Benefits explosion- where will it end?

[TheBlueKoala]

"PIP benefits explosion: Anxiety and depression handouts have nearly TRIPLED to £4.3bn since Covid - with autism and ADHD bill hitting £2.2bn and 'back pain' £1.6bn"

Something is not right here. When I have written before on here telling about people I know who claim for anxiety although they have rich social lives (funded by 440£ extra per month from PIP) I've had many people telling me that it's not possible etc. It sure is. How many 16 year olds are claiming PIP for anxiety?

Instead of benefits why not pay for therapy- invest massively in the NHS mental health support so that people with anxiety, adhd and autism can see a therapist regularly to help them. This would make a difference for tje individual and the society. Throwing out money won't.

AINBU- I agree with about
AIBU- No, extra money is always useful

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15510221/PIP-benefits-anxiety-depression-austism-ADHD-pain-Covid-Labour.html

You seemed to think that because you have ADHD, you'd automatically be eligible for PIP? Sorry if I misunderstood.

I think they should have a health professional involved in the LCWRA assessments and the questions should be about what support you would need to be able to work in say 6 months or a years time and then there should be a partnership with health providers to put together packages for the most common things. Carrot and stick. If you don’t attend the CBT or the pain management groups then your LCWRA status gets taken away at the end of the agreed period. There are already schemes that help people to negotiate reasonable adjustments with employers so expand those as well.

Or maybe it’s just cheaper that they all stay on benefits…

Reality

It's great that you've found a medication that works well for you.

Sadly, that's not the case for everyone.

Same as me.

I cant work and am on PIP. Money does not fix my health issues but it makes my life easier and worth living.

Well I am severely physically disabled, born without eyes and with multiple joint deformities. I am in receipt of higher rate PIP and also work full time, though I'm currently on maternity leave. Without the extra equipment, adaptive technology, specialist resources and personal support PIP helps me to pay for I would, however, be unable to work, so, in my case, removing PIP would have the opposite effect to the one you are suggesting. PIP by no means covers all of the extra expenses associated with my disability, much of which I have to cover from my wages. This means I will always be worse off than someone without my disability earning the same income. I hope this puts your mind, and the minds of other posters on here, convinced that all PIP-claimants are living a tax-payer funded life of luxury, at rest.
Sorry I don't fit into your sweeping generalisation.

Years of chronic conning doctors by knowing the buzzwords to get signed off work for 'anxiety' and 'stress'. There are people with genuine illnesses but I think we all know the words that will work a treat for those not wanting to work. They've become the bad back of the 21st century.

And what support do you think those of us born with physical disabilities need to get back to work? I'm almost 2 years into waiting to see my consultant to try and get a diagnosis

There's no treatment for what's been diagnosed

No, I didn't say that- I haven't applied so I don't know but I do know there are other people with similar needs to me who are claiming. Perhaps they weren't completely honest on their forms. However, regardless of whether they should or shouldn't have qualified, I don't see how the money helps them. As mentioned further up, SD has been claiming DLA for years. I very much doubt she lied on her forms, so she must be eligible according to the criteria. The money has been mostly spent on trips to Disneyland. I'm waiting to see if she gets PIP. She doesn't need that money.

What if CBT and pain management groups do not help?

Still no-one has been able to explain in any detail exactly HOW claimants are able to ‘cheat’ in the PIP assessment process.

I'd treat PIP like child beneift. Taper down the amount given at £60k and then eliminate it at £80k.

But there are also "high functioning" people with autism who are highly educated and hold down very demanding jobs.

At one of the first accounting firms I worked in, our tax manager was one such person. Literally none of the staff ever saw him except him arriving and leaving each day. He never attended meetings, never spoke to clients or other staff in any way, and basically never left his own office (which was at the back of the building at the end of a quiet corridor!). But he had a brilliant tax mind! The only people he seemed to deal with were the three partners who'd give him files and he'd "do his bit" and hand them back to the partners with "crib sheets" about what to say in meetings, what questions to ask, what advice to give, etc. He was about the most "back room" member of staff you could imagine. When I worked there, he was probably in his mid to late 60s and from what I could gather, he'd been there all his working life. He'd basically just found himself a "niche" that suited him and the rest of the staff/partner just worked around him.

