Disabled woman starved to death after benefits withdrawn

[EllieBellend]

I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere but this is truly shocking. Disabled woman let down by all the agencies and basically starved to death after benefits withdrawn. Let down by everyone, the poor poor woman.

www.disabilitynewsservice.com/dwp-hounded-disabled-woman-for-years-before-her-starvation-death-papers-show/

@AprilRae91 It is loads. Nine people die every single day waiting for disability benefits or appealing their stopped benefits.

deathsbywelfare.org/

She had savings that she would not spend and severe MH issues.

She may have been let down in various aspects of her care but starving to death due to lack of money/benefits withdrawal didn't happen, which is what your title and op suggests.

Mental illness is a type of disability! Your definition is completely wrong btw even for a physical disability. To be disabled you need a disability that is long term (usually if it lasts 12months to life), and it doesn’t matter whether it is treatable or not.

Eg. I have severe asthma, it is treated with medication BUT it is a disability because it affects my ability to function normally and even with medication can decide to kill me. The same with my brother who has epilepsy. It’s fully treatable, he takes anti-seizure meds but still any day he could grand mal and die.

The existence of medication or therapy to treat something doesn’t = cured and thus no disability, it usually means the worst symptoms and impacts can be reduced. But the disability is still there.

I also have PTSD and psychosis….also medicated and in therapy but they don’t cure these mental illnesses. These are life long and permanent and will always impact my ability to function for simple day to day living. The poor woman who died had paranoid schizophrenia…it cannot be cured. Treatment can only reduce the frequency of her psychotic breaks. It is a well recognised severe disability.

But that isn’t what happened in this case. She had money in the bank which she refused to spend. Probably a significant amount if she intended to use it to buy a house.

The article explains that she was was unable to shop or cook. She had severe paranoid schizophrenia. Her PIP was reinstated after she died, so even the DWP realised she was unfit for work.

The whole system is broken .

How can it be fake news?
The lady is dead.
She had VERY complex mental health problems.
She did not present for fortnightly anti- psychotic injection, essential to keep her well. No one followed this up promptly.
She was supposed to have regular blood tests as her anti-psychotic could cause diabetes. These were not carried out.
She had not seen her psychiatrist for two years.
A person with such complex MH could possibly cope with life if it stayed on the level —- x amount of money is paid into her account, x amount goes out.
Stopping, starting, restoring her benefits must have compounded her MH problems.
Somany agencies involved but they all seem to have cocked up big time, to put it bluntly.

She had savings that she could not spend due to severe MH issues which the article clearly states she was constantly psychotic. Look up psychosis, you are completely out of touch with reality. You have no idea what is going on. You often don’t even know your own identity. You could be sitting there thinking you’re Napoleon or Queen Elizabeth or even Paddington Bear and so it wouldn’t even occur to you who you are and that you have a bank account with money in it.

The article said a modest amount and the person in question had a severe mental health condition which could have amounted to a disability.

Interesting that this person was well enough to work, but also so unwell they failed to care for themselves. Almost as though they weren't actually well enough to work, because they were so unwell they could not care for themselves.

For those ignorant about mental health conditions as disabilities - including you @Dadaya - the government explains here: www.gov.uk/when-mental-health-condition-becomes-disability

She obviously could not look after herself. It was our duty as a society to look after her. Instead we tormented her.

And now she is dead we are sitting here pretending someone with florid psychosis could organise their life but was obstinately refusing to.

She was ill. We should have helped her. Instead, we do this.

She had money in the bank that she could not spend as she was actively psychotic in the months leading up to her death. She couldn’t even feed herself, and was climbing telephone poles to get away from people she thought were chasing her- so how was she supposed to manage personal finances and go on a food shop when she’s literally lost her marbles?

Her PIP was reinstated after she died is all anyone needs to know. The system is indeed broken. But of course the people who die this way do not really matter, you can see that from the posters on this thread

Unless I've missed something, it didn't say she was found fit. The article doesn't mention why her benefits were stopped, it could be for various reasons. Being found fit wouldn't stop PIP necessarily as PIP is a non means tested benefit and can be received even if you are working full time.

