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

Is there an increase in genuine MH claims? Or are more people faking them to get money?
Trouble is that many on threads like these think the increase in claims is due to people faking and as someone who has diagnosed mental health disorders plus autism it is horrible to see people thinking me and everyone like me is faking for money.
I would swap all of my benefits to be well and considered normal so I could actual function in society. But it is also society that is disabling me too and no one wants to address that.

Being severely anxious won't get someone lcwra or Pip on its own. If you think that - you've really not been through the process. I was denied lcwra when I had ptsd anxiety and depression. I scored zero points three times. Just because someone claims doesn't mean they will be successful

Why should people with mental health problems not get their nails done or go clubbing or get botox? Could you explain this?

There is no reason that people with MH issues should not get their nails or Botox done.

I'm just not prepared to have my taxes wasted. I do not pay thousands of pounds in income tax at 70 so anyone can get their nails done. Paying rent,yes; feeding children, absolutely. But trivial titivation, no way.

There is corroborating evidence. DD2 has anxiety alongside her ASD. She is medicated, both with antidepressants and propranolol for panic attacks. She was under CAMHS but now has aged out of the service. She goes to a special school where all students receive 1:1 support. Her EHCP details her anxiety. School reports say that she can't tell staff when she is anxious and has to message me, then I phone the school. Even in her special school her attendance is low, gradually building through each half term until almost full time, then dropping off after a holiday. She rarely goes out and never goes out alone.

No exaggeration needed.

There is Therapy's you can do to improve your mental health. Have you tried alternative therapies if there's any such thing that helps you to change your mindset. I am yet to hear any positive reviews about actual therapists I think the majority who sees them leaves more depressed.

Are you trying to suggest that everyone with mental health issues is on benefits? That's not the case. If I do my nails it's from a pound shop nail varnish - but what other people do is none of my business. It's an absolute myth that everyone on benefits runs around getting their nails done and hair done and goes clubbing.

Completely absurd take.

If someone has money left over after bills then they can spend it how they want.
I have had my bank account looked into by the job centre and they did not ask anything about me spending money in Hobbycraft or the occasional Costa.
People on benefits that are not working get a fixed amount that they have no control over. There is no mechanism in which to pay back excess after your bills are paid and why would there be. Would you like that to be a thing?

Some people get their nails done nicely so they dont bite them into nubs and get infections due their anxiety.

I am autistic. What therapy will change my mindset?
I would rather society changes its mindset about disabled people.

£440 for mild anxiety? Where do I submit my claim?!

Just because you’re not faking it doesn’t mean that nobody else is.

That's not the case. I have ptsd and I don't get the enhanced rate of daily living. What a horrible nasty abelist thread this is. Mocking people with anxiety. I was suicidal five years ago and I still didn't qualify for disability benefits - take your mocking of people with mental health issues elsewhere

You don't have mental health issues I misunderstood.

I think it's a shame this debate is so polarised. Really what's needed is looking at it all with evidence and compassion to try and ensure benefits go where they are most needed and that as far as is possible work pays.

I do think a big piece of the puzzle is not allowing subhuman employment practices and forcing employers to treat employees, especially low paid employees, better. There seems absolutely no appetite from any side of the political spectrum to address this. There have been various scandals over the years e.g. delivery drivers having to piss in bottles (not sure how that works if you're female - presumably you get the sack because you can't keep up with the male workers who can piss in bottles). But in reality not much changes. Does working in an (insert name of global company) warehouse improve mental health? I'm dubious.

If there are jobs only immigrants will do as a condition of being allowed to stay in this country, that suggests those jobs aren't really great, fulfilling places to work, doesn't it? And possibly not suitable for people who are refugees suffering from trauma? Maybe people don't want to work in these jobs because they make them ill either physically or mentally?

My job makes me utterly miserable because I'm treated with utter disrespect by my employer. I keep at it, and do my best because it allows me to do the unpaid work of caring for those I love but it's frankly soul destroying. I DO have several medical conditions. If someone told me I could claim the same amount due to my existing medical conditions from benefits I'd jump at the chance and be much happier. I won't do it, as I don't think my need reaches that level and I can work. But I hate it. This idea that all work (especially work that is available) is fulfilling and will help not harm mental health is absolutely batshit.

