article: Former paramedic Crsity Collins had admitted that she used ice while driving and treating patients in an effort to raise awareness about the damaging drug . A former ice addict, who worked as a paramedic while high on the drug, has made her story public in an attempt to raise awareness of the illegal substance and the lack of support available for its victims. Crsity Collins was using crystal meth every day and spending up to $500 a week to keep up her drug habit. The 30-year-old, who took herself to the emergency room six times while suffering drug induced psychosis, has slammed health services for failing to offer her support despite claiming on numerous occasions that bugs were eating her eyes. 'Because I was awake all the time I had a staph infection, but I actually believed I might have bugs in my eyes and when I went to hospital, I was having drug-induced psychosis, I would say I had mites in my eyes or fleas or bugs, ' Ms Collins told Daily Mail Australia. 'Not once was I ever asked "are you on meth or taking drugs or are you having a drug induced psychosis" or "should we get a social worker or a psych assessment". 'I don't know if they were trying to protect me because I was in the ambulance service, but either way they shouldn't have been protecting me because firstly, I was dealing with people and patients and secondly, like anyone else I deserve the best treatment and care. 'I should have never been allowed to be released so many times without a psych consultation or councillor.' The 30-year-old said she was never offered support despite checking herself into the emergency room on six occasions (right) while claiming that she had bugs in her eyes (left) 'I should have never been allowed to be released so many times without a psych consultation or councillor,' she said . Ms Collins, whose addiction was fuelled by her post traumatic stress disorder and a borderline personality disorder, first began using illegal drugs recreationally, and first tried meth, while living in Darwin. However her habit ironically escalated when she attempted to escape the city an its 'party scene' by moving back to Launceston in Tasmania, where she rekindled a relationship with an ex-boyfriend who was part of 'the same sort of scene'. 'I didn't have any friends that weren't using drugs. Everyone had it around. Pills weren't easy to come across in Launceston, it was always speed and then ice took over,' Ms Collins said. 'It made me feel like superwoman - I could do anything and run on barely any sleep, so it became something I was using on a very frequent basis. 'You could be on top of everything even while lacking sleep - long night shifts, day shifts, I could study for hours when I came home, dinner would be done, the house would be clean - and it became a way to cope with these mental illnesses that I didn't know I had.' Ms Collins has now been clean for nine months after seeking help from the Department of Veterans Affairs . She said that it was when she and her now ex-boyfriend broke up that she became a daily user of the drug, even when driving and treating patients as an ambulance worker, but that none of her colleagues appeared to notice. 'I never felt affected. I never had any close calls where I could have put someone in danger. I was always very good at my job, very on the ball with patient care, and that why I was never suspected,' Ms Collins said. 'When I look back, I find it absolutely disgraceful. I could have had psychosis at any stage or changed my awareness or sense of judgement - it's such an unpredictable drug. 'I'd hate to know that anyone I know was being taken care of by someone that is hungover or on any form of drug that would alter their sense of awareness, let alone ice. 'But it wasn't until I started taking lots of sick days because my eyes were flaring-up form being awake all the time that anyone noticed something was wrong, and even then it was like they were more worried that I wouldn't have any leave left rather than that my health was deteriorating.' Sores from obsessive picking: She said that traking the drug used to make her feel 'like superwoman' Ms Collins has now been clean for more than nine months after finding free help with the Department of Veterans Affairs, which she was directed to by pure chance after being arrested. 'I was on my way to a dealer's house and got pulled over. My car was raided and they found drugs and when then let me out on bail to appear at court, a police officer who was a reservist said "you need to get yourself together" and told me to see Veterans Affairs,' she said. Unlike at the single out-patient facility in Launceston, which was run by nurses and social workers but had no councillors, Ms Collins found intensive help that assessed the root of her drug addiction and uncovered her mental health problems. She now has effective strategies in place with her councillor to deal with her borderline personality disorder and anxiety, which used to lead her to take drugs as a coping mechanism, as well as the post-traumatic stress disorder she acquired while working in Iraq as a medic for six months. 'You could be on top of everything even while lacking sleep - long night shifts, day shifts, I could study for hours when I came home, dinner would be done, the house would be clean - and it became a way to cope with these mental illnesses that I didn't know I had,' Ms Collins said . 'I was partially stressed [while in Iraq] because I was the only female in that group, so I didn't want to make mistakes and I wanted to fit in with the men,' she said. 'Then there was the constant artillery and bombings we'd get in the compound… it didn't feel like it affected me there, but when I came back I would hear loud bands and instantly hide or duck for cover. I'd be constantly looking for bombs on the side of the roads, it was a habit there and when I got home I couldn't get out of it.' She is not living with her family who provide her with emotional and finical support after she left her job and isolated herself from damaging social groups, and is actively looking for her next line of work. Ms Collins wants to use her story to raise awareness about the 'epidemic of ice users' in Tasmania, where she said middle and higher class users were very common . 'In Tasmania there is becoming an epidemic of ice users and ice related crime, so if it can help even just a few people, then I'm more than happy to share my story,' she said. 'It's not just the lower socio-economic groups in society that we should concentrate on, it's happening everywhere - the drug doesn't discriminate and it's happening in the higher class and the middle classes. You need to have money to use it. 'There's no drug testing in people that we hold in high regards, like paramedics, police and firies - pilots have to have drug tests and paramedics should be made to have these tests too.'
highlights: Cristy Collins worked for the Tasmanian Ambulance Service in Launceston .
  She used to drive the ambulance and treat patients while high on  ice .
  30-year-old, who is now clean, was never offered support by hospital staff .
  Post traumatic stress disorder from her service in Iraq and borderline personality disorder both fuelled her drug addiction .
  Ms Collins has shared her story in an effort to raise awareness of the damaging drug and the lack of support available for addicts seeking help .
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