To be fed of of vile comments re disability and pip- so come on those people suggest a job for me.

[Laughydodo]

Named changes for this

Fed up of the vile comments about disability including on mumsnet.
(I know it’s a minority on here). Especially against those who claim PIP.

Fed up of feeling like a second class citizen because I claim benefits.

Fed up of people saying my mental health will improve if I am at work.

Fed up of disability top trumps with people saying things like- I have this , this and this disability and I manage to work.

Fed up that some people seem be hoping that Pip is abolished and then people like us will have to find another way to support ourselves. Also so fearful of this happening.

I clung onto work for years with having epilepsy and fibromyalgia. Fighting to stay in while employers were trying everything to get rid of me. I would be let go from one job on health grounds only to start the process again and it end the same way.

I now claim pip and esa as i have up to 20 seizures a week. Half of which I lose my memory and speech (I don’t even recognise my husband at times) and are totally wiped out for half a day at least . Would love some of the smug arseholes that’s seem to think everyone can work find someone who is willing to employ me. Oh and I piss myself as well and lose control of my bowels with many of my seizures. This is without the pain of fibro coming into it all.

So come on then these people on here who think all disabled people should work- suggest all the jobs that I can do that will benefit my mental health so I won’t be a burden on the state. Would you honestly be happy to employ me?

Sorry but the self righteous comments from people who dont have a clue is really starting to boil my piss. Oh and one day it might happen to them. I was 22 when I developed epilepsy, 30 when I got fibro after having glandular fever. I would not wish this one anyone obviously but people seem to forget that disability can happen at any time.

So waiting for the jobs suggestions to begin and the list of employers that would employ me-

My BIL knows that a lot of people fraudulently claim benefits because he once saw a man get out of a car which had a blue badge on and run up the road.

No amount of pointing out that showing a blue badge didn't mean that the driver was disabled, but could apply to a passenger in the car, and that it didn't bestow automatic entitlement to disability related benefits would change his mind.

But then that particular BIL is an arsehole of such magnitude that I'm amazed he manages to remain full of utter shit.

@RaiseYourSkinnyFists

I am the same. I was under CMHT and they tried many times to get me to apply for PIP. They were certain I would get it, but also expressed concerns with how I would cope with the whole process. I can't fill in the most basic of forms, and my team helped with the UC forms. But the ones for PIP are something else.

I am no longer under a CMHT, so it is worrying to see several people on here say that you wont get PIP for MH issues if you are not under secondary care. That is simply not true, and can put people off even trying. Most of my social circle consists of people with MH issues, and most of the people claiming PIP are not under a CMHT team, and have not seen anyone other than their GP for many years.. One person I know has only ever been under GP care, and was awarded PIP for her MH issues. She did not even send in any evidence from a professional (on advise from CAB - was just told to give her GP details).

The whole system is so inconsistent, and it seems to be a case of who is assessing you on the day, and who is making the decision (and probably what mood they are in).

😁. We have not had a Blue Badge thread for a while!

Oh, don't tempt fate, Lady K!

True! You are right there, I shouldn't 😄.

MH is hard I also have it and know how exhausting it is and how disablising it can be but there is so much we can do to improve our mental health if we engage with the services and help that is out there and incorporate things into our daily routines and we will get better eventually. IF mental health issues are all you have things can get better there are a lot of resources out there even for free. I am on benefits partly for mental health and I am doing everything I can. I am thinking about potentially starting a business from home if I can get well enough and stick to a routine. I am also autistic though and that is a disability that I can’t do anything to get rid of. I also have co morbid conditions that affect my joints and bowels etc. it is really worrying that DLA and pip claims are rising to an unsustainable rate due to mental health, especially if things can be done for mental health

I get PIP for my mental health, enhanced for daily living and standard for mobility.

People will see me in public walking around Tesco laughing with my partner, or going to work and being happy and friendly there. I'm sure it would confuse some as to how I can go swimming or to the cinema, maybe they'll be on this thread saying "my neighbour gets pip but I've seen her walk her dog and at Nandos".

The key is 'on good days'. There are way more bad days than good and they are crippling, I miss out on 95% of my life so going to the cinema or to Tesco is a massive win for me. I can still smile, I can still have fun, on the good days. I'm not going to go into what the bad days for me are like- I've spent 20 months of the past 4 years sectioned in hospital (3 times).

I use my PIP to pay for therapy and because I simply cannot work full time, I barely manage part time honestly with the amount of time I've had to had off for the times I'm not coping. I don't know what I'd do without it, I know without the therapy I couldn't work at all, so without PIP I'd need to claim UC or similar, costing the government more money. In my case, giving me PIP enables me to work and stay off other benefits.

Happy to have reasonable discussions around getting pip for MH, if it will help anyone reading. My journey to getting it was relatively easy- I've never had an assessment, and the first award was for 2 years and the most recent was for 4.

Yes, I was being very diplomatic indeed! I've volunteered in welfare rights and seen some terrible assessment reports that were frankly full of the brown stuff. Also have my own experiences of the system and to say what I said to the assessor was misrepresented is another very polite way of putting it. The things you describe above do not surprise me one bit sadly.

Give it up. Anecdotes do not trump statistics. Anecdotes can be (and not infrequently are) completely made up bullshit. That's why they are not considered valid evidence.

