PIP for Anxiety

[IntelligenceIsFree]

AIBU to clear things up?

The current nasty rhetoric around disabled people at the moment is astounding. Society needs to be reminded that we are ALL one illness or accident away from disability.

Everyone knows someone who is gaming the system, yet the PIP fraud rate is extremely low. The public demonising, does not match the reality.

The hot topic is “anxiety” and how people with “anxiety” are gaming the system, getting “free” cars and robbing tax payers; this is being constantly fed through media, news articles and so on.

This is simply not true. The people spouting this nonsense clearly have no idea how PIP works. Nobody gets PIP without strong medical evidence. Nobody.

Before anyone posts “my neighbour got PIP just by telling lies”. No, they did not. That’s not how it works.

People need to be educated properly on how benefits work, how they are awarded and what the criteria for mobility cars actually is; the cars are not in fact free.

People need to be educated on the fact that there is anxiety, which every human suffers from at some point, and then there are anxiety DISORDERS which are entirely different and can be life changing and debilitating. Hence, the need and entitlement for PIP.

Brenda down the road who feels too anxious to go to Bingo on a Friday night is NOT getting PIP ❌

Mary up the lane who has such severe OCD that she cannot leave her own home for fear that she will die, IS getting PIP .✅

There’s a huge difference.

The current turning on disabled people is shameful and we are living in a country full of hate because Bob (and his Uncle) are annoyed that they are paying tax to “support all of these scroungers”.

Bob (and his Uncle), needs to hope that they never get cancer, or suffer life changing trauma or have an unfortunate accident to avoid being served a huge scrounged humble pie.

I do not suffer from anxiety but as a human, I am pleased we have a system in society to support the most vulnerable people who need it. Life can happen to anyone.

Sorry, should have been clearer, I was agreeing with you.

I've spent a lot of money on therapy, travelling to appointments, medical devices, getting things delivered, laundry services, gardening services, cleaning services

Only 20% are successful.

Ah, sorry. I don’t think some people realise the costs involved. My DSs have therapies in their EHCP. They cost far more than anyone receives in benefits.

The problem here is that the poster, like many here, think that disability related costs are confined to things that actually address their disability - aids and appliances for physical disability and therapy for MH. As you’ve demonstrated here very nicely, almost anything can be a disability related cost if it’s a direct result of the disabling condition - that’s exactly what PIP assesses for. The example I use is incontinence. It’s a condition common at various levels in a whole range of disabilities and it’s expensive to deal with - extra washing, extra bathing, extra help if it’s needed with those things. Cleaning services are invaluable to disabled people - some may be able to do a proportion of their own cleaning but there will inevitably be things they can’t do, and not all have friends and family to help out.

@ThreadGuardDog The reasons disability benefit claims have increased since the change from DLA to PIP are varied. One reason is advances in medicine mean that we’re getting better at recognition and diagnosis. But by far the biggest factor is that on its introduction to replace DLA in 2013 PIP opened up disability benefit claims for the first time ever to those with mental health conditions

I don't want to get dragged back into pointless discussions, but I have to point out that this is factually wrong. DLA was absolutely available to people with mental health conditions prior to 2013.

It wasn’t possible to claim the old DLA for anything but a very limited range of MH conditions, which were divided into and defined by several categories. Most of the allowed claims for DLA were on the basis of psychosis or impaired mental function due to trauma or birth defect. Mobility allowance claims in particular were subject to a specific strict category which required a diagnosis of arrested development or incomplete physical development of the brain resulting in severe impairment of intelligence and social functioning. Very different to the access MH claimants have to PIP.

which required a diagnosis of arrested development or incomplete physical development of the brain resulting in severe impairment of intelligence and social functioning

That is (Child DLA and the very small minority of adult claimants still on DLA)/was just for HRM under the SMI criteria. You can/could get LRM without.

No. 6-12 months is no time at all. Paying directly would also likely take just as long as waiting for the NHS so in the meantime, no therapy at all and no support.

And this is also mostly wrong (apart from being completely different to what you previously claimed, which was this:
But by far the biggest factor is that on its introduction to replace DLA in 2013 PIP opened up disability benefit claims for the first time ever to those with mental health conditions
But no doubt you will now change what you say to something else completely different. Which is why trying to have a discussion is pointless (and unbelievably frustrating).

Honestly this thread just goes on and on and just gets more and more batshit.
@Noodledog I would disengage, as you say it’s pointless.

6-12 months 🤣🤣 I've been in different types of therapy, under the cmht and in inpatient care a few times over the last 20 years.

Personally I don't see why someone who suffers from anxiety (or whatever ) and can't work should get a higher rate of benefit than others who are out of work- also all these assessments and checks means that there is less money to go around overall because all the checks and points and assessing is very expensive.

Disabled people, whether working or not (PIP isn’t an out of work benefit), have disability related expenses that people who are not disabled don’t have. Scope’s latest disability price-tag research shows disabled households need an extra £1,095 each month on average to have the same standard of living as non-disabled households.

Anxiety is not a disability in the sense of what Scope is talking about is adjustments for physical disability like adjustments to your house,and help with living- also Scope is a disability charity so they very much have skin in the game wanting more of the benefit budget to go to those with disabilities they are primarily concerned with people with Down's Syndrome- which needs a huge amount of support in comparison with "anxiety".

Yet here you are again, as always on threads like this. I wonder why you keep wanting to waste your precious time.🙄

So are you always popping up 🙄

Scope’s research isn’t limited to those with physical disabilities.

Some people with anxiety can still have significant disability related expenses.

Besides, your post wasn’t limited to just anxiety. You said or whatever.

Mental health and autism are protected disabilities. The costs are huge.

Yes, not as often though, because these threads seem to always go the same way. I have learnt a few things though, and one of those things is that the posters who have a real gripe about PIP, and are very vocal in their displeasure of it,seem to know the least about it, what it is for, and what people have to go through to obtain it, in the first place!

Absolutely agree.

Scope isn’t representative of those with Down Syndrome. It represents those with Cerebral Palsy. It was formerly called the Spastic Society until the disability was renamed - mainly because of the stigma caused by the name calling in the school yard which spilled over into adult society which should have known better.

@pipfs - do you or the decision makers have the power to look into things like whether the person has kids, a pet, a partner, a job etc where the person won't be invited to a phone or in person assessment? These are big things that seem to be used over and over again to deny people enough points to qualify (or sometimes any points at all) even when there's evidence of quite severe disability on the various disability help forums and pages.

Scope’s research isn’t limited to people with any one diagnosis or type of diagnosis.

These days, Scope doesn’t only represent those with CP either. They will support people with other disabilities.

Down syndrome has a very objective test blood test. Stroke is objectively tested by MRI.

So what are you trying to say? that if offered a choice of cash vs therapy you'd chose cash? Ok then