to apply for PIP?

[SandyShores99]

I am currently waiting to be assessed for ADHD, and have a diagnosis of PTSD due to domestic abuse and sexual abuse, which I am medicated for. My GP has suggested I apply for PIP, but I don't know if I can put myself through the stress of it if I'm more likely than not to be rejected.

I am a lone parent and feel like my mental health is spiralling. I'm a good mum bit struggle to cook good meals and only eat one meal a day, when I force myself to cook for my child. I feel embarrassed even writing this and scared my parenting will be judged, but I really am a good mum.

I don't socialise in crowds anymore as I find it too stressful, and get flashbacks when I see someone in the same uniform as my ex (panic attacks). I take propranolol for this.

I feel like I'm in hiding and procrastinating my life away. Everything is a rush. Nothing is planned properly.

I forgot how to get to my mums house the other day which I've driven to dozens and dozens of times and had to pull over and put my sat nav on.

I forgot my pin number.

My house is a mess.

I ended up on an improvement plan at one of my previous workplaces even though I'm intelligent and have a university degree because I just wasn't functioning properly.

I feel like some help would be amazing but really don't feel like I deserve it or am eligible as I do cope. Just about.

My dad tells me I'm not coping I'm just existing and should take all the help I can get. He says this kindly and is a huge support to me.

I know nothing of PIP. Can anyone advise?

ADHD can absolutely stop you from daily tasks or working. It is no less debilitating than PTSD

I'm not sure you will be successful OP based on some of your examples but you can certainly try.

I'm going to seek some proper advice from CAB. Will treat it as if its a bonus if I get it but never mind if not.

I think you will qualify, but you need help to complete the forms accurately and not minimise your situation. PIP is about the support you need, not the support you get.

There's a guide here on claiming PIP for MH issues:

https://www.mentalhealthandmoneyadvice.org/en/welfare-benefits/pip-mental-health-guide/

Have a read through of the descriptors and the examples they give. It's also definitely worth getting a CAB appointment to get help with the form if you can.

If you're successful your claim will be backdated to the day you apply by phone, so it's worth doing that bit asap. You'll still have plenty of time to fill in and return the form, and if you change your mind you can simply not send it back and you'll have lost nothing.

I was refused pip last year and couldn’t face an appeal.
my circumstances are similar to yours in that I have a diagnosis of GAD and ptsd, though it’s more cptsd but that hasn’t/ can’t be officially diagnosed.
i do live with my partner though, so not a lone parent. I also work part time in a very low stress job( but I still find it stressful)
I have had mental health intervention throughout my life, crisis intervention , hospital admission, numerous counselling/cbt , anti depressants, I have diazepam / propanol for panic attacks.
My mental health has deteriorated with age and I dont think I’ll ever be able to hold down a full time job. I feel a total failure to my family that I can’t contribute more.
I think it’s very hard to get pip for mental health conditions , especially if you are working. It shouldn’t be like that, but I do often wonder if the outcome would’ve been different if I’d not been working.

PIP assesses if you can do everyday tasks eg can you dress yourself, can you shower yourself, can you cook a very basic meal, can you feed yourself, can you walk 20 metres for the mobility aspect. Stuff like that. If you are cooking a basic meal everyday for your son I guess you'd get no points there. If you get dressed yourself to get him to nursery/school I guess no poi TS there. If you can physically feed yourself, i.e. get the fork to your mouth then I don't think you'd get any points there. I'm wondering where you would score points tbh? You might get a few 21 or 2 points if you have someone prompting you to do things. Can you look at the points criteria and see for yourself? Also you have to not be able to manage most of the time so if you have 1 or 2 bad days each week that's not enough. My DH had a brain tumour and was going blind so couldn't see his computer screen properly without getting terrible headaches and couldn't get PIP. His issues didn't match with criterion eg he could dress himself, shower himself, cook basic omelette meal etc.

Most assessments for PIP are done over the phone now very few in person ones.

That sounds very unfair @caringcarer .you would’ve thought you’d automatically be awarded it for blindness.

I’d be surprised if someone got pip for adhd, when they won’t award it for disabilities like your husbands. But other conditions like extreme anxiety or depression can be very debilitating, and make working impossible at times.
I manage quite well most of the time at home, my problems are when I leave the house or have to interact with people. It does feel unfair, that because of my mental health issues , i cannot cope with full time work, so have to manage on less money.

You can very much get pip for adhd and ptsd. Obviously it depends on the person, but it’s not out of the question.

definitely get help from cab or similar.

for example you said you can cook meals but struggle. You may get points for needing prompting to cook a meal.

if you struggle to shower, you may get points for needing prompting to shower.

getting dressed, there’s a descriptor that says something like needs prompting to be able to wear suitable clothing. Ie clean clothing or weather appropriate clothing.

you can say that you need help to do this but you don’t currently have it.

its quite convoluted but once you get into the swing of things you get the hang of how to word it. Repeatedly, reliably and safely.

I highly recommend the benefits and work documents. It’s about £20 for the year and it’s a very long document but helps you how to word it, it gives a few examples on how to word it and all sorts. I didn’t use any outside help apart from a family friend when I applied for pip for autism adhd and stuff (all mental rather than physical) and this document. And was awarded first time. So it is possible.

evidence is key, and you need quite a bit of it. It also helps if it’s like consultants evidence rather than just gp. I have heard quite a bit that if you dint have secondary mental health help, ie just gp, it can be difficult to for them to accept as they state you’re not that bad if you don’t need a psychiatrist. But that’s only anecdotal.

