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 ☺️

People in wheelchairs can still work?
Why are all these people with all these conditions you mention claiming job seekers allowance? I’m confused. Are you just making up scenarios you want answers to?

Wheelchair users aren’t unable to work; albeit probably a bit harder to find a suitable job with wheelchair access.. but there’s nothing stopping them working if they’re just in a wheelchair. Same goes for amputees?
terminally ill people I understand, if you are too sick to work then yeah they should be entitled.

@BeAgileRubyTurtle no-one has bullied you on this thread.

PIP is not an out of work benefit. Previous work history has no relevance. PIP and JSA are completely different. They are not the same type of benefit and they can be paid together if one meets the criteria for both. Only New-Style JSA exists now, so claimants claiming JSA must have paid enough contributions recently (e.g. via recent employment).

PIP is based on needs, not diagnosis. All claims that are not made under the special rules are assessed using the same criteria. That applies to terminally ill claimants with longer than 12 months to live. Claimants don’t lose their award because of other claimants. People don’t get awarded PIP without evidence even when they don’t have a diagnosis.

The definition of disability as per the Equality Act doesn’t require a diagnosis either.

Not all disabilities are the same. That doesn’t mean someone with a physical disability is more disabled than some with a psychological disability.

You cant blame people for being angry when healthy young people are claiming ESA and PIP for mental health and getting top rate with either no or very little clinical diagnosis when people who have terminal diseases and people who need a wheelchair to get around are being told they are fit to work.
So an older person dying of cancer can not claim PIP unless its the last 12 months of their life
But young healthy people with mental health problems CAN claim PIP and get top rate.
If you were older, had worked all your life and now have a terminal disease and your benefits are stopped I think you need to stop and think about how you would feel if that were you?
Youve got people who cant walk, cant walk up stairs MADE to claim jobseekers while young healthy able bodied young people claim ESA and PIP due to mental health.
Thats not right
If there was a fire or an emergency all these mental health claimants would be fine.
The people who would not be able to escape that situation due to mobility issues or a terminal disease I would class as being disabled because they are not physically able to run
Theres a difference as I have said between
" doing this activity gives me anxiety"
And.

" I am physically unable to do this my body is broken"
I hope I have explained this as simply as possible for the 6th time
Please stop faking and pretending that you dont know what a real disability is

I'm sorry you feel that way. I understand how debilitating mental illness can feel. I personally feel claiming pip and reducing work can sometimes have a negative affect on your mental wellbeing and breed helplessness which creates a vicious cycle. But I accept that wasn't the reply you were looking for. I'm sorry if I came across badly.

I do totally understand where you're coming from here.

I've suffered with my mental health all my life but I've found work and being busy beneficial. I think it's too easy now for people to opt out of life. (And who wouldn't want to these days - it's chaos !) Hence the mental health of our teens is shot to shit and services aren't fit for purpose. It's absolutely horrific to feel so stricken with panic that you feel frozen behind your front door, but you've kind of got to put one foot in front of the other, feel the fear and do it anyway and build up. There is too often an attitude of "can't, coz of my mental elf" unfortunately, it turns people off and reignites the stigma for the majority of us who also have mental health problems but claim nothing and quietly source help and plough through life. We're setting up our young people for failure. There is no 'opt out' free pass in life , we all have to , to an extent 'get on with it'.

Young people are only making new claims for ESA and receiving money if they have paid enough contributions in recent years because it is only New Style ESA now for new claimants and has been for a while. The eligibility rules are the same for young people as they are for older, but still working age, people.

So an older person dying of cancer can not claim PIP unless its the last 12 months of their life

They can apply and have their claim assessed like all the other normal rules claims. They are not barred for applying (and requesting a MR then appealing if refused). Same for NS ESA and UC - and those receiving or about to receive chemotherapy or radiotherapy or are recovering from such treatment don’t have to score points like other claims because they are placed in the support group/awarded LCWRA.

If there was a fire or an emergency all these mental health claimants would be fine.

You don’t know that. Some wouldn’t be. Some can’t function because of their MH.

Mental health disabilities are real disabilities too.

I haven’t said anywhere that I’m reducing my work if I can claim? I don’t want to not-work. I’ve reduced my work regardless of what benefits I might be able to receive so why does that bother you so much?

I’m afraid you haven’t ‘suffered’ with your mental health if you can’t understand even the basics of it. Everyone gets anxious, anxiety is a completely normal thing for human function. But having out of control anxiety isn’t the same, it’s pretty patronising to claim you’ve suffered from mental health issues and then on the next sentence suggest it’s just a case of ‘putting one foot infront of the other’

I think you need to go away and educate yourself.

OP, i understand. I had a breakdown - a devastating one- a decade ago after a head injury and post concussion syndrome before being injured by psychotropic medication that gave me a permanent neurological involuntary movement disorder called tardive dyskinesia 😭

I was terrified about taking drugs for my mental health but at the time, i had to. Ironically, the very thing I was scared of - the side effects - was the thing that actually caused more harm, but i NEEDED to take the medication or I would never have been able to get better.

