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.

They will accept help if it’s in their own home or online.

They just don’t accept help that would prove they can leave their house.

In our area they are not offering online nhs mental health support like therapy over teams or other such online platforms.

If they try to make them leave the house they say they feel suicidal and that the voices tell them to hurt themselves.

So what did she put on the form as regards her mobility issues?

I never said that these people do not exist; you’d have to be very naive to think they don’t. I am not naive.

However, PIP is so hard to get, fraud is nowhere near the extent of what people claim it to be. The DWPs own figures show this.

The problem is, is that those 0.4% of people mean everyone else thinks it ok to demonise every other genuine claimant. It is wrong and as adults, we should have the capacity to think and question things to a larger extent that what the media and Bob down the pub feeds us.

Honestly I don’t know how they have managed to game it so long.

As I said before makes it harder for those with genuine issues but they have been doing it and getting away with it for years.

GPS can’t prescribe meds for hearing voices.

Exactly- I could easily do this if I really wanted to so not that hard to game the system at all.

Obv I wont, but telling a doctor you are crippled by anxiety is all you'd need to do to get it on your medical records

I have done some more reading and I think that you couldn’t prove fraud for anxiety-related pip unless you literally followed someone around for a month.

when people claim, the symptoms only have to affect them more than 50% of the time .
so if you were „caught” snowboarding on holidays and drinking with your friends in a pub that wouldn’t mean anything as there is no lie. It might be one of your 49% of days when you are ok.
as long as you have 51% of days where you are not motivated to cook, sleep or be out in public, you are technically ok.

you could never catch a fraud in that sense.

this example is specifically for anxiety though.

No. It’s not that easy.
You have to prove why/how your anxiety prevents you preparing a meal, eating a meal, washing, dressing, going to the toilet, going out etc. These difficulties have to be on the majority of days, so 4 days of the week you are unable to consistently do these activities. They don’t just take your word for it.

So you take a few days off work - do you need to take 4 days off every week? You can’t eat, or eat too much - for 4 days every week? Have you lost weight, gained weight? If not, why not. You can’t dress yourself - for 4 days every week you don’t dress? What do you do then? Do you change into different pyjamas every day? Yes - therefore you’ve changed clothes, so dressed. You can’t go out due to anxiety? When did you last go out? What did you go out for? How long were you out? How did you cope when you were out? What did you buy at the shops? How long were you in there? How many aisles did you walk down?

It is not that easy.

sigh and whatever. Such thread won't make any difference. Be hopeful when you need benefits, that the system has money left to give it to you. This is my take.

Never said they did.

They get pain meds for their back.

They get other meds for their anxiety and depression. Then something else to help them sleep.

No it wouldn’t be alone, but a couple of GP appointments like that, a therapy referral & notes from that, contact with mental health team notes, medication evidence of SSRIs prescription- if you wanted to fake that evidence of course you could. Add to that a lengthy application detailing how your anxiety prevents you doing xyz, you need support with abc, supporting letter from partner confirming…

Then by the DWP fraud check it is not fraud, you have the evidence, you just lied to get it. And who is going to investigate that? How would they? They don’t, because the cost outweighs the benefit.

I’m not against PIP at all, it is very needed, but it’s painfully naive to believe it is foolproof.

You could put all of that into ChatGPT and have an answer in seconds.

Its really not that difficult to "prove" if you were determined to play that role

That is no where near enough evidence to show you have massive high support needs for anxiety. You’d be called in for an interview at the very least even if you made it that far. A couple of weeks off work is nothing!

It is difficult!!! Where is the proof? Seeing your GP is nothing.

Ready meals and a bit of extra washing don't cost hundreds a month.

ok so I take off days and days, tell the GP I'm having constant panic attacks, ask to be referred for therapy, etc etc

Not difficult.

That won’t get you PIP

It’s not just the out and out scammers, but people - and I’ve seen it on MN - who believe they have anxiety or other condition when they are normal - eg nervous of social situations or “slow processing” . Dm had extreme social phobia - self-harming to get out of things, never once going to a parents’ evening or school event etc etc etc. Yet I see people claiming to have anxiety for totally petty matters, yet truly thinking they are in some way different.

Proof of what? does someone need to come around to your house and watch you prepare a meal, watch you not able to get dressed?

Is that what they actually do? if not, you could easily tell them you cant get dressed as you're too anxious - how can they prove its NOT true?

You won’t get referred or accepted by CMHT for panic attacks. 🤣

I have literally just thought the same as pp - that Chat GP could help me answer all these challenges. And my husband could lie in his statements about how he dresses me in the morning. None of it is diffficult.

So, you must have a CMHT referral for PIP?

I know people that havent

It is difficult to prove. Because you must prove it. You need evidence. Not just your word. Then they ‘cross examine’ you, and everything you claim is disproved by other things you unknowingly say you can do. It sounds easy to do in theory, but in practise is really not.

Genuine question- how do you prove you cant get dressed in the morning?

I could easily make up a story about that.

I am sure that the statistics reflect what you say, but it's not what I've seen in my own life.

People I know on PIP include:

• Next door neighbour. Stays up until 3/4am smoking weed and playing computer games. No job. Regularly out and about on his motorbike, having friends round and having dramatic break-ups and reconciliations with his long suffering girlfriend. Claims PIP for mental health and anxiety.
• SIL. Never really had a job, often on holiday, active social life. Again, mental health and anxiety.

People I know who couldn't get PIP:

• My Mum, when she was diagnosed with cancer which was though to be terminal at the time.

Now my SD has been encouraged to apply for it by her Mum. Very high achieving, many hobbies, very independent for her age. No health issues. Thinks she should get it due to ADHD. If she gets it, I'll lose faith in the system to be honest.