Ok who wants to swap £2500 a month in benefits for my husbands MS and my epilepsy, narcolepsy and fibromyalgia.

[bluebirdblackbird]

Well according to a lot of people on here we are on a good thing.

the 20 seizures I have in a week, chronic pain and night terrors, losing my memory after a seizure, pissing myself, hallucinations. They are all great fun. Not to mention the amount of times I have been accused of being drunk after a seizure.

or there is my husband. Diagnosed with progressive MS. Cronic Pain, shaking, cronic pins and needles, weakness in limbs plus losing mobility. Had to give up his teaching job 4 months ago after gradually reducing hours.

Not to mention the judgement when we use a blue badge because we look ok in that moment. And apparently labour are going to find us both work. Yippee cant wait to meet the employer who is going to take us both on. I am sure pissing my chair on a reg basis won’t matter to them or the losing counciouness at least a couple of times a day.

i am just fed up of yet another they are on benefits and get money and it’s not fair stamp stamp stamp. The bastards have saved up for a holiday- it’s not fair. The bastards have a mobility car but they look fine, OMG- they have got new carpets or a new sofa.

since I am guessing they none of the moaners would actually swap places with us if they could then STFU.

oh and that pip that is easy to get- my husband gets lower rate for both and that is despite providing all the evidence and appealing so we are off to tribunal. He can’t even dress himself most days and he can’t hold a pan safely or manage his medication plus many other things. If he stays on the points he is on he will lose his pip completely under these new labour proposals.

but most people know someone who’s friends, aunts, nephews, stepdaughters, cousin twice removed who lied and got it. I was taking to a lady in a wheelchair who does not get any mobility component of pip at all.

I won’t swap (already on pip) just ❤️ to you both. It’s tough at the moment with all the lies and just ill will to those on pip.

I agree. We’re all living the life of Riley, apparently. Yep, it’s such fun to have a disability or illness AND the joy of being treated like some sort of lazy feckless underclass by people who’ve never ever had to walk a mile in our shoes.

My mum has just been through a PIP tribunal (she won, thank God) and it’s been a year of horrible stress while it’s been ongoing - wishing you all the best for it. All I can say is that the judge at my mum’s could easily see the inaccuracies in the report just by looking at her when she walked in. I don’t know if we were just lucky, but the actual tribunal itself wasn’t nearly as bad as expected.

Having seen a lot of my mums struggles I can entirely sympathise with the rest of your post. My parents recently managed to have a drive put in because parking on their street is a nightmare, and my mum would have to walk 50m to the car sometimes. Sounds like nothing to an able-bodied person for to her it was very difficult. The pip money enabled them to afford it - but it came with a lot of curtain twitching and judgment from neighbours (and some family!).

I’m in Australia, and receive what I assume is the equivalent (DSP - Disability Support Pension). There’s so much I could say, but I’ll whittle it down to sending solidarity. X

Oh god, I feel your pain. My epilepsy is not well controlled by meds, and the seizures, the dropping to the ground often cracking my head off the pavement, the seizing in public, being gawked at whilst pissing myself in the middle of the street, losing huge chunks of time, and often my memories for days. I'll be honest, it's made me suicidal. It's a fucking never-ending nightmare.

I also have Crohn's Disease, I have been in utter agony for days now with my current flare-up. I have shit myself several times in the past two days. I challenge any fucker to swap lives with me. I don't even qualify for any benefits, but aside from that, losing my career, my quality of life, my independence, my dignity, has broken me.

None of that wittering is helpful to you, but please know that you are not alone, and I understand how unbearable it is

I'm able-bodied, not on any benefits, and I hear you. I assist people with disabilities at work and the things they tell me! Keep shouting @bluebirdblackbird more people need to hear it!

Going to raise my head far above the parapet here and say I think you are missing the point. It's not the benefits people are riled by, it's often the amount people receive in benefits that people query. Many people working full time take home a lot less than the 2.5K you mention. 2.5K a month would be equivalent to take home pay for a salary of what, about 39K a year. All the best.

To add... or those people who are not (/particularly) disabled, and claim. Basically the scammers who fake 'invisible' illnesses like fibromyalgia, or back pain, when they don't actually have it.

Well, my leg is going to grow back in 2026 (next assessment date) so I'm looking forward to that!
I don't get the same level.of benefits as OP, but I'm very grateful for what I do get. It means I am.able to lease a car, to go out to work and be a productive member if society!

If my PIP ever stops, I'll effectively be housebound, and therefore cost more.

Your life sounds very tough OP x

I assume OP means for two of them so that’s hardly a reasonable income?