Sorry you're struggling. It might be worth checking online to see if you can self refer to the mental health services in your area. Some areas allow this. In that case they usually call you and ask some questions about various areas you could be struggling with and then assess whether you need counselling etc. It's also worth googling to see if any charities offer free counselling or for a small donation, in larger cities sometimes this is available.

Regarding PIP, I agree with PP, contact Benefit and Work, they have people who will help you fill in the forms I believe and also guides on their website on how to fill them in for various conditions including mental health conditions. It's a long and complicated form, but worth a try. They'll be looking for you struggling with your problems more than 50% of the time I think I recall, definitely don't put on a brave face, but state what it's like on a bad day.

I understand about ADHD. However, surely it’s a better idea to learn strategies to adapt and overcome?

Why can't OP learn strategies AND apply for PIP? They are not mutually exclusive.

Oh darling. You are struggling.

First. Get an appointment with the GP. Be very open and honest about your MH concerns. I know you have had treatment in the past but let's get you referred for some more support as a first step.

I hope they also consider getting you on some antidepressants. Setraline saved my life and I really recommend it.

Next. You're already on the list for ADHD diagnosis. Good. Once you're in tritaion, it will change your life.

While you're waiting, download the PIP forms. I'm disabled and use a wheelchair. I use my PIP to pay for a cleaner to come once a week so I don't have to live in squaller. I'm not able to regulate my body temperature and so the rest pretty much goes on heating.

Is I wasn't disabled, I wouldn't need to spend money on those things, and if you didn't have your health conditions, you'd be able to keep on top of cleaning and things like that, so PIP would really help you. And that is exactly what it's for.

Hopefully, once ADHD meds kick in, we get your MH on track, by the time your PIP review comes around, you won't even need it any more as your'll be able to do them yourself! Yey autonomy rocks!!

This is a rough patch. You will get there my love. Get that GP appointment as your very first step.

Join some PIP FB groups to help with forms. You will be fine :)

He wasn't completely blind as one eye mostly blind but one eye he could see a bit but going blind quite rapidly as the tumour pressing on optic nerves. He couldn't work as he couldn't see his computer screen well enough and staring at it gave him dreadful headaches. Luckily he finally got surgery and his eye sight was restored but he had 2 years of hell and not being able to drive, dreadful headaches and lost confidence going out when on his own. I think it depends on how well an illness or disability matches the descriptors. Now he's back to work, headaches completely gone and eyesight restored. He could have really done with the PIP whilst waiting for his operation though.

I wonder if EFT might help you at all OP.

Check out Access to Work for support on that side of things.

There's a free mental health support service that's to help develop coping strategies (I think it's up to a year depending on need).

There's also a separate process to apply for funding for practical measures.

https://www.gov.uk/access-to-work

Worth exploring the MH component. It is more straightforward to access than PIP.

@caringcarer I'm glad he made a full recovery.

I think you’re right about the decriptors not fitting the illness, means genuine people miss out. I hope it changes in the future to make it a fairer system for all. And probably just as important, quicker access to health care for either physical or mental health problems. In the past I’ve been able to receive treatment/ therapies for MH within weeks. I’ve now been on the waiting list almost a year for more counselling and cbt.

This

This doesn't make it easier- in fact the telephone assessments can be harder.

Pip requires you to evidence how much extra help you need in specific areas. With mental health the bar is pretty high, and purely from what you have written I seriously doubt you will get awarded it currently (I'm not denying that life is hard I'm just saying you don't meet the threshold).

The gp referring you for therapy would be better

Its how the Disability impacts you as to whether you qualify for PIP or not ,so I'd you are able to self care ,prepare simple meals ,be able to travel.independently ,you might struggle to be awarded
You will.also need evidence that your disability impacts to such a degree.

Unfortunately PIP ask you not to get such letters now. Many people do ignore this though and still send them in. DWP argument is that many GP letters only talk about diagnosis and medication and the assessment is based on how the condition affects you, which many GP letters don't or can't cover.

The actual disability is irrelevant as @caringcarer says its about how it impacts you
My son was diagnosed with a rare type if Diabetes in February he has to take insulin four/ five times a day and creon his blood sugars are still very up!and down
But this doesn't affect his ability to self care ,prepare himself a basic meal or travel independently ,so I'm pretty sure he wouldn't qualify for PIp..

There is also a test on the benefits and work website which is just a guide but can be helpful

I’ve just spent nearly 2 days filling in a PIP application for my daughter and it was very stressful so definitely get some support.

she is 16 and moving from DLA and honestly I still don’t know whether she’ll get it based on the way they phrase the questions. And she is registered partially visually impaired and has a list as long as your arm of health conditions following a brain tumour 5 years ago.

You do need to be able to provide evidence of the health conditions you are diagnosed with. Things I provided are letters from medical professionals for her diagnosis and regular check ups. Prescription list from the pharmacy. Report from her visual impairment team at school and an Educational Psych report. You also provide names of people that support you such as doctors, consultants, medical professionals etc.

I can’t help from the mental health perspective as my daughters are physical condition although her anxiety surrounding them is a massive factor but I suggest you contact a charity who will be able to support you on completing it.

One piece of advice I was given was to always refer back to why you were struggling so for my daughter it was things like:

X struggles to attend medical appointments on her own as her impaired working memory caused by the brain tumour and subsequent treatment mean she can’t process information in real time. This is evidenced in the Educational Psych Report provided.

Hope that helps.