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

It a lazy comment designed to shut down the discussion. People born without disability are not lottery winners nor do they owe a debt of shame to the disabled.

My husband has a severe life limiting physical disability, he also has PIP, when he lived in the UK before the government decided his disability was magically cured, he would have been included in the figures stating the number of people with ADHD who claim PIP.

Care to explain how therapy can cure ADHD?

Disability adjustments at university do cost money - that's why disabled students are encouraged to apply for dsa.

Tell me about you and your struggles. You don't have to argue your truth about your struggles and belittle others who get on.

Yes, very different world now from 1979 although the country was also seriously broke then and the high taxes fell on the broadest shoulders. The erosion of the tax base is higher for taxes other than individual taxes on earnings.

I'm sure the money can be found, as it is being found now, and someone with more knowledge on that than me can come up with a solution.
Your solution seems to be just tell them all to go to work, is that right, or do you have a different plan

Some people who are already paying high amounts of income tax may bedgrudge this

I don't think that at all.

I just think if the criteria were things like, "Needs to purchase food that is easy to prepare," rather than "Needs to be prompted to do XYZ" that would be better.

People that need it don't get enough imo.

And that is the problem. The increase in the welfare bill is currently being paid through higher taxes (fiscal drag, employer NI increases etc) this in turn slows the economy, meaning larger tax increases are required to pay for higher welfare payments and so on.

We worked hard as a family but I can't blame disabled people for being disabled. It's cruel. I just cannot. Edge cases are edge cases and I never know the full story from a MN post.

YANBU. I don't believe anyone should be getting PIP for more than a year for any mental health condition and the money saved should be put into therapies and support. I know too many people taking that money and adding it to the general household budget rather than supports for their condition.

Thatcher did a very similar thing. And I’m sure plenty of people on here will remember YTS scheme.

Not all of them just those who can. That has to be better for those that genuinely need it. Those that can work should be supported back into it. The benefits system as it is discourages productivity in a number of ways.

The Government also needs to do its bit to stimulate growth in the economy.

You cannot tax your way to growth.

Well, assuming these conditions aren’t new, previous generations must have done something, so what did they do? 🤔

Some mental health conditions are lifelong and some people with them will always meet the criteria for PIP.

It's a vicious circle.

You presumably do not have a mild anxiety disorder. I am not trying to suggest a solution for someone with a difficult to treat chronic illness.

I am making a suggestion about the booming number of young people under 25 claiming for anxiety and depression when eg depression 70% of people can get better with 1st and 2nd line treatments. I am suggesting that linking up their benefit entitlement to participation in some kind of therapy/ OT/ work support program could be cost effective.

This has been proven to fail...the contracts for private healthcare carrying out state services are always incredibly expensive and inefficient...the NHS picks up the pieces of poor care and those left working in the NHS have the extremes of healthcare use to endure. Look at the ONS reports about relative cost...the NHS wins every time.

The idea that you can test someone's cooperation with MH services is ludicrous too. Impoverished them if they are unwell is really grim.

Perhaps you could look at what is already happening and causing health costs to rocket and read about MH ...being easily able to access MH services is almost the definition of NOT have moderate or severe MH needs. Please try and gain some insight

Not this ridiculous argument again. Therapies and support doesn't cure every mental health condition. Some people who get PIP are very seriously unwell. It was in the news yesterday that a young girl from the West of Scotland took her own life - at the fifth attempt. She was actually in hospital at the time but wasn't being monitored closely enough

Ever tried to get help and support for someone in the middle of a psychotic breakdown - or someone that's a risk to themselves and or other people?

If the Government cared enough about mental health services they would be properly funded. It should not be a matter of taking benefits off those in need to fund proper support

Died young?

the real question for this should be - tax breaks for billionaires and corporations - where will it end?

That cuts both ways.
It is precisely because the world is now a different place that your statistics on tax-payers are irrelevant.

1979: 29.5% of working age taxpayers were not net taxpayers.
2025: 47% of working age taxpayers are not net taxpayers.

The reason for this change is because now most people are not earning enough, whilst a luck few are earning more than ever, astronomical amounts in some cases.
To visualise this, the demographics of income have changed from a broadly upright oval shape, with the top and bottom narrow bits representing high and low earners, and the majority being in the middle, to a wide-based triangle with a spike on top, i.e. most at the bottom not earning much and a tiny minority at the top of the spike.
What matters is not who is paying tax, but how much tax is collected overall relative to population size.

It would be helpful if you knew something about moderate to severe Mental Illhealth....what will you do with people with LD and Schizophrenia..who hear voices are prescribed very dangerous medications that need close monitoring? Their conditions are life long

The descriptors are the way they are for a reason - getting Pip isn't an easy process. No - I'm aware that some people don't think people who claim disability benefits are scroungers but plenty of people do. I would rather not have been in the circumstances that led me to apply for lwcra in the first place

The DWP's threshold for awarding PIP for depression and anxiety is very high. You would usually have to have been under the care of a psychiatrist for the DWP to consider it.

I do know somebody who does get PIP for depression. He tried to commit suicide and spent some in hospital as result.

When I applied for PIP witb quite a long list of diagnoses, including anxiety, all my claims about anxiety were discounted because it was a GP and counsellor treating me. The GP describes my anxiety as 'severe' and I did self harm. If I had been to a psychiatrist (GP did refer me but the referral was refused) the DWP would have taken it more seriously.

Since applying for PIP, I did see a psychiatrist for an ADHD diagnosis. She also describes my anxiety as 'severe'. She has given me a lowish GAF score, which is a quick assessment of how much mental affects daily lfie.