to be cross with a mums comment about mental health

[ddubsgirl]

a mum i am friendly with at my boys school this afternoon was chatting to me & another mum,she said she was being refered to mental health team as she may be bi polar,which is fine but it was what she said after that she hopes she is as it means more money and shes going to make sure sure she gets everything she can,she has 3 kids,partner has a few weeks ago come out of prison for drug dealing has ss on her back all the time,she was working but gave it up as its easier to claim income support,now my eldest gets DLA as he is dyspraxic,i would gladly give it up to have a healthy child,a close friend of mine has bi polar and it inst nice,she really struggles and sure as hell doesnt see it as an easy way to make money!

possibly you are right - but people end up preferring prisons to 'real life' the traveller lifestyle to 'real life' working in shanty towns abroad in poor sanitary conditions to 'real life' and living in squats too - of course they may have just given up but some certainly see it as an extension of the no-responsibility life, trade drugs 'inside' sell stolen goods, beg from visitors etc etc - yes its 'mental' compared to those of us who have built up a bit of stability, but that's not the same as necessarily having a proper mental health disorder. Actually I think you and I agree - that the people who give MH a bad name are those loudmouths with extra kids and a will to get more free money, and those people who confuse what their 'real'symptoms are with drug withdrawal, depressive effects of downers and psychoses that go away when the withdrawal stops/a healthy lifestyle is adopted.

btw biarre theories.. delusional beliefs.. see you're at it again! - bizarre beliefs become 'fact' very often....

!

Well, having supported a friend through a manic and then depressive phase that, finally, ended in a diagnosis and medication (that seems to be working well), I'm astonished at these reports of easy access to "fake" diagnosis and easy access to drugs.

Having visited friends in psychiatric wards (is that the term now?) I am also amazed that this could be a lifestyle choice and also that there is some (mythical?) area of the country where it's so easy to get in, and stay in. Not what I've seen at all. In fact, quite the contrary. Can think of at least one family member who we desperately tried to get help for, and there was nothing doing.

Just "goodness me".

And anyone on this thread who is living with BPD - good luck, and I hope this is a good year for you.

so you say :)

I disagree :)

as you pointed out we are both entitled to our opinions :) :)

Fuckinghell you talk shite.

heroine that is.

basically i'm like a part-time blogger um i design my own jewellery line its like a mix of religeous iconography

Heroine, I'm a mental health nurse who has also been sectioned for psychotic depression during which I came within inches of killing myself and my children. It was 5 years ago now but it's only during the last year that I've been able to put my DCs to bed without having flashbacks to sitting there holding a pillow and thinking about smothering them. You are talking utter utter shite - there are a tiny number of people who try to get admitted to mental health wards because they want free meals and somewhere warm to stay but they get sussed out pretty quickly and sent packing. As for people claiming that they have BPD as an excuse to go and spend loads of money and then get it written off, I presume you read it in the DM as it is total fucking rubbish. I've tried to do this for numerous patients of mine and never succeeded. Bi Polar Disorder is a serious illness which can destroy people's lives - people can do things during a manic phase which can take years to put right, if ever: One of my patients withdrew his entire life savings (approx £50,000) and stood outside a tube station handing it all out to people. Many females with bi polar become extremely sexually disinhibited when they're unwell and end up getting raped or pregnant. BPD is NOT feeling happy one day and a bit pissed off the next, it is a horrendous illness with a very high suicide rate. If you have seen someone in a manic episode, it's pretty fucking hard to fake unless you're prepared to go a week without sleeping and still be running round doing press ups. There is enough stigma around mental illness without your ignorant contributions.

OP how did you manage to get DLA for your dyspraxic son?

Can I ask, are you American heroine?

I wonder if that makes a difference to your view of how easily people can get benefits. It is not easy here. Not easy to access psychiatric services or support, not easy to get a diagnosis let alone benefits.

bravo upsylazy! well said,

as a BPD sufferer who has ben through the whole system I must say for the OP that DLA has been scrapped and is being replaced with grants for therapy so your "friend" won't get any money.

I think she's just a muppet.

I KNOW that's what I am saying that SERIOUS is OK - but a lot of the doley 'I'm Depressed' BS that goes on is NOT serious - its an excuse for AND a symptom of not getting off your arse. I know because i have been depressed and lethargic on the dole and its a hell of a thing to get over, but its not the same as psychotic depression.

and I am NOT a MUPPET

DLA hasn't been scrapped, although some people have to reapply

you can get it and still get 'direct payments' for - I still don't understand what they are for, only know what I'm allowed to use my own for

Dla has not been scrapped.

anyway in my region therapy is not supported or encourage - drug-pumping is, so when someone goes in with a MH disorder, they get pumped full of drugs that then make it difficult to discern real symptoms monged out on drugs is not the same as depressed but looks feels and smells like it...

Heroine, speaking as somebody who has been an in patient in a psychiatric hospital, you really don't have any idea at all what you are talking about. If you think that they just drug us up you are very much mistaken!

Anyone trying to reason with NotaMuppet should consider her use of "monged out on drugs "

Dla is a benefit designed to allow people with disability Or debilitating illness gain access to the things which most people take for granted.

You have to evidence why routine life is more challenging than average and describe in minute detail thevways in which day to day life is impeded by your diagnosed condition.
It is quite a challenging process and requires doctors etc to confirm what you say.

Of course it can be falsified . But I don't believe it can be easy

'direct payments' are payments made by the local council in lieu of services.So you can then purchase services for yourself.

So, you have to be assessed as requiring some sort of social care service in order to get them.

Agian, with all the financial loops tightening it's harder and harder to be assessed as meeting the criteria for these types of things - the criteria become more and more strict all the time.

ohb yes, using an un-pc term damns me to hell I suppose

I'd rather be healthy than have any form of mental illness.

It's debilatating.

Look I am friends with several people who could easily do the work I am doing, but don't because when they feel that wave of dispair one feels about going to work, they call it 'a depressive episode' I have heard them describe this, then heard their stories about how they weirdly did manage to travel to London to meet some friends, go out drinking stayed out all night partying, then 'felt really really depressed again on the train home' dropped a vallium and settled for the rest of the week on the sofa to do similar the next weekend, only on crack.

Heroine, do you know how offensive your comments are to people who have had to spend time in a psychiatric hospital?