To think there will be many more disabled adults in 20 years?

[Walkyrie]

I’m disabled myself, just to put that out there.

It just seems like the number of people with a disability, usually a psychiatric one, is going through the roof.

40% of disability benefit claimants are claiming for mental health related reasons. The number of anxious children and teens on here, and that I know in my own life and family, is really really high. So many schools refusers and kids in need of extra support, special school placements and so on. It seems there are a lot of unemployed young adults living at home who simply don’t have the mental acuity to get a job, live independently, have a life of their own.

3 children in my family are currently school refusing, one we only found out about today but it was not a surprise as she’s always been very anxious and has selective mutism.

My AIBU is, should we be doing something to prepare for what may be a very high number of adults not working in years to come? How will we sustain them all?

Yes, I agree. It works both ways, though. It shouldn't be taken as read that people really are as bad as they make out the same as an account of somebody gaming all night with eff all wrong with them should be taken as the Gospel truth.

Very few people game the system. Just because everyone on here seem to know a family who are on the make doesn't mean it's the case. As for the post just telling people to suck it up and go to work - how do people do that if they are suicidal or suffering from psychosis? The staggering lack of knowledge about mental health issues is really apparent.

There are people who have to fight to get benefits. The system is designed to put people off claiming. The adp process isn't as bad - but the majority of people who get Pip get it at tribunal. That is. They are told no and they lose the mandatory reconsideration - it can take a year for a tribunal - and some people give up at that stage

If someone is posting on here or anywhere else talking about their benefits and their mental health I'm not going to question that . They've been through a process and they have been awarded benefits.

Assessors don't always make the correct decision when it comes to awarding benefits

Sorry, I meant 'shouldn't be taken as the Gospel truth....'

Someone misdiagnosing themselves wouldn't find it to get benefits easily - even with support of a GP their decisions can be overruled. It's the assessors who make the final decision as to whether someone gets disability benefits based on the questions asked and whether people have enough points to qualify

It really is not as simple as someone rocking up to a GP and saying I have anxiety or depression or other issues. Because people who have certain conditions and evidence to back that up still get denied disability benefits

You do realise that some people are disabled because of accidents?

And apparently disability benefits are Very very very high? You do realise that not everyone with disabilities gets both lwcra and Pip /adp and some people on Pip/adp will get one component and not the other.

Lwrca is just over 400 pounds a month. It's just been halved for new claimants
There are people who need disability benefits to help them to live day to day. To help them stay in work. To help them with equipment they need to power because of disabilities

If someone is on UC and is over 25 and single and gets Lwcra they'll be living on just over 800 pounds a month.

Why is it that it's always disabled people who are grudged benefits? A relative of mine got attendance allowance only after a fall at home and two heart attacks. She needed some adjustments to allow her to remain at home. The point is - you don't know when your life might change and you might need to claim yourself

There are other European countries that spend more than the UK on disability benefits. I personally think we have become so conditioned to think that everyone on benefits has such a cushy life that when people realise that disabled people get more - some people don't like it.

I was told multiple times when I was on basic UC how good I had it. Less than 400 pounds a month

Oh and the disdain for people with mental health is obvious and some of the rhetoric is completely damaging - just go to work and you won't have mental health issues. You'll get better. Work is the answer

Some of the posts on here are absolutely staggering. It is sometimes hard enough to get support from a GP when you actually do suffer from depression. I had a friend who who was working in adult care and hated her job. She was also suffering from really bad post natal depression and asked that some adjustments be made to her working hours. She asked for flexible working hours. That request was supported by her GP who said she was suffering from reactive depression. That request was denied.

Her ex husbands employer was the one who gave him flexible working hours so the kids could be dropped off at nursery and picked up. Her employer put someone on a written warning because they took time off after they had a miscarriage IN work.

There are people working in miserable jobs that makes their mental health worse. I have worked in several horrible jobs that led to me having to be signed off work because of bullying and put on anti depressants.

Do people not understand when they are posting just go to work and that will help your mental health that some peoples jobs actually cause mental health issues in the first place?