I had to wait 8 months to see an NHS psychologist and that was actually a relatively quick time frame compared to how long some people wait in other areas. People who do lcwra assessments tend to have health backgrounds - some are nurses

I don't think people quite understand how stretched mental health services are in the UK - where are all these CBT practitioners going to come from to assess people on benefits?

I think we need lots more visibility of the fact that there are plenty of people out there working with often quite profound disabilities and not claiming benefits. I am one and I know of many others

I think there has become a perception that I do have even a slightest bit of struggle in life that the government ought to chuck load of resources at you.

When you add onto that the fact that for some people they are actually going to make a lot more money claiming benefits than they would do working then I can see why we've ended up with a country where so many people choose to take rather than give

It's hugely demotivating working hard with a disability and seeing other people feel that they should just squeeze the system for everything they can possibly get

I claim DLA for my son and can't afford trips like Disneyland. Not sure how she is managing that.

Yes, exactly, what then?

Pain Management Programmes in my NHS area are for patients who have no other treatment options left. They are programmes to try to help you live with the pain better so you don’t keep thinking about Dignitas.

Absolutely this! ^

The world of work is massively different from how it's traditionally been for decades, if not hundreds, of years.

I don't know what's gone wrong with youngsters, but ds is audhd and at university and he very much struggles at times, but we give support. He tells us that a lot of his fellow students are very shut down and can't hold a conversation. The other lot are the loud, drunken posh types. I'm assuming the former won't be able to hold down a job when they graduate and the latter will probably find employment in daddy's business.

We're not encouraging ds to apply for benefits, but I don't know what type of employment he's suitable for as he can mask, but it exhausts him and he has eds which causes pain and fatigue. We're willing to pay for trades training. I was standing in the sandwich shop yesterday and all the tradies were in there swearing like sailors and talking about cocaine and blow jobs. I'm not entirely sure ds will fit in 🙈

Work and people are too complicated and unpredictable now.

They get a GP to write them a note for a bad back then suddenly they meet all the Pip descriptors! Bingo! Just like that (sarcasm).

I don't think it's that. The "all Gen Z want to be influencers" accusation is just the avocado toast thing all over again. Most people are aware that influencers and celebrities aren't living attainable lifestyles.

What depresses young people is the stagnation of wages, insecurity of employment, and astronomical price of housing. They know they don't have the same opportunities to move up in the world that their parents did. Many of them are stuck at home wishing they could be independent. They feel like their lives are on pause, and they don't see any way out.

That's what really drives depression and anxiety. It's usually not the fear of whatever global event is dominating the headlines. It's not comparing yourself to the la la land of celebrities. It's hitting wall after wall in day to day life, and feeling like you have no control over your circumstances. You want to get out, but nothing you do makes a difference. You can upskill, but the jobs you're going for have their pick of desperate candidates, and will up their baseline requirements just because they can. You can work yourself into the ground and never take a sick day, but a house will still be ten times your yearly income, and you'd be paying it off until you're 205. And your wages will still be what they were pre-austerity, while inflation ramps up like a runaway train.

Hard times don't make people hopeless. Lack of control over one's circumstances does. That's what's being missed in all these conversations about how the young are lazy and lack resilience.

You learn to value hard work when hard work pays off. You learn resilience when you experience failure and are able to move forward. If you lose a job and can't find another one for a year, you don't learn resilience. If you work full time and still can't afford your own place, you don't develop a love of the system. You come to resent it. Hugely. And not feel any shame in taking from it.

I think a lot of this has to do with the current job market.

There are hardly any entry level jobs available and even if there's one the job description asks for experience, being able to do a summersault backwards and a handstand while typing. Plus pay is in peanuts and bananas. We are not creating and looking after the future workforce.

You don't think anyone at all claiming PIP or disability benefits are faking it?

Really? Nobody?

The government would have to invest in training more.

It’s not mega hard to do for a manualised therapy like CBT that can be delivered in a group and/ or online. You don’t need to be a highly qualified expensive psychologist.

The government might be persuaded to do that if the cost: benefit saving off the benefit bill made it worthwhile. If it doesn’t then they won’t bother.

The Benefits bill is out of hand. Was talking to someone only yesterday whose daughter has been awarded UC and PIP. She has told my friend she cannot afford to work and is much better off on benefits.
There’s no doubt she has health issues, anxiety ? ADHD , but with proper support could surely do something? She’s only 27.