I feel very similar as a mother of a disabled child who gets DLA.

My son suddenly became disabled at 8 after complications caused by cancer. It was a miracle he survived, I was told multiple times that he wouldn't.

Hands up who wants a motability car and some extra money but their child has to get cancer first, almost die and then be left disabled?

........Didn't think so.

I'm on high rate pip and it's like 700 ish pound a month and its a real struggle being disabled is expensive where are people getting 2.5k from

I think you've misunderstood what ppl are complaining about.

Benefits are absolutely for people like you (and the other PPs on here) but sadly your genuine needs have gotten lost in the noise caused by the "depression & anxiety" discourse. The issue is that depression and anxiety as reasons why ppl aren't in work has skyrocketed, especially among the younger aged ppl. That is frustrating society as physically they could work!

Of course, depression and anxiety is a sliding scale but it's an epidemic sweeping the country and will simply become unaffordable.

Bottom line, less people need to be claiming benefits and start working or there will be no money left to pay for people like you who genuinely need benefits and I'd be very surprised if you found a single person on MN who didn't think you needed them.

Although I agree with what you are saying on the face of it, i don't think people realise how extreme the anxiety disorder and depression would have to be to get pip. You would be highly unlikely to be entitled to pip from a diagnosis from a gp, anti depressants and a bit of cbt. It really will need to of gone further where your under secondary care services and its having a extremely significant impact on your life. I don't know with other benefits so much but pip is very very hard to get.

where are people getting 2.5k from

The thread title? 😐

I think you've both missed the point completely

No i mean who is paying people 2.5k a month what benefits are these as it isn't pip. If it's universal credit housing element etc that's not a disability benefit. It's just misleading

Whilst I appreciate what you're saying about severity of illness being on a scale, I want to gently correct the idea that you have to be under secondary care for depression or anxiety to be getting PIP. It's not necessarily necessary - I can think of a handful of people I know well who have or currently claim PIP for those reasons who have never been under secondary care. In one case someone who has never actually properly engaged with any care at all, and just declines everything offered by their GP.

I think that £2.5k in the title is for 2 people.

Reading some of these posts does make me wonder if i just had a really harsh pip assessor as I have bpd, bipolar, anxiety, depression plus physical conditions have been under cmht for years am on antidepressants, mood stabilisers, anti physchotics. Been sectioned and hospitalised multiple times. Have multiple consultants across 3 trusts for physical health conditions including neurology, cardiology and vascular and I still initially got rejected for pip. So I find it really hard to understand how others are doing this

Oh ok that would make more sense. With pip and the health element of universal credit for 2 people

It really isn't always. I have 3 family members claiming. The only one who has actual care/mobility needs is the one who struggled to get it this time round. Fortunately I was with him during his phone assessment and when he was awarded 0 points I was able to pick apart the lies the assessor had written on the report to appeal (Also refused at MR). Had I not been able to do this he wouldn't have got it. I honestly believe it's because he seen as an easy target because of his difficulties.

In contrast the other 2 both awarded straight away because they are both able to write/say what was needed. One is also on UC and gets a lot of money.

It makes me mad when I see some of the threads on here about people who are clearly entitled to PIP being denied it. Totally understand that they don't always have the energy to fight. It's draining.

I do think the system needs an overhaul but need to ensure people who genuinely need it (like the ones on this thread) don't lose out.

OP said 2.5k in benefits, not 2.5k in PIP. She talked about PIP within that. We live in a tiny 2 bed rented house and the landlady is kind enough not to gouge us for every penny she possibly could so the rent is well under market average for the area, 2.5k a month as an income would just cover living expenses for our family without anything left over and that's without the additional challenges of struggling to do food prep, carry heavy shopping, pay for prescriptions or regular therapeutic treatments. If we had to pay market average rent or mortgage that income would sink us.

That would be life with no subscriptions, memberships, day trips, holidays, beauty treatments, takeaways, meals out. We'd be cutting each other's hair as well.

I suspect when people hear 2.5k in benefits they think 'ooh that sounds like a lot' because they think of benefits as something people get on top of wages. They've never experienced not being able to work or having long term health conditions that add massively to your cost of living.

I do 100% agree with this my initial report was full of blatant lies and multiple reports from consultants, cpn, care coordinator, gp, psychiatrist etc where ignored. It does seem to be more based on people's ability to fill a form out which is so wrong. I wish they would take more notice of actual medical evidence and reports rather then what the claimants is saying.

Thanks for sharing that powerful post OP. We need to hear voices like yours much more often. Sending solidarity to you and husband x