It is a fucking tragedy but to blame DWP is, in my opinion, simplifying a complex problem and not doing any good. Instead of always casting DWP as a villainous entity, out to murder as many people as possible, we should be looking at the entire picture and looking for ways to solve the issues. For instance, the family could have, in one of the good periods, gone with her to the various services (DWP, housing, council) or written a letter with her detailing her condition, how it may affect her returning forms (for example), giving permission for her mother to be allowed to discuss the claim etc. Maybe it's this, advertising that this type of thing is an option,that we need to focus on promoting so other people are less likely to fall through the cracks.

Unfortunately, those who work in departments such as housing and DWP (who are not psychopaths despite the "diagnosis" by a p.p.) have to work within the law which is agreed by the government. As much as staff and managers may bend the rules as much as possible, there are things they cannot do and rather than blaming an entity, it is because of those that set the legislation.

It is a horrible tragedy and my heart goes out to the deceased.

I actually think she was too damaged to survive .

I don’t think the issue here is money, I think it’s she was not being cared for and safeguarded, but she also had family, and family who seemed to know, so I am not really clear on what happened apart from one thing, she was failed by everyone who knew her.

She had savings that she could not spend due to severe MH issues
So if she COULD NOT spend money then even if she received benefits she would probably also have been unable to spend them. So the issue here is lack of MH support, not lack of money or benefits. She needed help to spend her money - she didn’t need more money.

There is currently at least a 2 year waiting list for MH support and diagnosis in most parts of the country. Unless you appear to be in imminent danger the only responsibility they NHS has during that waiting period is to call you once every six months. I’m currently on a waiting list for MH support, been on it for nearly a year and they call me every six months for less than 60 seconds, and that discharges their responsibility until I get to the top of the list probably in early 2024.

@Athenajm80 Ok fine! Almost everyone at the DWP is a psychopath. I've dealt with them for 20 years. I'd say almost everyone. Of course some people are not, and they become so distressed by what they are doing they leave their jobs. But the lifers who are fine with it, I think that's a fair assessment.

At least you now accept this person should have been in receipt of the money.

Therefore she did need more money, she needed the money she was entitled to.

Given you are on the receiving end of the dreadful system, you seem very keen to argue the system is fine. www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2017/06/system-justification

There is far more to this than ‘just’ issues with her benefits.

Oh, well, fuck it then

I went into keto with diabetes and hyperglycaemia the other year, had a few a and e admissions for it.

Trying to get support with getting that sorted afterwards (from regular eating to regular amd correct insulin doses to monitoring sugar levels and trying to get them down) was almost impossible, even with a prior diagnosis/gp practice. It took a year to get my bloods within normal range and could easily have killed me.

And that's without having to cope with schizophrenia on top.

Her family let her down. They should look at themselves first.

Body was found in her flat after months. Omg 😱 where was her family? Poor woman.

Absolutely! For the vast majority of people who have a mental illness, care in the community IS the right way to support them. Sadly though, there are many others, like Sophia in this case, where their illness is so severe that it requires a secure care setting. Its all well and good saying that she should be able to make her own decisions, but clearly her illness meant that there was no way she could understand the consequences of her actions BECAUSE of her illness.
I have friends who work with clients like Sophia following discharge from secure hospital wards - that are discharged far too soo, require so much support that is impossible to coordinate effectively due to the multiple agencies that are involved. As soon as one link in the support chain is broken - which can be as simple as a support worker going on annual leave - the client can rapidly go into crisis.

A total upheaval of support in the mental health sector is needed. Laying the blame at one government agency isn’t appropriate and dismisses the fact that unless an holistic approach of intense support is available, no agency can do their job well.

She was disabled.

Her mental health meant she was unable to function in her daily life to keep herself safe - therefore it disabled her.

There's no denying though that the system is shocking. You have to be so careful how you word use even any hint that you could put a slice of bread in a toaster you are considered about to provide nutrition to yourself.

We teach our students to do this. Even our non verbal students can do this - some independently.

They totally ignore the fact most wouldn't be able to even go about getting the bread from a shop and home again independently to be able to make a slice of toast.

It was a multi disciplinary failure here.