Not eligible for PIP even with a decade long movement disorder and 3 concussions

[ForeverDelayedEpiphany]

Just had my third concussion last weekend and feel awful.

I've also lived with a movement disorder called tardive dyskinesia that was caused by some prescribed off label antipsychotic after my first head injury, and that's been awful for the past decade.

I've managed to work ok in a new job for 6 months but im now off work and terrified I won't get better that quickly. My first concussion and post concussion syndrome meant I was ill for a year, and i lost my ability to read - not great as someone who is an editor 😞

I've applied for PIP in the past and been rejected. I don't know where to turn 😢

Please educate yourself a bit before saying these things

A diagnosis in itself doesn’t make you eligible. It’s the care or mobility needs it causes. Also a diagnosis from many years ago, for something that typically improves over time (concussion), would not be helpful without evidence of current care or mobility needs. A report from a+e doctor is weak evidence as it’s written at the time of the injury and gives no evidence of long term issues. Finally stating you have cognitive difficulties but writing eloquently undermines your arguement.

If you are having current difficulties you need reviewing by a neurologist, and in relation to PIP you need to look at the eligibility criteria to see if they are relevant to your situation

That won’t get you PIP. You may be able to get UC and ESA though, depending on your circumstances and if the GP thinks you’re unfit to work.

PIP is all about what you NEED TO ACHIEVE in your daily life, and why YOU CAN'T ACHIEVE it! You say you find "generally functioning cognitive harder", but that tells me nothing about what your life really looks like. I don't think you necessarily have a "weak case", but you need to be concrete:

So I have cerebral palsy, I don't claim PIP, but I do have Access to Work. In that application it was very task based:

• Stichguru attends weekly team meetings. Because of her short-term memory problems, she does not retain all the information from these meetings well and so frequently needs reminders of the tasks that need doing and the content of these tasks during her admin time. This requires another individual to work through these tasks with her to ensure she remembers to complete them and knows how to do so.

I do, like you, find functioning cognitively harder, but that doesn't tell them what I need. Be very specific. Think in 5s:

1. What is hard?
2. What about your condition causes it to be hard?
3. What impact does not being able to do that thing well/properly/as fast as someone without your condition/independently have on your daily life?
4. How would you use PIP to enable you to do this thing better/faster/more efficiently?
5. If you had PIP and therefore were able to use it as outlined in 4, how would your life/work be better?

Theres nothing worse than people who have never had a severe concussion that IS a brain injury and it becomes Post Concussion Syndrome. Your day to day life is never the same and can take up to 3yrs to wait to see how much of your brain died when you received your head trauma.
So to those that have only had "bumps" to their heads well done. It has taken me to turn 60 before my fall.

The OP said she banged her head on a wooden beam, thats hardly a traumatic incident!

I don't think it is helpful to attack the OP based on your interpretation of what is and isn't an injury or trauma. Nor does it address any relevant issue. The issue is eligibility for PIP (almost certainly not based on what the OP has said) and eligibility for out of work benefits because the OP cannot work. Those assessing the OP's claims based on medical evidence will decide what the OP is eligible to claim - how they got those conditions is not relevant and isn't up for debate. Unless, of course, you are suggesting that the OP is lying about their symptoms, which would be quite uncalled for.

Thats totally disrespectful and voicing an opinion with ignorrance. Please read up on Post Concussion Syndrome and visit the Headway site to educate yourself more on this topic.

Excellent, a gaslighting reply..! Thanks so much. (!)

How on earth is having a bang on the head that caused a breakdown and subsequent post concussion syndrome not a traumatic event?! I have had the past decade of my life ruined by my concussion, but of course this isnt the same as being totally disabled by a severe head injury... !

My DM said to me once "just try and write something and get on with your job!" when I could barely read. It was both heartbreaking and upsetting to hear someone I love being so dismissive of my inability to do a skill that I once took for granted so much.

Thank you to the PP for your empathetic reply. At least someone understands 😪

Thank you. You understand and it means a lot. ❤️

Thank you too. ❤️

Getting back to the subject OP, as has been said I think you need to focus on out of work benefits, and your condition may then be eligible for some of the premiums associated with ill health (not just formal disability). I'd probably suggest that you take a trip to a local advice centre (many need to be booked in advance now due to demand, so check that) and get some help sorting out the various forms of benefit available and what works best for your situation now. Apart from anything else, even if you qualified for PIP (and I still doubt it) it would take months to get any money! Your need is an income now. And absed on that last sentence, what are you living on now, and do you have a husband or partner because their income will probably impact on your eligibility too.

https://www.dystonia.org.uk/applying-for-personal-independence-payment

‘Trauma’ in medicine means a physical force or object that affects the body. Docs also use the word insult for physical probs.

No links with the common meanings of trauma eg war survivors or torture victims. Or being sworn at, say, or attacking people who are trying to help you, in the case of insult.

The AI you told me to read confirms your concussion symptoms are usually mild and temporary, OP.

If your GP thinks your problems need further investigation, I really would suggest you go down the neuropsych route - there might well be more to them than you think. All the best.

With PIP you need to tell them how your condition affects you every day, and the impact it has on your life, it's less about the actual condition and more about the impact on your life; can you look after yourself, prepare a meal, etc. Really think about how it affects you day to day, that's what they want to know.

Yes, i guess I probably do need some kind of therapy for a lot of the stuff I've been through. My movement disorder is actually pretty horrible to live with, and includes involuntary movements of my body including face, mouth, tongue etc. Certainly having these things for years have been very difficult.

Unfortunately PIP is for people who need significant support to go about their day to day life, which it doesn't sound like you do op.