issues with uc and being in limited for work group

[masterofdoom]

i'm in limited for work group on universal credit due to poor mental health i have activities i'm required to do which until today were always 12 hours or a few hours a week but today i had an appointment with my advisor told her i was struggling mentally after my meds were increased from 50 mg to 100 mg and i had been referred to a mental health nurse she tells me that i've to continue doing my activities for a few hours a week and that i had to accept my commitments or no money so i read through my commitments and my commitments have been increased from 12 hours to 20 hours a week after me just telling her i was struggling and wasn't sleeping its as if it went in one ear and out the other so i'm unsure what to do

No, I moved into teaching, actually, after being an Ed Psych for decades.

Pampered? What? You're just talking absolute rubbish now.

Aw. Resorting to name-calling. How very "kind".

No it's the chronic sleep deprivation. If you genuinely have only had two hours of sleep in 24 hours, since 2008, then you will be suffering and under performing, in every way because of it. I'd question you seeing clients. Your lack of knowledge as to why people don't fully engage, is astounding.

Mental illness can range from mild anxiety to somebody being in the grips of active psychosis a
I don't think you can judge someone on the basis of your own experience.some people with severe and enduring mental illness will never be able to work

I worded that wrong, you think everyone should be the same as you, and that you know everything about mental health issues and how it affects people and your way of dealing with it is the only genuine way. Actually, lots of people with genuine mental health issues struggle with engagement, and those who are severely struggling with it can find it very hard to ask for and engage with help. I find it much harder when I am struggling more. I work too as it happens.

Consistently over-performing, actually. Carry on, though. This is most amusing.

👏

Indeed. I thought that was well known these days.

mainly being that people who are genuinely ill want nothing more than to improve. I've been so desperate with pain recently, that I've wanted to die. Do you think I'd turn down any support offered to me?

Ah I was kind of seeing your point until this bit. Yes people who are unwell want to improve but not all support is actually supportive or helpful, and people who are unwell still have agency over whether they spend their time and energy on something that is framed as supportive but in fact works against their well being.

I’d be worried about any mental health professional who took a one size fits all, you must not want to get well approach to recovery.

When you're on disability benefits, you don't get any privacy

Just get on with it. Honestly the more you cooperate, the more they help you.

It has nothing to do with disability benefits (for once). All benefit claimants are required to share their personal information and details, and that is right and proper if you want to claim public money. If you want PIP, you must share diagnoses and impacts, often very personal details. If you want unemployment benefits you must share what you are doing to find work and your banking details etc. So I agree that privacy is surrendered if you make claims on public money, and it isn't something that you can complain about. It is what it is. No system could sustain a position where it is a free for all and nobody is ever required to disclose relevant information.

If @masterofdoom ever comes back, I would still like to clarify - did they actually say that their commitment had been reduced from 20 hours to 5 hours in the 45 minutes they were posting here, because if it is only 5 hours that doesn't seem unreasonable, and the issue is more about how they can show that they have done something on the "towards work" journey.

If your condition has genuinely got worse, which the doubling of the medication would seem to suggest, you can report a worsening of your condition. You will need to back it up with a FIT note confirming that you are now too unwell for any work, and keep sending in FIT notes.

This should trigger a reassessment of your "capability for work" status. They should send out another capability for work questionnaire after a few weeks, which will eventually lead to another medical assessment. I strongly recommend that you get advice from CAB, or similar organisation that helps with welfare rights issues, when it comes to completing the questionnaire. Failing that, make sure you research the descriptors and points before you fill it in. The form is more technical than it appears. (Guide to these is here: LCWRA descriptors and points).

i did say they changed theyre mind in the time i was on here from 20 hrs per week to 5 and i believe everyone should be able to have privacy just because theyre on benefits doesnt make them public property and shouldnt mean they cant have some sort of dignity

must be great being perfect we all bow before your greatness

Hi op I'm curious, your limited work capability is that where you can't work at all or can work at some point? It's just my son has had his capability for work assessment so I'm wondering what they will expect from him if they say he has limited work capability because he would struggle with being made to go to support groups etc

If your medication dose isn’t working for you, why not reduce it if you were capable of doing more on a lower dose?

i wasnt capable of doing more on lower doze thats why it was increased i rarely sleep even when i do i still feel i havent and constantly feel tired and exhausted

The thing is though, those activities actually do help. I have bipolar disorder so I do know what it is like to be seriously unwell.

I am assuming you are under the CMHT given you are seriously unwell, can you speak to them and see if they can offer you additional support?

What’s the criteria for the “activities”? It’s less than 3 hours a day - can it broken down into smaller half hour chunks? There’s a wealth of free information and help online- could it include doing courses or reading information? There are free L2 and L1 online qualifications you do and all sorts of other courses.

I don't think there is any criteria as such. You have to spend x number of hours "preparing for work"
I've just finished a level 2 course online which seemed to satisfy my job coach.

i did that all i got was refered to a disabillity advisor i got a phone call from her every two weeks to make sure that i was doing my activities

and i dont mind being expected to do activities im not lazy id rather do things outside the house rather than being in 24/7 thats not healthy but sometimes i get stressed if i feel that im doing too much and i dont cope well like this week ive had 4 doctors appointment for different things then ive had three groups ive went to each lasting 3 hours then ive volunteered as well and i pushed myself to go to cinema which i know was a personal thing but im not good at doing things like that as im not good going out in a social setting specially on my own so i know people assume because im in limited for work group i just sit about doing nothing i try and be active id also say theres this assumption that if youve had anxiety for a set period of time people think it should be gone and u should be better it doesnt work like that

Well again, if you actually read my comments, you'd know that I'm far from perfect. My body doesn't work, I have to rely on a wheelchair and I'm in constant, severe pain. My brain doesn't work, I have several mental illnesses, and I have AuDHD. Very, very far from perfect.

What have psychological support services said? Surely you have a mental health nurse/support worker if you're so severe you can't work? Aren't they trying to help you access the support you don't want to go to?

i do read your comments go look up sanctimonious

There are three possible outcomes form a work capability assessment.

1. they find you fit for work and you need to do 35 hours job searching a week.
2. . They award you LCW ( Limited capability for work ). this is where you don't have to job search but can be asked to attend some workshops etc and make some preparations/ moves to getting back into work.
3. They award you LCWRA - This means they don't expect you to look for any kind of work or do any kind of work related activities. they basically leave you alone and give you £420 extra per month.