To be really cross about the proposed cuts?

[Byjimminy]

And feel really effing sorry for those with genuine anxiety and depression - it is disabling!

Already seeing threads in MH with people despairing in anticipation of cuts. As if mental health services haven't already been decimated beyond recognition already. GP appointments as rare as hen's teeth, CAMHS and access to decent therapy is next to non-existent, the conservatiives slashed all the support workers and sure start centres and we've had the worst pandemic in decades (centuries?) - long covid is thing too! And now people are just self diagnosing/making up mental health issues? How the hell anyone believes anyone manages to claim PIP without a proper diagnosis is insanity itself.

I completely agree with this article: https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/wes-streeting-overdiagnosis-mental-health-adhd-b2716618.html

I know there will be umpteen threads on this already, but maybe some others like me just want to let stuff out in frustration and have a fresh place to say it. To think this is a labour government making these decisions BEFORE putting the services in place to actually help and treat people is beyond comprehension.

Since when did someone decide to become an MP for a taylor swift concert ticket ffs. Nonsense. The PPE? I don’t think Tory MPs went into the job with the sole intention of making money. An ego boost is much more likely. They saw no problem with helping their mates make a quick buck on the PPE and that’s (rightly) why they were booted out.

Exactly. No one seems to try to cope, or look for alternative financial help from friends and family, or use their savings. They just try to get all of the money they are ‘entitled to’. I could no doubt put in a PIP claim for my child’s therapy fees. It just seems so unnecessary. If we couldn’t fund it privately we’d be on the NHS waiting list or a family member would fund it. At no point would I think of asking the government to fund it.

I’ve always felt that unemployment benefit should be quite lean and limited in duration, while sickness/disability benefit (for those too disabled or ill to work) should actually be quite generous. If someone is genuinely unable to work, we should be looking after them proper.

Which then raises the question of incentivising people to be ‘sick’. Personally I’m of the view that this can be prevented with a decent long-term strategy. Most people want to be self-sufficient. Most people want to have the money to have nice things and feel a sense of pride when they’ve been able to acquire something or achieve something through their own efforts. Give them half a chance and support to do that and they will.

When we have people who don’t, if you look a bit harder you’ll find the same patterns recurring time and time again, often the result of a disadvantaged childhood. Many lack desirable employability skills because they didn’t achieve many qualifications while at school and have poor coping mechanisms when under pressure. It is vanishingly rare that those who ‘play the system’ (and yes, of course they exist) are perfect employees who just woke up one day saying “nah, can’t be bothered anymore”. For these people, long-term unemployment or sickness is an end result.

If we really want to fix this problem, we have to take a preventative approach. We need a massive investment in education, early years support and social care. Which I don’t see happening.

For those already in this situation a few things that might help would be investment in mental health services, community support groups (communities in general to be fair), free adult education, an investment in public transport to make it easier for those too poor to learn to drive and own a car to get to work (outside of the main cities this is a major problem). I don’t see any of this happening either.

So we’re left with the situation where we fail to support people to get work or stay in work, and then punish them for not being in work.

We are trying to fix a very broken system and it’s not possible to start with the root causes as it’s been going on too long

the long term sick rates in the Uk are mad

This government won the election by a landslide. This is what we voted for.

But if you dont tackle the root causes you won’t change anything. It’s like fishing the bodies out of the river downstream rather than looking to see what’s happening upstream.

All that will happen is that sickness disability payments will go down and unemployment payments will go up. Which may be cheaper in the short term but will cost more in the long term. The result will be more children in poverty, disadvantaged and growing up to be tomorrow’s unemployable.

Eldest DS has a diagnosis of autism, severe generalised anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, diabetes and a few other things. He spent a lot of time in hospital special schools as even the special schools struggled with him. He now lives in a MIND supported flat. He is in the ESA support group facing a change to UC and gets every disability benefit possible yet he is absolutely terrified by the proposed changes to PIP on top as he understands them and yes it certainly is making him unwell from the extra stress. I have had six phone calls about just that from him so far today. If I was sure the Government funded money ‘saved’ would be diverted to improve MH and disability support and provision I would feel a little happier but I am not so sure having tried to access crisis help for an adult known to the CMHT and all.

It's not what we voted for @Swiftie1878

I think people like your son are the most difficult cases. There seems to have been an explosion of them over the last 10 years, so fast the support services have no hope of keeping up, and so many that they have little hope of doing so. There doesn’t seem to be any really effective treatment, which I think is part of the problem. Equally we can’t afford the benefits to keep going in the trajectory they are.

We can't afford not to have the health and social services we need. It's so short sighted. We're seeing the knock on effects of that now, in our young people due to the disgraceful declining state of CAMHS in the wake of a world wide pandemic. When we've got to the point where £400 Easter eggs for sale is making the news, surely that tells us we have our priorities wrong somewhere? When someone is identified in need of a specific NHS therapy and there is a year long waiting list, how is that person supposed to manage for that year?

Nothing difficult as SS wanted to place him in secure MH accommodation. he has been on everyone’s radar since he was born. Spend five minutes with him and you are left in no doubt he has a severe disability hence he gets everything.
It’s those who appear to function in mainstream schools, who are assumed to be able to function if you take support from them…those are the ones who will be most impacted by proposed changes and most likely to die as a result.