The idea that employers will make reasonable adjustments for employees is also laughable. Not if they can just get someone who either doesn't need that adjustment or won't ask for it to do the job! It's all about the bottom line and cost cutting/ maximising profits for those already rich.

I think we get that point. However as pip fraud runs at less than one per cent I think the genuine cases far out weigh the scammers

I do have mental health issues too. It is very common to have mental health issues alongside autism.

Honestly you can write this as many times as you like but the refuseniks will still be coming along to make excuses that we should pay out to all and sundry.

The UK is in a state of suicidal empathy and it's killing this economy, the country, and the goodwill of its citizens.

UK citizens who need PIP to enable them to productively work should be reassessed in person every three years and paid what they need. Nobody should begrudge those in genuine need.

All Non citizens and non english speakers should not get ANY benefits. If you reside and work in this country you should gain citizenship after the prerequisite time or you get nothing. Make a choice!

I’m sure these threads are always very polarised (God knows why I’m posting on this one. I’ll have to do yet another name change now) but for me personally I really don’t have a black and white view on the matter.

I am not interested in asking a poster for theirs or anyone else’s personal story unless they wish to share (and as Mumsnet say never post more than you are willing to share). I am more interested in understanding what is happening in our society to have so may more young people not being able to work and what we can do to stop that. I have found The Thinking Economist’s posts helpful in that regard.

I work exclusively in NHS mental health and have done for over 20 years although I could flog my skills to the private sector for infinitely more cash. I’m happy to pay tax. I’d pay more tax. I give a lot away to charity as well. I want to see the very ill people I work with and many like them with physical issues as well treated and supported to live the best lives they can whether that involves work or not.

However my work also leads me to not be able to ignore the opposite side of the coin. I can see with my own eyes daily that more and more young people have no expectation of working maybe forever and that just isn’t affordable or sustainable. You see threads pop up on here fairly often about parents with young people NEET and not motivated to do anything except game in their pants all day stay up all night and smoke cannabis. I see it at work and I never used to as much as this. We need some kind of help for these people and giving them money to do nothing at all isn’t it. We need to divert that cash to therapeutic programs as there is nothing right now and health hasn’t got the budget since it’s barely a health problem and more a societal one.

I’m sorry if it came across that way, if anything I was mocking OP for her claims that everyone who is suffering from mental illness ( like myself) is able to receive benefits. From experience I know that it is not true. My daughter has been pushed back for years

Just write to the DWP, tell them you're a bit anxious and they'll send you a wad of cash by return post, no questions asked!
Or, at least, that's what I have gathered from the, definitely not fabricated, accounts on this thread.

How awful. I’ve never heard of someone losing the ability to read before.

No one said benefits should be paid out to all and sundry but it's funny that the people on here who are saying it's not easy to get disability benefits are being completely ignored in favour of the people who say their neighbours cousin gets it. It's also astonishing that there are people on here who work with vulnerable people who are lining up to call them scammers

The more I engage with threads like these, the more sceptical I get about mh disorders. Yes, I am completely sympathetic to families dealing with complex rejections of modern life. It is difficult for a lot of people, and I don't have a solution for you. VERY VERY SORRY. But I am also certain that there's a lot of over diagnosis going on. And as a tax payer in retirement, I am not keen to see my taxes increasing every year to fund a bottomless pit.

It's fine. There's no worries x. It's just been a day of people being bashed on here - sorry if I misread your post

I was born with the majority of my health problems. Apart from age related stuff, I'm not really going to change. So what would be the point in assessing me every 3 months? The part of my brain that hasn't formed properly isn't going to suddenly reform, I'm still going to have the damage to the hairs in my ears due to medication I used to take, I'm still going to have the damage to my head after 2 head injuries plus the vertigo and my optic nerves and eye muscles aren't going to suddenly reform to the way they should be

We all suffer with our mental health some struggle with it more than others.