Personal Independent Payments

[anonymous06]

Hi,

Just wondering does one who suffers from mental health (bipolar) automatically receive PIP, even after an assessment?

No.

Receiving PIP is contingent on accruing enough points in enough areas related to daily living and/or mobility to qualify for an award. Some people with bipolar disorder meet the criteria and some don't; it's about how the condition affects the person's ability to undertake the specific tasks and activities covered by the benefit.

Some people won't need a face-to-face assessment at all if they provide enough evidence in the form for the DWP to make a decision without, but this is quite rare I think.

God no... you have to have millions of paperwork and face to face assessment 90% don’t get through first time!

Nope. Even with a documented history of debilitating mental ill health spanning over 35 years they'll still make you jump through hoops that you aren't capable of jumping through to qualify for PIP.

If you get awarded with no hassle for bipolar disorder then you're on similar odds to winning the lottery except the prize is a bit shit

PIP is a very tricky benefit to get and the assessment process is quite tough. Start by looking here and carry on looking at rethink

PIP for mental health issues is complex and you need advice geared to that rather than physical disability or chronic illness. You will find many people have great difficulty getting PIP. But it is possible with good medical evidence.

I get PIP for bipolar, and it was fairly straightforward to get awarded, but I've had a lot of support from MIND, social worker and my psychiatrist, and I've had multiple hospital admissions in the past couple of years, which made my case very strong. I'm on the enhanced rate for both care and mobility. Almost all the people I know who have MH issues get PIP (but I know them through activities like therapy groups and CMHT activities, so they are all quite severe to be able to be referred to these in the first place).

You do need a lot of strong evidence, since bipolar is a spectrum and there are a lot of people who are diagnosed with it who function perfectly well without support, so it's not awarded automatically. Definitely check which support agencies are available in your area, as they can help you fill in the forms (MIND is good but it depends on the area, CAB can be good but can be hard to get an appointment).

Being awarded PIP is not based on a diagnosis it depends how your condition affects you in relation to the PIP descriptors - can you cook a meal from scratch, manage your own therapies and medications, wash and bath yourself, dress yourself, budget, communicate, how far you can walk, whether you use any aids to help you with anything, can you go out alone etc. It's a lengthy assessment procedure and you need to provide medical letters/ reports / psychiatrist reports etc to back up the difficulties that you say you have.

Thanks all for the responses.

"If you get awarded with no hassle for bipolar disorder then you're on similar odds to winning the lottery except the prize is a bit shit"

Yeah, my Mum got awarded EC and EM after a paper assessment following release from hospital after bipolar crisis. I'm certain she'd give it all back to be able to do things for herself and have some independence. Although I think she has a pretty severe case. She scored 29 points for living, and she's worse now than she was then

Pip is never automatic, it's points based so depends on how much help you need. It's hard to get it for mental health