People who work have anxiety too

[Fedupandgrump]

Anyone else on the verge of a breakdown with work, kids, mortgage and cost of living?

I’ve read a lot of threads recently about people with mental health conditions worried about being forced into employment when they feel as though they would not be able to cope. Whilst I sympathise, it’s come at a time where I am completely overwhelmed, burnt out and wonder how the fuck I’m going to get through the week. I treat myself to a half hour sob in Sainsburys car park every couple of days and I wake up every morning with dread, fear and anxiety about what the day will hold. However, I go and work because I. Have. No. Choice. I have two kids and a mad dog that relies on me and my husband to keep our shit together and a roof over our heads. Every day I can feel my heart racing and I feel permanently like I’m in fight or flight mode and I wonder if this is going to lead to a premature heart attack in my 30’s.

I sometimes feel like people who don’t work due to poor mental health thinks those of us who do work, are suffering less than them. I know IAMBU but I can’t help the way I feel at the minute.

Did you read my last post? I basically said that there are no psych hospitals/units, they’ve almost all been closed or run down to a minimum service. There is no MH care in this country- acute or otherwise. It’s a basic throw pills at the patient and send them away.

I’m not jealous no, far from it as I’m also someone who has a chronic illness!

This person, rather than give up as many do, has continued to fight for PIP.

I probably know this person far more than mostl, FAR more than you WiseKhakiGoose!! So I’m able to post with confidence that yes, the system can absolutely be played and again no I’m not jealous! What a stupid statement! This person isn’t disabled, MY condition could ‘by some’ be deemed as a disability but it isn’t!

And yes, knowing what I know now, I could apply, be denied, appeal and then be successful to be granted Pip but I won’t! I’ll leave it for those who really do need it!

All I read on the threads about the benefits is how someone knows someone who receives benefits they are not entitled to! I had no idea there's so many toxic people, around disabled people who actually envy them. They see those disabled people once or twice a month on their good days and assume those people live a high life.

A person with mental health issues or physical health issues, won't go around and explain in detail how bad they feel every day to random people. Don't assume anything about another person's health condition, you are not their GP! History showed us that even a husband, who lives under the same roof with his wife can cheat on her and have a double life!

If a disabled person is always putting a brave face, keeps saying everything is great and it's not constantly complaining about all the health issues, it doesn't mean all the previous health issues disappeared. That means that a disabled person doesn't want to complain about her health issues. Because nothing changed from the last time you saw them, the pain is the same, the disability is the same, etc.

Good for that person who kept fighting for PIP. You are not their GP and a person can receive PIP while working full time. If that person received it, then that person is disabled and deserves PIP. I feel sorry for that person to have people like you around.

PIP is an awful application process and it means many who should get it, do not. I help look after a relative who has a serious mental illness. He applied to PIP, got turned down, but would not appeal. He found the initial process too hard mentally even though he had someone from a charity helping. He is under a psychiatrist.
I see people far more mentally healthy than him getting PIP as although ill, they are well enough to manage the process. It is crazy.

YANBU
I’m 49 and I’ve worked since I was 16. I’ve worked through depression and cancer. I’m a single parent. It’s painful, it’s miserable and it’s relentless. But working is what ties me into the world. Being industrious is a key to good mental health.

Forgot to say: I work full time and receive the higher PIP for both components. I’d give up every single penny to be able to walk again.

You don’t know me or the person I work with, I know FAR more about how to appeal for PIP and work the system because of this person!

You shouldn’t feel sorry for this person having me around, I’m fucking awesome!

I agree with you, most people with severe mental health issues give up on PIP.
But that doesn't mean people who managed to fight for it, don't deserve it. Because nobody knows what a person's health condition actually is. Only GP and that person know. There's plenty of other physical conditions PIP may be awarded for.

@WiseKhakiGoose I did not say they did not deserve it.
But it is ironic the process is set up so that those who are the most mentally ill may find it the hardest to get.
There is another example on this thread someone posted I read that is very sad where the man gave up although he is extremely mentally ill.

Sorry I misunderstood your post. You posted right after the poster who is awesome and knows someone who receives PIP and that person obviously isn't entitled to receive PIP.

Yes, PIP is actually set up from the start not to be available to nearly anyone. I read an article about a woman who didn't have a leg and was denied PIP because she can walk, with a prosthesis leg! Or on a forum someone wrote because she's in a mobility scooter she can move around and was denied PIP. Same with cars, if a person is driving, they can move around. Or if a person is using public transport then they can move around. PIP application process doesn't make sense to me.

