since June and never told me about it and the only reason I got anywhere with it is because I asked about it. I could have sorted another referral in those two months and now I'm starting uni and can't give them evidence of a referral so that I can get a learner support plan. 

I'm feeling so frustrated and like I'm hitting my head against a brick wall, I can't afford to go private and I feel like I'm just at the mercy of the NHS.