To be confused by benefits cuts to the disabled and ill?

[AllyHayHay]

As luck would have it, I have not been in this position, but I do know of one disabled lady who has struggled. She was incredibly fortunate to already own her own home prior to her accident.

I am not what you'd call politically astute, but I have been reading about the proposed spring benefits cuts and wonder why people always discuss this ONLY affecting the sick and disabled.
I am also aware that there are many, many rough areas with families who have never worked, people who are struggling with addiction, prison sentences (their kids, spouse, etc) and these people never seem to be included in the Guardian articles and opinion pieces online.

Why would a system wish to make the life of a disabled person worse, yet ignore the growing issues of illiteracy, generational poverty and other issues which are going on in most urban areas just out of sight of the comfortably off?
Why not address the reasons that great swathes of people are living on benefits across the UK who are NOT disabled? I imagine this would drag up questions of why those issues persist - and no one in government wants to address that.

Since benefits claimants who are not in work of on the pension are a minority, are these cuts more of a populist tendency?

The increase in sickness and not working is amongst young people.

Good thing he didn’t get it then? PiP was able to tell genuine from fake there then

Nothing on the Gov website though. If there are going to be changes, it will be there.
Stop scare mongering.

It was inevitable with the rising costs.

Yes let's pick on the chronically ill people it's all their fault obviously. What about the UC that gets paid direct to landlords because they keep increasing rents so people can't afford it even if they are working, no one says anything about them.
What happened 5 years ago? A little thing called a pandemic, there are people waiting for treatments that were delayed because of that that still can't work, long covid too, healthcare workers who went off sick because of what they went through.

I have fibro, I have endometriosis, had 10 surgeries, chronic nerve pain, can't walk properly, spend 95% of time in bed. I wouldn't wish my pain on my worse enemy. Latest thinking is that it is autoimmune and it is mostly diagnosed in women but there isn't funding for research into women's illnesses. There already is research that shows it is a real physical illness which result is pain signals being amplified.
Symptoms are joint pain, muscle pain, sleep problems becuase of the pain it is impossible to sleep properly so exhausted all the time, tinnitus, memory problems, migraines, the last goes on. I also have ME/CFS which is also very real and underfunded for research, main symptom is post exertion malaise which basically means every time you do anything (physical or mental) you are even more I'll for 3/4 days.
I have lost so much due to my health, my independence, ability to work, friends, time spent with my children and my husband. But carry on and blame us for the countries problems. There is no help from anywhere, gp, health service you are just left to get on with it as best you can with no cure in sight. Try to imagine that.
Believe me it is very real

Young people can’t be sick right?

Maybe something to do horrible nhs mental health services/waiting lists then?

extremely long waiting lists even for physical conditions after Covid?

cost of living crisis/covid affected young people more too/exacerbated conditions including mental.

More and more young people are now getting cancer that was previously only found in older people too

If they implement a scheme to assist people in getting to work they would need employers to co-operate which might be tricky

@Tortoisehair it is not always triggered by trauma, it can be triggered by surgery and other chronic pain conditions which sends pain signals haywire

@Meyla some people do, I have ME/CFS as well and the main symptom is post exertion malaise which mean exercise makes me worse, I can get down stairs some days and can barely walk. People shouldn't make sweeping generalisations when they don't know other peoples histories or what other illnesses they have

The increase is in neurodiversity and mental health issues.

I don't really think reassessing everyone is an option, where would the resources for that come from

This always annoys me, The asylums closed down in the eighties, forty years ago. They are not relevant to the much more recent increase in people with mental health problems.

Cost of living so high people now have to use their PiP to pay for bills

The cost of living is high for everyone.
But as many people do use PIP to pay for ordinary bills, we can not pretend everyone uses it to pay for the extra costs of being disabled. Some do use their PIP this way, but lots of people do not have additional costs and use their PIP for every day expenses.

Cost of living is high for everyone but even more worse for disabled

lets be real

and lot of these bills are extra costs of being disabled e.g heating, electricity needed, water, extra space for illness

many of these people have no choice but to pay for bills out of their disability money

Mental health problems does not mean you use more water or need more heat or need a larger house.

I was obviously talking about those with physical illness

You said people on pip use it to pay bills to which I simply replied.

but now that you bring up mental illness, I was interested and googled and

severe cleanliness ocd is one that can make you waste more water. E.g excessive washing, or other patterns that increase water and energy usage.

Schizophrenia or Severe Bipolar Disorder:

• Individuals with severe mental health conditions, like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, may struggle with executive functioning. This could lead to neglecting turning off lights, appliances, or other electronics, causing higher electricity usage. Additionally, they may forget to pay bills or miss payment deadlines, leading to late fees or disconnections.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD):

• PTSD can cause hypervigilance, where individuals may leave lights on or run appliances as a way to feel secure. They may also forget to turn things off or mismanage energy usage due to stress or emotional overwhelm.

Depression:

• People with severe depression may have low energy levels, lack motivation, or experience difficulty with organization. This can result in leaving appliances on, neglecting to close windows, or not managing heating or cooling systems properly. Additionally, if depression leads to job loss or financial instability, it may cause missed payments and late fees.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD):

• Some individuals with OCD may have compulsive behaviors related to checking appliances, lights, or locks, which can lead to increased electricity or water usage. They may repeatedly turn lights on and off or leave appliances running out of an obsessive need to ensure things are "just right."

