Does anyone claim PIP for mental health disorders?

[BackAgainSlimLady]

Wondering if I can get help financially for this.

For context; I have generalise anxiety, severe health anxiety, panic disorder, social phobia and depression (I know, I’m all shades of fcked up)

I’ve recently quit my 9-5 job as the stress and anxiety of it all was just too much, on top of being a parent to two young children aswell.

I have however resolved it with a super relaxed new job, it’s only 10 hours a week, a couple hours each evening, fits around school ect. It’s much more easy on my mind for now.

but - money is an issue. We’re super super tight now I’m not getting a full wage. We’re literally living to the penny with no savings ect. But I just could hack it anymore and DH knew I wouldn’t be here now if I carried on.

I do see the PIP place says you can claim for mental health.. but surely it’s not as easy as “I suffer from XYZ” “yep sure here’s some money”

so my question is, if you claim PIP for mental health, how/why/what was needed? I’m trying to get a feel for whether I’d be entitled or not.

thanks in advance ☺️

You get scored on the set of questions only. Cooking a meal, being able to bathe and dress yourself, reading, can manage finances etc. There is 1 question about social mixing. It is very hard to score points. When you tell the assessor you can't do something they don't believe you. Even with medical scan evidence they suggest you could still get better and disability might not last another year. My DH had a brain tumour which made him particularly blind, meaning he could no longer drive, affected his hormones as pressing on pituitary gland, made him forget a lot of things which made it difficult for him to function at work but because he could bathe himself, dress himself and manage to cook an omelette and could talk to people he didn't qualify. The fact he couldn't go out on his own didn't count because if I was with him he could still walk. It's a strange set of criteria they use.

For terminal illnesses it needs to be expected youll pass in one year and your doctor needs to do a SR1 form for pip to confirm.

I dont think its that simple.
I think its more political than that as Ive explained countless times
In 2017 mental health charties took the government to court over proposed changes to people claming PIP mental health and they won.
Tax money is not a bottomless pit.
There are people being getting awarded the top rate of PIP because doing certain things like working makes them anxious .
Yet someone one who physically ill or disabled can not do these things because they are physically unable and theres a difference it you try to be honest with yourself for one moment.
This subjective was of judging a persons health on how they feel is raising the coat of our disability bill.
There are people who work for the DWP that will mark down people who are disabled and people with terminal illnesses because they have been told to by the their boss and by the government to mark down those people who are terminally ill or who are disabled to make room for young, able bodied people to sit around all day and contribute zero to society
Ive tried to explain this now about 5 times.
My aunt works for the DWP as an assessor
She lives in the north of england and we speak about the situation a lot.
That high court rulling in 2017 by mental health charties that they won.
It was great for them and the people they work to help however it was a nail in the coffin for older disabled people and older people who are terminally ill.
I cant believer there are so many people on this blog that think depression is worse than a double amputation or a cancer diagnosis.
I think if any of these young people were to experience any of these confitions or diseases that kill people quickly it would change their mind about what a disability really is

It isn't easy to get pip, you aren't going to get awarded it for a bit of difficulty over managing something. Those who get pip for mental health problems suffer badly, are generally incapable of looking after themselves properly. Would be unable at times to push themselves to do things.

Mental health problems can leave people unable to cope physically it's so much more than just being a bit sad

Hopefully the undeserving won’t be awarded PIP, particularly if theI haven’t trialled other remedies first. The form is insanely long, I can’t believe people would be awarded it without a good stack of medical evidence.

My husband does for eupd.

My DS gets higher rate care and lower rate mobility but he's was very severe and a ton of evidence from professionals and still took 6 months. He was hospitalised in a coma like state for 8 months called catatonia and could not walk, see, eat / drink without help, move his arm, talk, write, there was something like a 20% risk he would die in there. He still cannot talk or write but can now walk unaided and eat and drink unaided. He lost 3 years of education as well. It's officially all classed as mental health though very physical symptoms and occurred mostly after camhs meds went incredibly wrong.

I had cancer 3 at once and didn't claim pip despite having 3 surgeries, chemo, radio but did get ESA. It is a bit odd with cancer and seems to go on how well people can fit in the boxes and make it clear. I don't believe someone got it just on their girlfriend, suspect they are trying to stir up hate against young disabled people. I don't think cancer is more deserving than severe mental health. Cancer gets much more sympathy. I didn't have to pay anything towards cancer treatment which probably cost £100k whereas people often have to go private to access mental health support. The criteria are a bit odd and it can be harsh who misses out because they don't fit in the boxes. I've not known anyone with stage 4 cancer have issues claiming which is how it should be.

Suicide is the biggest cause of death in young people so its reasonable depression is taking seriously. Young people are not worth less than older people even if that is how society treats them.

Yes but not everyone will be awarded PIP for mental health reasons
It's about how the conditiin impacts a person
You can't just ask for PIP and be given if it.

@BeAgileRubyTurtle the 2017 ruling only affected the mobility element of the claim. It reversed a decision to restrict claims for mobility on the grounds of psychological distress. It wasn't permitting new rights to people with mental health difficulties, it was just stopping the Government from making an unlawful, discriminatory change.

