PIP for ADHD

[marshmallowmix]

Been in the news this morning as labour looking to slash benefits bills the cost is enormous and growing.

One of the main points discussed was getting PIP for ADHD I did not think this was possible …🤔.

We are taxed more than ever so cuts will abve to be made but surely this is madness giving out PIP for ADHD …there are genuine claims but… they said there are a 1000 new people per day now claiming PIP…so those on the make are going to spoil or for genuine a claims but something is very wrong 😦with the benefits system.

The numbers we are spending on benefits are incredible …let’s see what they slash but cuts are coming under Labour as it’s got out of hand.

‘Think in the same way’?

you can ‘think’ what you like surely? But you wanted to know what Scope was meaning - so you were directed to an explanation on disability and its legal definition.

You asked a question and you wanted to be spoonfed. No wonder the UK is the way it is. I did my reading when my DS became disabled - why should you be exempt from learning things?

I'm not expecting you to think a certain way - you start with knowledge, then you form an opinion based on that knowledge. It may well end up different from mine, and that's fine.

No, I'm not a schoolgirl and she's not my teacher, so don't give me 'see also' or 'further reading', mid-debate. It's annoying and genrally means either 'I dont know' or 'I know so much more than you' because I can link to this PDF. Its lazy and patronising at the same time and all about stopping actual debate in its tracks.

This.

It’s your job to educate yourself. You wanted to know what Scope meant by ‘some form of disability’ - someone handed you the answer.

But you're not debating. You're asking questions. And you are being given links to the answers. I did actually give you some information earlier: I told you that a lot of people who receive disability benefits are also in work. So the 7.4 million number needs to be broken down - but that wouldn't look as impressive.

As to why we have so many people with chronic health conditions and disabilities? Well, the past 14 years have a fair amount to do with it. See also demographics (we have an ageing population) and the pandemic. It really isn't that hard to understand.

Demographics? We're talking about people of working age, not bloody pensioners! As for the good old pandemic, still blamed for absolutely everything, isnt it, from couldn't be arsed to potty train to explosion in ADHD diagnoses to 7.4 million people on sick benefits 🤣

Working age is up to 67 these days so yes, demographics are a factor. Older people have more and more comorbid health conditions.

The pandemic is also a factor. At the risk of further incurring your ire, here is an article about the impact of Long COVID. www.ox.ac.uk/news/2024-08-01-new-study-highlights-scale-and-impact-long-covid

I've commented on the increase in ADHD and autism diagnosis, but for the sake of giving you an easy life, here it is again: ADHD and autism present very differently in girls than in boys. Until 10 to 15 years ago, it was genuinely thought that these conditions occurred predominantly in boys. Now we know different.

And as has also been mentioned, it is possible to have sick benefits and also be in work. I am however beginning to think that you aren't interested in facts or knowledge.

So if these diagnoses continue to rise at the rate they have over the.last few years, the rise due entirely to diagnoses of girls, (according to you), then, as they reach adulthood, these young people begin to claim in huge numbers for these conditions diagnosed in childhood, how long would it take before it was a quarter of adults claiming some form of sick benefit? Or a third? Not very long. At all. This is the crux of it. It's a good thing that they are better supported in childhood, no one disputes that, but what does that look like when they grow up, in terms of what is affordable?

I didn't say it was 'entirely' down to diagnosis in girls. Don't use the 'setting up a strawman and then knocking it down' style of argument, I see straight through it. And it isn't 'according to me'. Again, a little reading will tell you what you need to know. Here's an article for you to start with: www.durham.ac.uk/research/current/thought-leadership/women-with-autism--adhd-arent-diagnosed-until-adulthood/

But I work in a mental health Trust in a non-clinical capacity, and I know what ADHD services look like. It's horrific. A lot of the problems we currently have could be prevented if we invest in the health of our people. Our waiting list for first assessment for ADHD (and that's the severe end, the rest do not get accepted into secondary care) is 8 YEARS. That is because we do not have the funding to run an efficient and effective service. These are people who could be given the coping skills they need to handle life, live independently and not need state support, but it isn't happening.

The same applies to many other conditions. People spend years on waiting lists, getting more and more severely ill. They stop being able to work. When they do finally get help, they have been out for so long that getting back into work is more difficult than it should have been.

Instead of whingeing about benefits, get angry about the government that allowed all this to happen, and then get angry about the current government who appear to be doing more of the same.

With the right diagnosis and support as a child they are less likely to need expensive support in adulthood.

Women in particular get misdiagnosed with other disorders. This means they are underemployed, self medicate with illegal drugs or have medicine and treatments for the wrong thing and get in a cycle of poor treatment. It's not free to have tge wrong diagnosis or no diagnosis

There is a article in the BBC saying the prevelance of adhd isn't really changing, it's expected to affect between 3-5 % of people and has always, there is just a hump of diagnosis going through (a lot if the hump is on adults who weren't diagnosed younger)

It also talks about non medical treatment improving.

There's a lot of hope from me.

You really don’t understand?

if it was means tested or given for specific purposes (eg therapy) then there would be an argument that it was received or used fraudulently.
if you place NO conditions on how PIP is used (although common sense says you should), no form of use can be considered fraudulent. Spent PIP on heroin (extreme example) - still 0% fraud.

so handing out pretty much unconditional amount and then claiming it is 0% fraud is meaningless

I know 3 pensioners in my family that would be diagnosed these days, but it wasn’t known about back then.
They have all had problems with work and home due to executive function difficulties.

I’m not sure on everyone else’s experience in applying for pip but I’d describe it as a military exercise, the amount of paperwork, evidence we had to provide and then we had a separate phone call (45 mins) to further discuss DS needs.
he has autism, dyspraxia, he has bladder problems, needs help with daily life, cooking, organising etc, is very socially awkward/ non available so getting a job for him will be near impossible unless I can find him something online where he can work from home. He’s not academically inclined and failed his GCSEs, won’t retake them at college due to ptsd from his high school. can only walk certain distances before his legs become like jelly, he can cross a road at lights only when indicating to cross safely and even then can lose focus, has high level anxiety, he has asthma, and since going on pip has also been diagnosed with kerrataconus. Which causes blurry vision, had one eye fixed but still waiting 5 months later to get the contacts needed so still has blurry vision and then the other eye needs sorting.
it’s not as easy as you think op. ADHD or not, everyone has different needs.
my colleagues missus had a brain aneurysm back in August, she can’t walk unaided or far, can’t do her usual daily activities, needs help to cook etc. they are still waiting for a decision. I personally think it stems back to the NHS.

Means tested means you only get it if you earn/have less than x amount of money. Nothing to do with conditions on use or how it is spent. Means tested or not you could still be claiming fraudulently?? Don't know what you're on about DodoTired

Or do you mean someone could hide their savings to claim or something and then that would be the fraud?

Yes, hiding savings would be fraud.

No, I don't get it because:

Means testing doesn't = given for specific purpose that someone checks on. No one checks what child benefit or UC is spent on, so how would this equal 'we'd be able to prove people claim it fraudulently'?

Plus people would have to actually be claiming it fraudulently. The DWP themselves claim the fraud rate is near enough 0%. Why would they bother lying?

The fraud rate across benefits in general is 2.8%. You wanting people to be claiming it fraudulently doesn't make it so, the stats literally says it's barely happening.