Why are ADHD benefits in the firing line?

[FunStork]

I've been seeing this a lot recently.

Feels like the media is very much against ADHD benefits claims.

Why is that the one that seems to be getting all the focus?

Another one from BBC Verify tonight:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c24ym9yd8p6o

Is this an orchestrated campaign?

But this is clearly not how ADHD reports - or even ADHD diagnostic criteria to start with - work?

For most part, the reports only tell you what patients - or their family - told you. It repeats information. No tests, no investigations etc.

You don’t get an ADHD diagnosis if you have “no difficulties” but of course they are not necessarily the difficulties that the DWP considers on a PIP application.

i have a very disabling chronic illness that makes me too ill to work. I applied for PIP, went to tribunal, lost and reapplied and won. The PIP application process is dehumanizing and harsh. A lot of the success or failure comes down to how well you fill in the form
and the quality of evidence you provide - a diagnosis is not usually enough because in the eyes of the DWP it doesn’t prove that you have difficulty with washing or dressing (for example).

They would need information from school too.

This is exactly why ADHD has the current reputation.

ADHD meds are not selective enough to be used as a diagnostic marker, but they also do not work for all ADHD diagnosed people either.

Yes, technically.

What the guidelines are, and what happens irl are two different things.

They dont just take the parents word for it.

Of course you can’t diagnose ADHD in that way but it is a very significant clue. My friend’s friend got a formal diagnosis.

This nailed it. Unfortunately its being used as an excuse by too many people. As are all mental health diagnoses. It devalues these conditions which affects those who are really disabled by them, and that's unfair. ADHD does not have to mean you can't function as many people with later life diagnosis have had to.

So because a well known person has ADHD and is successful should hide this fact because you've diagnosed her as 'not bad' ADHD ?

Or any Tom, Dick or Harriot can easily self diagnose themselves or get a doctor to sign off their child on ADHD in other to get benefits there is a fundamental problem with how people get benefits.

Which is why it goes off need not diagnosis.

I completely agree with you. Looking back on it, it’s held me back and made things difficult - when I didn’t know I had it - but did it make it impossible to work? No. The irony is once you’re formally diagnosed you are eligible for medication to treat the symptoms which is very effective… but to claim disability benefits you require a formal diagnosis… So how does that figure?

I do think there are certain comorbidities ADHD presents with can of course be disabling. But as a standalone condition? Especially when so many people have it but are undiagnosed, how is funding for that supposed to work from a public policy perspective?

Maybe we just don’t have the data on how many standalone cases are approved and so this could be misleading… I certainly hope that’s the case

I know of at least 3 secondary school children who get hundreds every month due to their ADHD.

I never thought I’d ever hear myself say that benefits should be cut because I have had to rely on benefits myself but no child need hundreds of pounds every month for having ADHD.

One boy gets more in PIP than I did as a single parent with no job.

He is in the same year as my DS and they do all of the same things.
But he can afford the school trips and new clothes etc whilst I struggle as a single parent.

It is also quite damaging.
Whilst my DCs are looking for PT work and thinking about future careers, he’s already saying that he won’t ever need to work (his parents don’t work either) but obviously doesn’t understand that benefits can change.

PIP/DLA doesn't require any formal diagnosis.

People really don't get how benefits work. You don't get benefits just because you're diagnosed with ADHD. You have to prove that it impacts your life in ways that mean you need support. If you have ADHD but it manifests in a way that still allows you to work etc, then you won't just get benefits handed to you. People are just bitter and the country is in a state and they're looking for vulnerable people to blame.

Its a spectrum conditiin though
And many people will be diagnosed before adulthood
The impact off it will vary massivley on indviuals.

The majority of people with such conditions will never be diagnosed. I think it's being considered unsustainable, as the more people who (rightfully) are seeking diagnosis for various neuro related conditions, the more funding is having to be put forward to support them. The money just simply isn't there, especially if the numbers of people diagnosed keep increasing. Maybe it's the case that if such a a large proportion of the population have such a disability/condition, we will have to find other ways to accommodate them other than throwing money at the issue.

I think a lot of people know they have underlying conditions that aren't diagnosed and never will be so they're also thinking it's unfair..Me for example I definitely have autism, clearly present from an young age in many very typical ways but it was never problematic enough to be raised and frankly I'm from a very working class background where there is simply less support and recognition (and definitely much less so back when I was little). Despite that, I cope really well with it and find it generally just causes me to be more anxious than the average person- I spiral a lot more privately- but being able to generally cope well is mostly luck really and being fortunate in other ways ways I've never been diagnosed and never will be because I don't see the point, but I could potentially be another person claiming and I know there are millions more like me who knows they could but don't due to lack of diagnosis)lack of wanting to seek a diagnosis which is long and stressful.

Because if some people know they can get a benefit, they will apply for it, even if they don’t actually need it. ADHD is an example of this.

A diagnosis isn't required for DLA or PIP though.

That doesnt mean they will be awarded.

i agree.

For the majority, I think this way.

But there are many people who are receiving payments for having things like ADHD simply because they say the right things and tick the right boxes.

These people are choosing not to work because else it would affect their disability payments (I don’t blame them).

But surely there is something wrong with the system when a 16 year old boy is not bothered about going to college because ‘he’ll never have to work as he gets benefits’.

But too many people start from the position that they can't work and then look for excuses and its unsustainable. I've had people come into our first session, tell me they can't work and demand that I write letters to support this. When I ask what treatment they have tried, or other coping strategies, they get mad. And when I offer treatment they don't engage. I'm very supportive of those truly suffering and ime these people often try very hard to work.

The very most you can get on DLA/ PIP is £776/ month
Most claimants wont be recieving snything like that amount
If they do they need clear amd consitant evidence of severe disabilluty.

Point to the bit where I said I was, and I'll gladly apologise for lying.

But I've worked on integrated health and education programmes and have the grace to listen to the experts (including diagnosticians) on this.

I don't claim to be a diagnostician (if it bothers you). But I also have an experience and an opinion to relate, which I hope you will give your sanction for.

Then they wontt get an award then will they