To complain about how I was treated

I think most people have no idea how sone job centre staff speak to people. I have never been unemployed but my dad had to go for appointments when he lost his job aged 60 plus. He told me they were very rude and treated him like scum basically. They know that the people they are often dealing with have no money and no power. It is hardly surprising that a single parent facing eviction has mental health issues.

I've been to Restart to the scum agency called business to business, these vermin manipulating exploiting predators took the piss out of me on the phone, I was close to going to their rats den (office) with a hammer in my hand.

I am not saying you aren't genuine OP but the people who deal with this hear every excuse in the book and must get fed up with it.
However, she should not have been rude to you. I do wonder whether your anxiety makes you extra sensitive though, my DD has Anxiety and when its affecting her everything anyone says is "having a go" and a mild request is "shouting at her"

A chap phoned me from Restart he had a girl with him and they both took the piss out of me on the phone I asked name they ended the call I was close to picking up a hammer and going up their office, recently one of my daughters was up there office and her coach took my daughters phone off her and looked through her emails, My daughter had to stop me from travelling there I would have killed one of these vermin predator bullies.

I see! Sorry I don't understand how it all works and can't offer any advice other than to report the person who made those remarks, but it seems ridiculous that with a sick note you're still required to attend these meetings and places which sound like unpleasant environments. It can't be helpful for your mental health.

Maybe it’s just me, but I do not think that this is a reasonable question to be asking somebody who is unemployed.

Yes, there are lots of things that OP can do around sleep, diet and exercise but let us not pretend that the most successful interventions do not often require money or employment benefits. The NHS often does not manage to support people with diagnosed serious mental health problems and some GPs can be resistant to prescribe.

A fit note is the same as a sick note? If that's the case why are you doing face to face meetings or required to look for work while you're sick? I'm not sure I understand.

Of course she could.

There is a very unhealthy culture on here of kicking people when they are down. Looking for work is a hill to climb for sure especially when your confidence is low.

Keep at it, I'm sure you'll get your opening.

Well said. Some of the replies on this thread, re. mental health, have been disgusting.

OP what did you mean about it being voluntary?
I would complain, yes. I’d also second the advice of a pp and go back to the GP for a sick note and help to access further support. Are you taking any medication?

sorrry if you’ve already answered that somewhere

OP, it may be worth seeing if your local Council has employment support workers. At a Council I know of, they are friendly and helpful, can help with training, job opportunities, applications, interviews etc and can also help with overcoming barriers to work. They will also have knowledge ofc and links to,other services within the Council that may be helpful.

Obviously you’d still need to jump through DWP hoops, but some proper support might make a big difference to you and it will demonstrate extra clearly to the DWP that you are trying your best.

This suggestion might not be what you need right now, but I thought I’d throw it out there just in case.

Well you’ve just heard that straight from the horse’s mouth.

OP I have worked for DWP and re-start and other programmes get a lot of complaints. Please contact the jobcentre via your UC journal telling them you want to put in an official complaint about how you were treated. Give all of the info you have given here. I would also advise you go to your GP and get a sick note, this will then stop you having to attend the face to face restart appointments whilst you focus on your health.
I hope you can get some support in feeling better.

@SisterSabotage

*I don't think that's the problem. The problem is that some staff are unprofessional.

And please don't make sweeping statements like "too many people play the mental health card". You might think that but you don't and cannot know the legitimacy of a claimant's health issues.*

Yes, some staff are unprofessional.
But I stand by what I said, there are thousands of people who genuinely cannot work due to crippling MH issues, & there are thousands that can but are too lazy. Yes those people do exist. The latter are the ones who ruin it for the former, they know they don't have to go back to work if they claim to have MH problems. So everyone gets tarnished with the same brush, resulting in a situation such as the OP's.

I do however disagree with the amount of pressure that is put on single parents to get back into work before the child is of school age, I had a friend who had this issue and it triggered her MH. She kept having to hand in sick notes to the job centre to the point they started asking questions. It's a vicious circle.

Jesus, some of the replies on this thread are breathtakingly cruel. It has actually made me really sad.

OP hasn’t said she doesn’t want to work, although tbh I don’t blame her if the prospect of finding and keeping a job seems pretty overwhelming right now. The back to work programme is supposed to help her overcome these barriers. And yes, it’s true that work can be hugely beneficial to mental health, and hopefully that will be the case for OP. But people like OP need proper support to get back into work. What they don’t need is to be kicked while they are down.

For what it’s worth I think OP is doing pretty well under the circumstances. She’s applying for jobs and getting interviews, so she clearly isn’t skiving. Have some compassion, for god’s sake.

If she can’t do her job without being utterly unpleasant and exacerbating others mental health she should probably consider getting signed off herself or find a new job. And tbh even if she is say feeling under stress the likelihood is she always harboured ill-feeling against people like OP and her stress has just brought it out to the surface. This won’t have came from nowhere.

Either way that’s for her workplace to make those accommodations eg. Take her off customer facing work for a while or whatever.

It’s not for OP to assume, or manage - all she needs to do is report it and the work coach can discuss whatever is going on in her life/mental health etc with her employers and what they can do to make sure she’s not bullying vulnerable service users.

Exactly, but sensible posts like that usually bring in the oxymoron argument of 'but she's at her work!! She shouldn't be letting her personal issues get in the way of her working! She needs to forget her own issues and accept that op can't work because her issues would affect her'🤔

The needs of the person supposedly being supported trump those of the person who is being paid to “support” them. Every time.

please try and complain if this happens again. Apart from being spiteful it’s a complete lack of professionalism

Maybe she is suffering from MH problems herself and you were the last straw? Complaining might push her over the edge. Like you, she might not be coping well with life. Maybe you should give her a break and not put in a complaint. When accommodating needs, whose needs trump whose?

It sounds like things are difficult right now. Try keep in mind that it will pass (sometimes like a kidney stone) but how you feel right now won't last forever.

With kindness, from your post and use of the word 'basically' my take is that was how you felt, not that her intention was for you to feel that way. You felt dismissed and your struggles were being discounted which is an awful experience. Sometimes when we're in the midst of a hard time it's difficult to separate what was said vs how we felt about it. When anxiety is high/struggling with mh things can feel like a personal attack.

From your post I don't think I'd complain but perhaps would contact someone around your experience and how you felt. Maybe they need more training on how to support job seekers with mh problems. Her job is to get you to find work and I would expect to be asked about why I was struggling to attend appointments or finding job hunting difficult - which is what it sounds like she's done although not in an empathetic way.

If of course she has directly said to you that your making excuses and actually laughed and rolled her eyes at you then I'd ignore above and complain!

As a secondary issue what support have you for your mh and housing? Shelter have really good advice on homelessness and it might be worth approaching your local housing association see what support they can offer.

What are you doing to tackle your MH?