A lot of people have no choice but to go to jobs they hate because it's not about them any more. People need wages to keep a roof over their head, pay bills, and clothe and feed themselves and their children. I know it sounds harsh to say 'tough titty', but there's often no choice to be made, and you have to just endure it for the sake of your commitments and dependents.

I absolutely agree.
People spout off about work being the solution to MH issues, when for some people it was work that made them very ill to begin with. Also, not having the demand of work and all that comes with it is what keeps some people stable and out of hospital.
It was my GP and also the OH department for my workplace that said I should drop to part time, but my manager said no. Full time or nothing. So I plodded on until I became even more unwell.
You can also have purpose and routine without being in paid work, but it seems anyone off work with MH issues is assumed to betaking the piss and sitting in a dark room playing on games consoles.

No one should go to work to have their health broken when they are already suffering from post natal depression as happened to my friend. I also was bullied in several jobs - which affected my health very badly - to the point that I went self employed.

But according to some people on this thread work will cure my mental health issues. You didn't actually see the point I was trying to make? For some people work actually makes their mental health worse and your response is "tough titty".

A lot of people also have no choice but to leave thier jobs when they have poor mental health as thier employer doesnt want them as they arent doing a great job if their mental health is significantly poor enough.

They cant make good decisions, deal with people well, they might behave erratically or even make repeated self harm on site, some snap and are agressive (more men)

Some good employers will support with sick leave and even pay for therapies but many others will go to capability procedures or less ethical pushing out.

And that's if they really have mental health issues in the first place because apparently anxiety is the new bad back and people only have MH issues in the first place so they can claim benefits

It is like telling someone with a hairline fracture that they will be fine to run a marathon.

If you don't make time for your wellness, you will have to make time for your illness.

Its so funny to me people on this thread say mentally ill people need to get off benefits and work and on another thread going right now a manager is moaning about their mentally ill employee and people are agreeing. People can't have it both ways. People want smi people working just not in their workplace 🙈

Yep, it makes no sense to me at all. A lot of double standards on here.

Employers are prepared to make adjustments for disabled employees but at the end of the day, they need to be prepared to do the job they are paid to do.

And many of the adjustments some of us need aren't reasonable

Haha, no, a lot of employers are not prepared to make adjustments at all.
And a disabled person can not switch off their disability to suddenly be able to do their job.

Some won't

I’m afraid the offensive and discriminatory comments are unacceptable and shameful regardless of whether you tried to “hedge” them to get them past the mods. Thankfully, the moderators saw through your attempts to disguise what you were doing and deleted what you wrote anyway.

The fact you haven’t reflected on it and refuse to apologise speaks volumes.

You said:

“ND is not hereditary, the current working theory is that its genetic.”

The definition of “hereditary”:

Hereditary is an adjective describing characteristics or diseases passed to a child from parents before birth, or titles/property legally passed to a child upon a parent's death. It also describes someone holding such a inherited title (e.g., a "hereditary peer").
Key Definitions from Oxford:
(Of a characteristic/disease): Genetically passed from parent to offspring (e.g., "a hereditary disease/condition," "hair loss is often hereditary").
(Of a title/monarchy): Legally given to someone's child upon the parent's death (e.g., "a hereditary title/monarchy").
(Of a person): Holding a rank or title that was inherited (e.g., "hereditary peers/rulers").

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) indicates the term has developed usages across genetics, medicine, law, and politics since Middle English.
Common Examples & Context:
Medical: Hereditary predisposition, hereditary illness.
Legal/Political: Hereditary title, hereditary peerage, hereditary monarch.

Origin:
Derived from Latin hereditarius, meaning "belonging to an heir".

If you understand what “hereditary” means and what “genetic” means then why did you say “ND is not hereditary, the current working theory is that it is genetic”?

Genetic conditions are, by definition, hereditary, obviously (well, it’s obvious to anybody who knows what “hereditary” means).

And neither, incidentally, is it a “working theory”. It is well-evidenced with numerous causal genes having been identified to date in copious scientific research on the subject.

People do. Until they just can’t carry on anymore.

Also, hating a job, and pushing through MH illness symptoms, are different.

Well said. Plus a lot of employers are probably of the same ilk as a lot of MNers and think of disability as attention-seeking, being a snowflake, needing to get a grip, and various other delightful assumptions.