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

Sending love ❤️

Read the post of the person I was replying to.....that is my experience aswell.

Being depressed or anxious are normal human reactions. Being clinically depressed or having an anxiety disorder are different.

Really. I have ptsd because I was gang stalked and threatened and there were credible threats to my life. I have depression and anxiety for the same reason. I lost a relative three decades ago who had all the symptoms of schizophrenia but was never diagnosed. I have a friend who has BPD and is only alive because she was sectioned twice

Over diagnosis? It took me two years to get a ptsd diagnosis. Ever been in a situation where you are banging on every door for help and you get none?

Another OP, that loads the bullet... and disappears.

I know

There are young people who adopt labels like ADHD. neurodiverse, anxious and so on to escape getting up off their asses to do a days work. The same generation who hate the so called boomers and claim we have ruined their future. Whereas most of us boomers - when we were anxious, depressed or whatever - acrually DID get up off our asses and get on with things. Benefits are too generous and too easy. They should be only available for people able to prove that they are physically or mentially unable to do ANY work.

OP, with respect, have you got the misfortune of living with anxiety or ADHD?

I work full time and receive the high rater of PIP for both components. PIP helps me to pay for some, though by no means all, of the adaptations and assistance I require for daily life. Without it, I would be unable to get to or remain in work.
You will doubtless be scandalised to hear that I have not been assessed once since being moved from DLA to PIP around eight years ago. I am more than happy for someone to come and visit every three years, or more often if you prefer, to check the eyeballs without which I was born have not miraculously and suddenly sprouted in the intervening years.
I am not sure that regular checks on a condition like mine which will never improve would be a good use of government resources but, if it would put your mind at rest, then it is surely worth every penny!

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?

@scottishgirl I live in the extreme SW of the UK, but have lived in London and NYC too, so not an ingenue innocent. Are you being stalked because you are spectacularly beautiful or because of your ethnicity? In which case, I would venture that it is the elder males in your family circle who present the greatest risk to your well being.

I have suffered from anxiety and depression my whole life. It's never stopped me working. In fact work has been the one thing that's got me into a routine and back to normal when I've been mentally ill. Work and normality is the cure not the cause. I find it extremely hard to beleive that the amount of people who can't support themselves due to anxiety and depression has got so high. I think it's a mix of chancers and people who who have little alternative.

Autism, adhd can't be cured , but with supprt many with them can find ways to support themselves. I have two autistic family members. One I has adhd as well and is very noticeably neurodiverse. Both have jobs. Partly due to their parents who have tirelessly advocated for them. Help should be better. One does receive pip but not benifits. He needs taxis everywhere and this is fair .

I checked on a benefits calculator and if I had no savings, no job and no mortgage and no partner I could essentially match my salary on benifits. More if if I claimed pip. I could easily live off my single salary if I lived somewhere cheaper, it's a nonsense. Yes, those who absolutely cannot work with severe conditions must be supported and deserve a decent amount of money. It's time to draw a line in the sand .

You might want to think about the last part considering many carers looking after their disabled children aren't able to work due to that.

How nice for you.

Sadly I have not experienced this post COVID flexibility you speak of.

WFH, for example, would have been very helpful..

Surely with PIP the recipients can spend the money on whatever treatment or care they need? So they can use the money for therapy.

She said gang stalked. My assumption was involvement in criminal activity/ drugs/ with a person involved in such stuff. Your post does come off naive. Why would you go to beauty or ethnicity??

Benefits are not too generous and too easy. A single person on UC over the age of 25 gets 400 quid a month

I was refused lcwra with a broken shoulder and a torn rotator cuff because the rules say you need to break both upper limbs to get it

I was initially refused lcwra with a triple leg fracture. The UK gives out less benefits than several other European countries. Don't talk in soundbites if you aren't willing to back up your posts with facts - because there are people who are dying who don't get PIP. People get turned down at every stage and have to go to tribunal

I still live below the line even though I get disability benefits

If you read the OP before me and mine, the argument is not with you! There are people clearly deserving of PIP but that does not negate the fact that folk should be required to have regular assessments. Or even reassessments to their benefit.

I am starting to think that the next government, whatever it calls itself, is going to have to call time on benefits very hard. Paralysed, blind, and old, is likely to be the minimum. Back to work with the rest of you. Bad backs, autism, other... don't care mate... get a job.

I was stalked online by a gang of people who found my address and who have targeted other single women in the same way. I got photos of my house tweeted. Packages sent to my home. Tweets threatening to kill and maim me - I have no elder males in my family circle. My mum is a single parent -if you think women get stalked because they are beautiful you really need a reality check

I'm white and Scottish for clarification

You can't just adopt labels to get PIP. You have to prove your struggles and provide evidence.

Also PIP is not an out of work benefit. And I know boomers who took their own life due to their mental health. Dont make out like boomers are some sort of super resilient group of people because you are not.

Sorry what? Why would I be involved with drugs or criminal activity to be a stalking victim? I was on the receiving end of criminal behaviour - I'm not a criminal - and I'm not a drug user either

In what jobs?
Have a look at vacancies vs jobseekers. I think it is about 2.5 jobseekers to every vacancy right now.

Sure nice or not it wasn’t always the case, and still you didn’t answer. Is your lack of flexibility now in the public sector?

It's 300 to every vacancy where I live

Involvement with. Including being a victim of such stuff. I was not intending to suggest you were the perpetrator. Being groomed into gangs as a child is a common way this could happen but of course there would be other reasons.

It is outwith many peoples life experience and people will wonder how such an awful thing comes about (not through beauty or ethnicity for sure). You really don’t have to post any of your personal experiences to justify anything to anyone though.