Maybe family help.
There is not a job for every single person that wants one and the cost of living is huge.

We're seeing the knock on effects of that now, in our young people due to the disgraceful declining state of CAMHS in the wake of a world wide pandemic
CAMHS can only do so much if parents are not behind to implement coping techniques at home.
Sadly, many parents see CAMHS as a mean to pass on responsibility.

Parental roles have shifted significantly in the past generation. All those considerations over breastfeeding or not, hours on tablets, worrying about children being bored and needing constant entertainment, debates over whether it is better to be a sham or not....yet so little thoughts about how we are teaching our children to cope with stress, deception, frustrations, fears, disagreements, etc...

I am worried about this too. Life is a struggle enough as it is with my disability. If my money is cut and I am having to go to the Job Centre, I will face sanctions all the time as I would not be able to cope with the work activities and work search.
I will be in a constant state of stress and overwhelm. I end up having meltdowns (I am autistic), get taken away by police and have members of the public think it is funny. Or I get so dysregulated I self harm and end up in hospital.
I would no longer be able go to my support groups that is a lifeline and will be left isolated.
I lived in that state of stress and overwhelm for a long time and the prospect of going through that again is making me want to no longer be here.

Severe OCD since i was 5 years old, officially diagnosed at 15, so 30 years suffering but diagnosis 20 years ago. At my worst it took me 8 hours straight in complex rituals just to go to the toilet. Every single time i had to go to the toilet. The entire 8 hours spent in extreme focus and concentration, it was exhausting, all i did was use the toilet and sleep.The anxiety of not knowing whats going to happen with disability benefits and if i'll be able to afford to live is causing a noticeable decline in my condition, I'm now completely housebound bar any medical appointments which are a major struggle to leave the house for. Access to MH support has been shite the entire 20 years i've tried over and over to get help. I'd love to be able work but i can't, i feel completely useless, and that the only positive i'll ever be able to give back to society is donating my organs when i die.

Suicide is literally the fall back plan i use to calm myself when i get in a major panic. Lose a roof over my head and have no access to toilets and running water? (severe germ phobia and biggest fear in the world is wetting myself) It's okay, if i get to that point and i can't cope and have a mental breakdown, i can escape it all by killing myself. This should NOT be what someone in this day and age should have as their plan B and how they soothe themselves when facing these cuts.

Some good points made but also some conditions are recoverable so the diagnosis is for a time only and should not used forever

This is where surestart centres were so helpful. Often parents come up against issues due to failures in their own upbringing. Sometimes the impact of childhood issues don't fully come to light until a parent finds themselves in the thick of it, or is found harder or more complex than thought, for a plethora of reasons. If a parent hasn't addressed their own issues, or more come up, both parents and children need support. Help needs to be congruent and timely for both parents and children - it just hasn't been there for decades. And now we have a generation of young people being gaslighted into believing they are snowflakes and making up issues. This generation are our future workforce, they need to be supported to make the best of their lives and opportunities.

And I'm really sorry to read the level of distress and anxiety this situation is causing for so many, worrying about the impact of whatever decisions are being made. Am grateful for the posts and experiences being shared. Less grateful for the passive aggressive private laugh emojis from people too spineless to contribute anything constructive or positive. I hope others who've shared their distress aren't also experiencing these.

Totally agree, very few people have conditions that are untreatable. However, if treatment and support is not there, or there is a substantial waiting list, how can people put a timescale on their recovery?

I agree, I think the language around this is really important. To me 'disabled' sounds like a permanent situation. I'd be interested to see if others think this as well or if I'm misreading the word? Anyway, if it does suggest permanence, I really don't think it's helpful language for many, many conditions. If you have depression and are described as 'disabled' that might cement this idea and identity, you are a disabled person in the same way a blind person (for example) is disabled.

I agree, I think the language around this is really important. To me 'disabled' sounds like a permanent situation. I'd be interested to see if others think this as well or if I'm misreading the word? Anyway, if it does suggest permanence, I really don't think it's helpful language for many, many conditions. If you have depression and are described as 'disabled' that might cement this idea and identity, you are a disabled person in the same way a blind person (for example) is disabled.

I tend to avoid these threads because I guess I'm scared of being accused of ableism or being heartless but I agree with you. I think there is a a difference between being ill and being disabled but it doesn't sound as if the benefit or health system differentiates between them.

But what happens in the year 2050 when we have 10+ million people all suffering from ASD, ADHD, anxiety, PTSD and OCD?

I have OCD so trust me I know what it feels like, but what actually happens when the needy begin to outnumber taxpayers, or the ratio is 1:2? What do we actually do?

We just can’t afford it, thats the bottom line really.

@PassingStranger not everyone has family to look after them, so is the answer to let them starve? No one chooses to have their parents die or abandon them.

It's very hard to get my head around all this, it's quite obvious that Labour have set up hundreds of fake accounts on social media to push this narrative. It's incredibly sad that we've gone from a fairly empathic society to one that hates disabled people quite literally overnight.