I have no doubt there are some people who try to falsely claim PIP, but the stats show they don't get away with it.

Exactly. This is why anecdotes are useless to try to back up a claim of fact.

Have you had an anxiety disorder so disabling that you couldn't even leave the house and lived in fear every waking moment? No? Then you don't know what that's like, do you.
You seem completely unaware that the severity can differ widely. That's pretty basic knowledge, so how is it that you don't know that?
Everyone has experienced anxiety at times. It is not remotely the same as a disorder such as the above example.

No problem. I'm a night owl too.🙂

@Gloriia said;

We all know of other people that this just isn't the case though.

No we do not. I have never met a single person getting disability benefits who did not need them. I've met a number of people who needed them and couldn't get them. That's how hard they are to get.

They leave the comments up so other users can challenge them. But when the comments are bordering on hate towards disabled people, it almost feels like MNHQ condoning it at times... and that it is left to disabled users to defend themselves. Some comments on here have got very personal.
On one thread about PIP, someone asked a poster who has a DD with anorexia what she needs PIP for, as "she does not have food costs". Fucking vile.

I always say sunlight is the best disinfectant. It's far better to expose the flaws of these arguments than it is to have them removed.
Then everybody can see how full of shit these people are.

Clearly with your medical problems you couldn’t work, many can’t.
I do think people are under the misconception you can’t work AND claim high rate PIP mobility and care though.

It is daft, because the people on the high rate of both components are able to work because they get them.

I know a chap who is on the highest for both, and he is on light touch re-assessments as he will only get worse, and never better. He WFH, and has some days in the office. He is amazing, to be fair.

I'm really sorry you're having such a tough time OP. I know it must be hard but please try to ignore the spiteful, ignorant comments. Those posters would soon change their minds should they find themselves in need of PIP. I hope your health situation improves. xx

Think it must be the same newspaper that at least once a week publishes a headline to the effect of everyone receiving PIP will have it stopped in the next few weeks. Really fucks me off.

I follow WalesOnline on FB, and they post this shit all the time.... "you can claim PIP if you have one of these conditions" type thing. Followed up by shitty ableist comments.

There are two specific posters on MN who will bring up getting PIP for "writer's cramp" anytime there is a thread about PIP/benefits. I don't tend to remember usernames, but they stick out every time. Thankfully, they have not appeared on this one... yet.

@LakieLady

Thanks so much for what you do.
Several years ago, I did DD's DLA and PIP myself right through to Tribunal with help from the CAB forms online that you linked to previously on this thread and the Benefits and Work guides.

I found the assessor's report and the DWP's backing of such, despite years of medical evidence to the contrary, very trying. It's almost as if the system is designed to wear you out.

I also thought sending me a letter saying I needed to reply within one month of the date seemed fine, until I realised that "month" was over 2 weeks shortened between them dating it and it arriving here. There was also a bank holiday in the "month " I had to reply.

I sent all replies to them 1st class tracked and signed for. My reply arrived at their address 48 hours before the end of their "month" and they wrote back to me immediately saying it had arrived too late and I would have to start a new claim. I replied with a copy of their receipt of my letter and asked for an explanation, they never got back to me.

It's all of those tactics which are so demoralising and unfair for disabled people who have no help or support.

I'm so pleased to hear you and your team can help as many people as you can. Thanks so much 😊

I don't follow then I'm not even in Wales yet their shit pops up all the time. Awful news paper

I really think this thread should be taken down.
It's full of bullying, nasty and idle-chit chatting.
These are instruments of repression used by governments.
None of you know what it is like to have to go through the process of claiming PIP, unless you have had to do it yourself. To make judgments about other people and their personal circumstances, without even meeting them is cruel and it has to stop. It's not helpful to the OP and it is one of the reasons it can feel overwhelming for people in this position. They need support and not further confusion.

I’m sure MNHQ will remove any posts they think break the talk guidelines.
Let’s stop shutting down conversations just because some people don’t like to hear opposing views shall we?

Oh I don’t get the benefits system at all. It’s bizarre.

we’ve had to apply for universal credit for the first time recently.

my DH has multiple myeloma cancer. He suffered 6 broken vertebrae from it, and is heavily medicated with morphine for pain.

the cancer is terminal in that you can’t cure it. Not a 3-6 month type prognosis. Could be a month, a year, 5 years. It will relapse though and stop responding to chemo at some point.

as a result he was awarded higher rates of PIP.

I had to give up my job to become his full time carer. Gutted. I lived my job.

We also have responsibility for 2 small children.

off we went to the job centre where we are told. I don’t have to come in anymore as I’m a carer and therefore exempt from a job search.

my DH though, with his terminal cancer has to have an appointment with his work coach! Even the advisor had the good grace to chuckle. She called over his job coach who shook his head in disbelief.

the appointment was supposed to be at 9am in person. I’m lucky if I can even wake him from his morphine haze by 9!

in fairness to them they sent us to the GP to get a ‘fit note’ to say he couldn’t work, the GP was horrified and quite bluntly added an email saying she couldn’t put an end date on a fit note due to the nature of the disease.

the appointment has been moved to the phone and they openly admit that this is a paper pushing exercise. It seems like such a waste of everyone’s time though!

in what society is someone with a terminal diagnosis ever supposed to look for work??