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

Thats nobody else ,s fault though,
My son is very disabled ,and I claim everything i can for him we also get respite.

"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."

You really have no idea, do you? DD1 has been seeing a psychologist for 18 months, and has a LD nurse and a psychiatrist. She still can't function and won't be able to work.

FUCK OFF

I don't believe that's correct. Someone might know better than me though. I believe it's Pip or Dla that will lift the cap - not necessarily for depression or anxiety

Ok so people who claim pip can ONLY spend their money on essentials and not luxuries.

Even if they work full time. Even if that would exacerbate poor mental wellbeing.

Most people who claim benefits are also in employment.

People who claim pip, who have health conditions or similar also deserve to live in autonomy and dignity. Which means managing their money as they see fit.

If (God forbid) you were in a serious accident tomorrow and it left you reliant on pip and unable to work how would you feel if I told you, you now needed to explain and justify anything you spend for the rest of your life? And that you are no longer entitled to hobbies/luxuries/ social outings? Because the reality (and the reason why I'm pro- benefits, is that ANY of us could be in that position tomorrow. We have no idea what's around the corner, but we talk like it couldn't be us in those shoes very easily.

Where is the empathy?

Go ask a fucking economist then 🤣

Listen to the programme. Today's More or Less. It's a programme about fact checking - they will not be mistaken.

No no no you don't understand, these people make choices and work hard, they're immune to accidents and bad luck.

Yet your posts suggest otherwise.

'Its somebody else's problem' is exactly why we are in this position. Successive useless governments kicking the can down the road.

Pip and dla do lift the benefit cap as does lcwra - I got that wrong earlier - but it's not just for mental health issues. It can be for other disabilities as well

"FUCK OFF"

I am giving my opinion as the parent of an adult with profound needs. Leaving support until it's desperately needed isn't the best thing to do. I am sure your family members were devoted to him but I don't think not asking for help is the best choice in the long run and not something others should be advised to do.

If the underlying ND is the cause of so much anxiety and can’t be treated then it’s just going to have to be about work arounds presumably like online shopping and delivery services. Plus strategies to cope/ minimise distress when situations are unavoidable. Lots of people would be unsuitable for one particular job like a public facing sales job but would make a very good self employed gardener or dog walker and would enjoy it. I don’t think there’s enough careers guidance for young people these days about finding something sustainable that can be helpful for your MH not negative.

I would support massive investment in mental health. As someone who was actively suicidal and told there was nothing bur a year long wait list for therapy.

I understand this, and I think you're right about generational attitudes. But I also think it's important to recognise that people also lived in severe poverty and vulnerable people were exploited and harmed and abused as a result of the reluctance to ask for help as well at times. This isn't a standard to seek, it feels a bit 'rose tinted glasses'. Many people were terrified to ask for help because of the type of help that was available back in the day and the awful treatment inpatients or those in supported accommodation were exposed to. Families kept up a front to protect their loved ones. But while things aren't perfect, we are a long way from that now so help should be sought where its needed. That's part of a functioning society- we have an obligation to look after our vulnerable.

And just edited to add, that caring for a loved one who is vulnerable or ill or in pain is HARD. And a lot of carers do it day in and feel guilty acknowledging that it's hard. And I think it would be really sad and a very lonely place to be to have to do that without feeling able to ask for help or have society take a relatively small step to help.

My PIP enables us to pay the bills, there is no extras for fun things. People forget that families make financial commitments, like mortgages, and when somebody is taken ill they still have to be paid.

I agree re therapy for depression and anxiety (also selective medication, I have a very low dose of anti-depressants since my DH died, not on PIP btw!). PIP afaik was for people who cannot work, such as my sister-in-law who has mobility and memory issues (aneurism to the brain many years ago). Depression and anxiety can and should be treated - better all round in the long-run. Autism is not curable, however.

Are you saying that those of us who claim disability payments don't have pride?

You know, I am a pretty proud person, and those assessments were excruciatingly humbling and humiliating, but it was the difference between surviving and dying.

Just because your grandparents couldn't swallow their pride or were privileged enough to be able to afford to care for someone with a disability doesn't mean that we disabled people are not proud people, are shameful people, should be abhorred that we've dared to rely on the state. I also doubt it was pride that prevented them doing so, but it may be pride hiding their discomfort at the times they were in.

Your grandparents came from a different time, where employment looked different, where finances were different, where communities were different, where the world was less busy, and where having a disabled child was often viewed as a parental failure and institutions were rife, but so was neglect and abuse towards disabled people. It was scary placing your child in the hands of an organisation that said they would care for your child because they would be living in substandard conditions, medicalised, tortured, left in rooms with no stimulation, denied affection and care. That sort of environment gives you trauma so yes I actually do pity your grandparents for having to raise a child through that time in life. I think you're being offensive to your own grandparents by saying they were proud not to rely on the state when the state could not be relied on.

So like I said, I admire that you're committed to your current level of understanding.

Those people aren't the ones trying to shame people for not being disabled or dismissing for being lucky because they are hanging on by a thread / struggling through/ or making choices.

I think you know that PP is talking about the people who are saying they are so anxious and mentally unwell they need money to help lead a normal life but they can get to a nail appointment and go out clubbing every weekend.

There was a case in the news recently where a woman had been off work for months because of anxiety. Her OH report said that she was not to be asked to attend any social events as it was stressful for her. As such, she wasn't asked to attend the Christmas Party. She sued the company for discrimination. The court found that it was discrimination but it was due to a mistake in the OH form and it should have said she should be given the choice to attend social events. She stated she would have gone to the party had she been invited. So this person is so unwell they have not been to work for months but she's perfectly capable of going to the Christmas Party, with colleagues who are basically strangers to her at that point. 🙄

And then there's all the PPs on here who have children or they themselves living with incredibly difficult health problems, mental and physical, having to jump through hoops to get money to pay for wheelchairs and therapy. It's not right.

Yes, the programme didn't say otherwise. It was just pointing out that claiming anxiety can make families £20k per annum better off.

PIP is not for people who can not work. Some people are only able to work because they get PIP.

The holes were made by the Coalition and Tories and never fixed. Which people fall straight through.

People voted for those holes, then had the audacity to stand on their doorsteps clapping the very beleaguered, under-resourced services they voted to cut.

For the sake of saving a few quid in tax people would rather hit people who are disabled and unwell.

The hypocrisy makes me sick.

Yes but there's a difference between being anxious (a perfectly natural state on the spectrum of normal human feelings/emotions, along with being happy, sad, down etc) and having clinical anxiety.

Anxiety, depression ADHD and autism can be a debilitating as any physical disability. The uprising in claims is probably because the diagnosing has got better.

I think its give out too easily, we all know someone who claims pip who doesn't need it, the person I know tell the doctor he can hardly get out of the chair he in so much pain, but I know nearly every Saturday night he out clubbing dancing all night, funny he doesn't seem to be in pain then.