Your anger is directed at the wrong people. If someone has PIP for a mental health condition, they have satisfied the assessor that they meet the criteria.

I dint think you understand severe and enduring mental illness.

I get pip for mental health reasons. I have bipolar, EUPD and anxiety. I had to supply a a lot of evidence including all my care plans from the mental health team. My last two renewals I didn't have to have a new assessment, they just based it off the care plans I submitted.

I completed PIP forms for a friend this summer who has depression and adhd. He was awarded PIP without having to go to appeal. It was a question of working strictly to the descriptors He’s unable to do anything without a carer being with him to help him due to his depression. There was a lot of evidence uploaded from GP letters, prescriptions, therapists, his previous employer’s occ health, carers. We started the process by writing out a long list of how his illness affects him (depression, suicidal thoughts, disassociation etc) and referred to the symptoms throughout the application. It took about 2 hours to complete

lets be objective for one moment
Disability and terminal illness are not subjective there is a clinical diagnosis.
Thats my whole problem with the system.
It takes the persons word for it that they depressed to work because its not about how terminally ill you are but how it affects you.
Thats not objective its subjective and if a person says my anxiety makes me to anxious to work them thats a subjestive experience in another words I suppose you could describe it as taking a persons word for it that they are too anxious and depressed to leave their homes
No doctors letters, no oter proof, no x rays ot blood tests no kind of tests at all just the persons subjective experience about how their mental conditions affect them.
There are thing I cant do.
Its not my subjective feelings its a fact that the top of both of my lungs are scarred with TB and emphysema
And like Ive mentioned several times already either you havent read the post properly or your just picking an argument with me?
The labour government and kier starmer decided that those with mental health are more intitled to PIP than people with physical difficulties.
I could score points on every single question because there are days Im so out of breath I cant even walk into the kitchen if I wanted to.
Thats not the same as just not wanting to do something or it giving you anxiety.
I think a lot of brats are coming at me because their claiming PIP and theyve got F**k all wrong with them
Apparently lots of people on PIP fopr mental disoprders get very upset before an assesment?
I wonder why that is?
I have an assesment next week
Im not worried but I am totally livid that they are doing this to me when Im so ill.
So why am I not freaking out over asesments when the mental health claimants are?
could it possibly be that all those claiming mental health knopw full well that they are physically able to work

I sent over 140 pages of evidence for each of my daughters. EHCPs, Speech and Language Therapy reports, Occupational Therapy Reports, Educational Psychology reports, Psychiatry reports. All mental health/neurodivergence based, but objective reports by health professionals. The 'subjective' part was the form detailing the impact of the objectively reported conditions on their day to day life.

You do realise that mental illness covers fsr more than anxiety and depression?

I used to be a mental health nurse, it's very ignorant of you to think mental health professionals take a person's word for it
Are you suggesting that somone who suffers with psychosis or Bipolar for example are just swinging the lead ?

I work in MH

Those are all treatable and not classed as severe and enduring lifelong diagnosis.

That said some people are v severe they are not able to function in the short term and IMO should be afforded some support

It can be a grey area.

For example I had a client who said they couldn’t function without another person present for support - this is able to be changed so does not need financial support long term for this.

My point is they are not always treatable some people are never stable for very long .

"I have an assesment next week
Im not worried but I am totally livid that they are doing this to me when Im so ill.
So why am I not freaking out over asesments when the mental health claimants are?
could it possibly be that all those claiming mental health knopw full well that they are physically able to work"

DDs 2&3 are physically able to work. But they have mental health conditions that disable them. PIP is not an out of work benefit. The reason they would struggle with an assessment is that DD2 can't talk to people she doesn't know, and she can't even talk to people she does know when she's stressed. She goes to a special provision, and even after a year, if she's stressed they have to phone me because she can't tell them what's wrong.

DD1 wouldn't be safe to work. Again, PIP is not an out of work benefit, but DD1 is an adult who can't be left alone at home and can't go out of the house unattended. She needs help with almost all activities of daily living. She also has physical issues, but regardless, she would qualify on just the mental health stuff. She would not do well in an assessment because she would become very dysregulated, so they assessed on paper.

DD3 could have attended an assessment but she would have been very stressed because of the combined impact of her needs. Fortunately, there was enough evidence from all of the professionals involved in her care, that she didn't need to attend.

At some point you are going to have to accept that you've taken a very narrow view of mental health and you're just displaying ignorance.

Until they don't need a carer with them, they need the support. That's why the assessor can vary the award length. Some conditions improve. Some don't. Some change but don't 'get better'.

So you want to work just 10 hours per week and the government give you extra money?! That’s what is wrong with this country and why we are going down the pan!

You don't know how ill the OP is? It could be a case of 'Wow, with all the mental health challenges you're facing, you still manage to work 10 hours per week! You're amazing.'

That's why we have a system where people fill in a form and provide supporting evidence, then their needs are assessed.

I get pip its hard to get but not impossible.

I get pip its hard to get but not impossible.