I'm not saying any of this to worry you, I promise. Just to say, I understand your concerns and worries.

You are absolutely deluded. The fact in a previous post you felt the need to include the word ‘English’ just tells me everything I need to know.

I bet you’re able enough to go and paint flags on roundabouts though aren’t you?

OP, the poster @BeAgileRubyTurtle seems quite quirky 😬 (and seems to have a bit of a bee in their bonnet about "young, healthy people" on PIP...!)

Perhaps it's best not to read too much into their replies.

PIP is not an out of work benefit. No one is being kicked off PIP and made to claim job seekers as they are totally different benefits given for totally different reasons.
You are derailing the thread and not posting anything helpful.

You are the one insulting people on this thread. Insulting people with MH issues. Making sweeping statements about them.
You sound really troubled about this and I suggest you step away from the internet and do something productive because you are just getting yourself worked up and angry and lashing out at people.
You are getting personal with the OP and that is no on.

Again, PIP is not an 'illness' benefit. It's a 'disability' benefit. It is a benefit paid to people who need support with activities of daily living. That may be because they have a physical illness, or a physical disability, or a mental health need.

Nobody is being forced onto job seekers allowance because someone else was awarded PIP. If they aren't getting PIP, it's because the claim form and the evidence provided wasn't deemed sufficient to justify an award. That doesn't mean they don't qualify, necessarily - plenty of claimants who go to tribunal are successful.

"Theres a difference as I have said between
" doing this activity gives me anxiety"
And.

" I am physically unable to do this my body is broken""

I have slept on the floor of a hospital ward for 3 nights because DD2 needed to be in hospital but could not have physically stayed without me due to her ASD. My choice was for her to leave hospital unsafely, or for me to stay.

You have no idea what difficulties are caused by 'mental health issues.'

@BackAgainSlimLady

Some useful info here https://www.mentalhealthandmoneyadvice.org/en/welfare-benefits/pip-mental-health-guide/

I mean, if you're on PIP you are by default not healthy...

Also the ranting about Antifa leads me to feel this poster may have cough a lot going on.

So much misinformation on this thread as always. I’ve said before, it is REALLY hard to get PIP. Nobody is awarded it because a partner says they need it or whatever rubbish people are spouting.
People with MH issues are often also hospitalised, just as those with physical illnesses maybe. I’ve been sectioned 7 times in 5 years for example.
PIP is awarded to people who work as well as some who don’t. You can be out of work and claim it and then return to work and retain it if your difficulties have not improved.
You have to provide evidence. I had appointment details, medication details, they contacted my psych and care coordinator and GP. I showed evidence of hospitalisation. I wrote in detail about my daily struggles.
To the pp who said that if you can raise children you are not really ill. Would you say that to somebody with cancer? That they cannot really be ill if they are still managing to look after their family? Things happen. People have families and THEN get ill. It’s awful and you have to adapt. MH is no different.
Im really shocked by some opinions on here.

I'd love to tell you my history with my mental health. I'll spare you and others the gory details. Let's just summarise with : I most definitely have first hand experience of mental health problems, that impacted my life (and those around me ) significantly. Ultimately, I'll be on medication for life. Regardless, unless we lack capacity, we have to keep putting one small step in front of the other . Nobody is going to come along and save us. I accept you find my opinion unpalatable. I speak from experience. I certainly don't need to educate myself.

You are wrong, ‘another HCP’

An allergy is defined as an excessive immune response to a usually non harmful substance.

Severe allergies cause anaphylactic responses. Not all allergies do.

Perhaps you would like to educate yourself with some of the data from allergy.uk, you know the experts regarding allergies who recognise that most allergies do not cause anaphylactic reactions.

www.allergyuk.org/about-allergy/what-is-an-allergy/

Are you declaring all these hospitals stays to PIP? Because you do know it’s not a benefit that can be claimed during prolonged hospital (as the hospital is in fact meeting your care needs at this time) and so it is suspended after 28 days as an inpatient.

Have you not heard of mental health wards?,they are also full of ill people
Mental illness is just as much of an illness as physical illness, and some people will spend a considerable amount of time in hospital.

Exactly. I have never heard of someone with physical health problems spend multiple years as an inpatient.
PIP also stops after 28 days.

I have never heard of someone with physical health problems spend multiple years as an inpatient.

It does happen. Not that it makes MH difficulties any less valid.

Agreed, it is also accurate. To write yourself out of the workplace without even trying medication for your illness is bonkers. For decades there have been arguments made to treat mental health as seriously as one would physical health...which is exactly what I am doing. If you are ill, try to various medications available to you.

Hell, I'm on a cocktail every day between anti depressants, ADHD meds and other physical illness ones. Ideal? No. But a first step. The antidepressants/anti anxiety meds help give you a more level platform from which to make pragmatic steps forward. Are they a cure all, one stop shop? Not at all. But to to get to the point you'd quit your job before even trying any?