But, now the government will take it away at all.

@HidingUnderTheBleachers I appreciate what you’re saying, some people can’t choose not to have a mental health crisis, because everything overwhelms them.

But, I also think that there are people like the OP who are definitely struggling (but not quite as unwell yet), and they do choose whether to battle on or fall apart. Often it depends on their support network, because if you know that your spouse or parents will look after your children, the finances, etc., you can stop fighting to keep going.

Perhaps that sounds cynical, but I do know a few people IRL who I think have done this. My Dad, for example, has given into his MH problems many times without thought of how it would impact others. And it has had terrible impacts, especially for my Mum. 🙁

The thing with PIP is, that if they are denying it to people who are physically disabled, then people who struggle mainly only with mental health issues have nearly no chance getting it. All the fuss that everyone applying for PIP and not being entitled to it, is not real.

Reading all the stories about people being denied PIP when they really need it and deserve it, are very sad.

I agree. I actually think there should be more of a distinction between the kinds of mental health issues that are discussed (and 'accepted') in the mainstream like anxiety and depression, and severe, clinically diagnosed mental illnesses that can have a profound impact on everyday life, like OCD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and countless others.

I've been a high-functioning anxious person my entire adult life and worked throughout... until my manageable (or so I thought) anxiety and moderate OCD turned into full blown panic disorder and mental breakdown, for which I was hospitalised and suddenly couldn't work at all for six months. I never thought something like that would happen to me. Until it did.

So, I guess, when this topic is being discussed in relation to employment/welfare reform, I do think 'mental health issues' and 'mental illnesses' should almost be regarded as two separate things.

You can still work full time and claim pip….

Some of the comments on this thread are absolutely despicable. People being accused of 'giving in' to their mental health problems. Making other people's lives a misery. Do people 'give in' to Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, COPD, brain injury, cancer? I could go on. Anxiety is a real illness. Often people have a primary medical condition, with accompanying anxiety. Stating their anxiety on a claim form helps to build up a picture of how their life is impacted.

It really saddens me that posters are here talking about the very personal details of other people's medical conditions, thinking they know it all, when they really don't. And some of those posters thinking other people should buck up because that's what they did. It's a bit like when I was pregnant and felt extremely unwell for most of my 2 pregnancies, my mum blithely told me she was up a ladder cleaning windows at 8 months pregnant, the implication being I was a bit of a wuss. Biggest eye roll ever. Disclaimer - I know pregnancy is not an illness, but it's a good example of how something can affect everyone differently.

If you have never applied for PIP then you have no idea how rigorous the process is. Or how the appeal system works.

No one gets PIP on the basis of how many days off sick they have.

There are a lot of tall tales on this thread.

Not applying for PIP does not make you a better person, btw.

I think some of the posters are on a wind up. They can’t possibly be this obtuse.🙄

I know this wasn't the intention but those numbers have sent me off on an absolute fury!
Under 25s get significantly less! Wtf! How is that even legal? Why do we hate young people so much in this country? Treating disability benefits as if there's some sort of career progression within them. I bet that was the Tories deciding young people don't deserve it, they don't vote anyway so fuck them.

Truce accepted

It’s the same for all benefits, and also for minimum wage. It’s ridiculous to think that the cost of living is less for younger people.

Yes lots of people did offer support, you're not wrong. I don't imagine those messages went in though. With her state, I'm sure the only messages that really went in, were the ones attacking her sadly. As I said, I hope she doesn't come back and hasn't read them.

@Kendodd, Clamping down on young people is something where we can be proud of the UK leading the way.

I honestly think we could really do with a national income payment. X small amount of money, just enough to live on, whether people worked or not. I bet, if we had that, more disabled people would actually be in work. It's often repeated how work is good for people (how convenient). I don't agree. I think it can be good for people, it can also be a massive source of stress. And I think one of the biggest stresses in life is money. The benefits system almost always, for disabled people at least, is a massive source of stress. And this stress I believe, is keeping people sick. You're disabled, one day you feel OK, really good if fact, you can go out, be really busy, but you don't dare, because if someone sees you, you might be called for benefits review, and tomorrow, you might not be able to get out of bed. So this fear means you don't get out of bed today. NMI (accompanied by council house/flat building and public services care/transport etc) takes away much of this stress. They might then have the confidence to do a job because their whole existence wouldn't depend on it going well.