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD):

• Some individuals on the autism spectrum may have difficulties with executive functioning, memory, and organization. This can lead to leaving lights, appliances, or heating systems on for long periods, or forgetting to turn them off when not in use.

people especially children with severe mental health issues who need a carer to stays with them too so extra space/waste

Etc

I wonder if some of the increase in people claiming disability benefits can be attributed to the change from Tax Credits to UC? In my situation, due to being a single parent and having longstanding MH issues, I worked reduced hours and topped-up my low income with Tax Credits. Nobody asked the reason why. I didn't consider myself disabled and managed to plod along until I was forced to change over to UC and declare why I was working reduced hours. Suddenly, I had to produce medical evidence, was assessed and declared 'disabled'. My situation hasn't changed in 10 years but the benefits system has, and now I'm one of those millions of people registered 'disabled' where I wouldn't have been previously if that makes sense? I can't be the only one in this situation and I wonder how much it skews the stats.

“And many of those people were working.” yeah and look how that ended.

many of these people were called weak/snowflakes and didn’t get the help they need too you know

maybe they would still be alive if taken seriously

Are the over 750k, like 8k in uk (highest since 1999) the rest eating, drinking and drugging themselves not enough for you to care? You want more to die?

I was bringing up suicides to remind that mental health is serious, since many like yourself seem to think it’s just an attention seeking weak for snowflakes unserious joke thing and make fun of them

i get yall people need to save money, but jeez, at least have some empathy and compassion.

i think it needs to be addressed/looked into why a rise of mentally ill. I believe there’s a reason. Like failing nhs mental health services.

i agree, it’s unsustainable but things can be done compassionately, without putting down the mentally ill, calling them names, insulting their illness and making fun of them

'The rich' fall in to two categories. The super rich who simply move to another country if they are taxed too heavily -reducing U.K. tax take, and those earning between £100 and £200k, who are already carrying 70% of the tax burden.

Raising taxes on the second group will drive more of them abroad. We'll end up with fewer doctors, dentists, engineers and entrepreneurs.. Not helpful! We live in a global economy and there are plenty of countries who actively court high earners and the highly skilled.

Instead, Everyone needs to contribute something, or at least take less.

Millions? Stop exaggerating.

in 2023, just over 7,000 people committed suicide in the U.K.

7,000 too many but not millions or even close to.

Another problem is how many doctors wrongly diagnose mental health/anxiety in people who have physical illness they struggle/can’t be bothered to find

illnesses that can be treated easily

there are people here on mumsnet for years who been told they anxious and depressed what later turned out to be missed anemia/b12/severe vitamin d deficiency that when corrected symptoms went away

I know someone with thyroid problems. For like a decade doctors told her it’s anxiety/mental till she travelled to her home country, Kyrgyzstan and was quickly diagnosed with thyroid and treated/prescribed meds. The doctor there asked why on earth did uk doctors not find it.

another one. told she mentally ill for years, fobbed off. then diagnosed with disautonomia/neurological illness abroad.

another one for years told she was mentally ill, tilt table diagnosed pots when she went private.

all these people now treated with meds and doing so much better/able to work.

and so many online like this. Even read cases of cancer wrongly diagnosed and missed cos doctors claimed anxiety

Almost a million worldwide every year. I read there’s a rise in uk suicides too. Add to that how many drinking, drugging, eating themselves to death because of mental health/to cope. How many alcoholic/drug/obesity deaths? I explained above why I mentioned suicides. Because people treat mental health as a snowflake joke and don’t take it seriously. Even make fun and insult. I just wanted to remind people that it’s serious. And they can make their point without being so hateful and acting like mental illness is no big deal

But that could be disability related
For instance it would really help me if I could drop from working 40hrs to 32hrs
That's technically not a disability aid but for fatigue it would be what I need
Or more pre prepped food so day to day food bills

I have a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. I wasn't expecting it and hadn't raised it as a possibility - however, I was sent for a battery of tests related to an assortment of worsening symptoms. When I got the consultant's letter, I discovered he'd been testing for multiple sclerosis but concluded I have fibromyalgia instead.

That's intended as an answer to "what is it even?" It's a nervous system malfunction, similar to MS but without demyelination. Pain and fatigue are common features. Cause unknown, presumed to be autoimmune, not psychological. More women but not sex-specific.

There are obvious internal contradictions when trying to legislate for mental illnesses and 'presumed' autoimmune conditions: there are no definitive tests or cures, so they're easy to fake or exaggerate. Yet they are real and their incidence is known to have ballooned since the pandemic. The same phenomena have been noted after every pandemic, as well. Populations don't just bounce back, depleted but otherwise unharmed, much as we may hope so.

On top of the Covid sequelae and the wider problems impacting our health & social systems, there's an elephant in the room that has been growing since the early 20th century: technological advances kill jobs. Pet subject warning: I don't think this is a bottomless spiral, but it's gonna get worse and there will have to be major disruptions before things change for the better.

Governments have been kicking this can down the road since the 1970s; there comes a point when you can't just kick it any further, you have to pick the damn thing up and deal with it. Full employment, with a 'job' for everyone, is never going to happen again. It doesn't matter how gently you coach all the fucked-up people back into work, if the work no longer exists.

It's possible that, in a roundabout way, the increase in young people's 'unemployability' could prompt the challenging restructures that are going to be necessary. It's unpleasant, though, requiring bold imagination and a determined redistribution of funds. That means much bigger taxes. The same issue's everywhere, which means lots of governments having their own ideas on how to fix it and fighting for the resources to do so. Fun times ahead.

... and I've rambled far, far away from fibromylagia 😳 Hitting 'post' anyway, as I'm only expanding on the thread topic!