Im a mental health and benefits advisor AMA

[WouldRatherHaveWine]

I am a mental health advisor who specialises in welfare rights. Also provide mental health awareness training

How can people access the service you offer? Are they referred or is it something like CAB?

Paid or volunteer?

I am a paid member of staff, we are similar to CAB in the sense of we take self referrals as well as public ones,but we do have a post code limit

Do you struggle to keep up with the constant changing legislation and how do you do this?

Do you struggle with the department (dwp, jobcentre) attitude to mental health and how do you get the right medical evidence from professionals?

Yes absolutely, we have to keep tabs on any current legislation going through, but we also cheat a bit and sign up to a couple of larger companies who only work with changing legislation. I have to go on frequent training sessions too. Currently to date ive been on 4 different ones for Universal credit as they keep changing the rules and we are in a fully live area.

Attitude to mental health is horrific. It is a constant fight. The majority of forms are worded towards physical problems even through the actual legal descriptors cover mental health, and the assessments are carried out by "health care professionals"; so i recently had a lady with schizophrenia be found fit for work, and when i got a copy of the report through she was assessed by a physiotherapist who seemed to focus on the fact she was wearing purple nail polish.

The local jobcentres are slightly more sympathetic, but this has its own challenges when the JCP advisors dont know the rules of the benefits.

Getting medical evidence can be challenging from GPs especially. If they are contacted by the DWP for evidence they get paid for it, but since the new rules came into effect the DWP rely on their own medical assessments for the majority of the time. I now have to send a letter explaining this, enclosing a copy of the descriptors that the claimant should have been awarded and why, and then a cheeky note at the bottom explaining we are a charitable organisation and cannot pay. A lot refuse or just provide a print out from their notes. However this is getting better with better communication between us and them!

I dont have a problem with getting evidence from the local mental health teams though. I have developed a good relationship with them, but they are also very aware that this is peoples livelihood at stake, and that i am the only one in my area to provide the service that i do (i wprk for a disability rights company but i am the only mental health specialist). In fact my role is a dying breed, we had to put a post code restriction in place because i couldnt keep up with demand when i had people travelling from an hour away to see me.

Wow that was long

Whats wearing purple nail varnish got to do with anything. .
Theyre definitely a odd comoddity the DWP and Asos.

Probably because of the twisted thinking that if you can care enough, or be bothered to paint your nails then your mental health can’t be poor enough to satisfy the test for benefit ..... these are the sort of assumptions ATOS / DWP make because mental health is so misunderstood and they can’t see why it’s not appropriate to send a physiotherapist to assess a claimants mental health.

@Nanna exactly this. I have spent part of today writing a case study to fight for my funding (which has been cut again) on this one and a lady with an eating disorder who was turned down because she had managed to reach a normal weight after being hospitalised at 5st, and remembering the cases made me angry all over again. Won them both though

Do you think PIP/Esa as got any better at mh people applying?
As they don’t think we should be in the equation and it can’t possibly be that bad?

They want to try living day to day with chronic anxiety/depression that as knock on effects to there life and family

The assessment should not be done by physio, nurses etc
I’ve been through the stressful ordeal of going to tribunal twice now
And probably will have to again when the brown envelope drops through the letterbox

I was paid £40 to a charity (I think)
Who helps people fill in dwp forms
I did it over the phone as I couldn’t get there they asked me the questions on the esa50 in order and I had to answer
I can honestly say she never advised and put it in a better way than I described
I may as well of done it myself!!

@granadagirl no i dont think it has gotten any better. The issue i have is that legally its possible to get on the benefit based on the criteria, but the assessments and the forms themselves arent MH friendly. I always say that i have had training on the process and the legalities, how on earth is a claimant meant to be able to negotiate the system on their own.

Im sorry you had a bad experience, for a start we offer a free service. I have done phone/email consultations due to agoraphobia/panic attacks too and it is possible to do a good form - if you take the time and effort