Please tell us your questions on mental health & debt

pennyforthem

ash4becks wrote: »

try shelter they were good at giving me advice , and all letters should be care of , mate of mine was kicked out of her mum again not nice person i was in rented on housing benift she was on my sofa there then classed as homeless and because there in care of and as i was claiming housing benifit for just me and she wasnt supposted to be staying there as i was geting housing benift and couldnt afford to keep her and she was 'at risk of being kicked out ' she was 19 at the time with no conditions keep the faith x

Shelter LOL when I was trying to do a course I found a flat that I liked put down the deposit of £300 went home and decided I could not afford it. They refused to give me a refund despite telling me that they didnt realize I was on benefits and they dont deal with people on benefits. I contacted shelter and they didnt help me, I tried myself and had to let it go for the sack of my health and to be able to try and attend the course !!!!!!!!!!!

wolfehouse

please mention something about making a 'family trust'
to protect any inheritence for people severely affected by mental illness.
My OH and I had one drawn up by a specialist (disability) solicitor
and he was clear that he had to word it so that any money my dd inherits is:
1. managed for her benefit by a trustee
2. can be changed as necessary in case the government changes its rules
3. won't interfere with her entitlement to benefits/care that she receives.

i haven't gotten the bill yet, so not sure what this cost me to set up
and i can't be sure there will be any money left after my death to pass on to her
but if there is, i can rest easy that my dd will get some benefit to make her life better.

kittykat211273

United07 wrote: »

So glad to see this topic on here. I am currently in a state over this problem and have sort much advice but feel that this would be the only one place I could trust. Bipolar for 6 years, currently on sick from work having tried a phased return, have been advised that I could go on Employment and Support Allowance until I feel ready for full time work again. Would like to leave work before they sack me. Have looked into some part time work and it seems to be out there so thats a road I could take. What upsets me though is that I have to go out looking for advice, search websites, or I come across something by mistake. There doesnt seem to be a complete website that helps people get straight to what they need to know about mental health and finance. Im tired of struggling, tired of trying to please everyone else, tired of trying to sort myself out without being penalised, disapproved of or cast aside. It seems that unless they see a plaster, visible blood, scares, crutches, bandages or your lying in a coma, noone thinks there is anything wrong with you. Mental illness is a CRIPPLING illness and I have many times wanted to end my life because we dont get the help and advice we need when it comes to money, work, benefits.

Thanks Martin for raising this issue - I look forward to some damn good advice:j

Cheers Kate

Hi Kate

From a fellow Bipolar sufferer I just wanted to pass on some advice..You should be entitled to incapacity benefit or Disability Living Allowance, I would recommend contacting your nearest welfare rights office they are very helpful and will even complete your claim form for you in a way that will enable you to get the highest award you can get, they will sit down with you and ask you questions while they fill in the form but it isnt as overwhelming as trying to fill in the forms yourself without knowing what you should really put...They got me lower rate mobility and middle rate care for my DLA where as people I know who are just as ill as me or worse have filled in the forms themselves and got nothing!
Also if I was you I would leave work and concentrate on yourself for a while and get yourself in a better frame of mind until you feel you are able to take on a job again...you could also retrain to perhaps do a job that isnt as stressful or harmful to your health..maybe even become your own boss You can get help with course fees and grants etc they do ones specifically for people with a disability.
I hear you on the fact that its so difficult to find out what help you can get and that there is no one site to use to find all this out..although MDF has a good site with a lot of advice for Bipolar sufferers. Your care co-ordinator who is part of the mental health team may be able to help too although I know from my own experience they can say they will find help out for you then never get back to you! But its worth a try....
I dont know if you already have counselling but I would highly recommend you get person centred counselling as it can be a great help in enabling you to feel better about yourself and also to feel OK to be you and not have to "please everyone else" I know without the counselling I had myself I wouldnt be trained as a counsellor myself now nor would I have had the courage to do things like going to the Dominican on holiday alone last year and feel ok to be selfish and please myself

Good luck
And take care

Kat xx

kittykat211273

ash4becks wrote: »

i posted earlyer in this thread, bi- polar has been suggested about me by 2 docs but when it got to the shrink i had just lost my nana few weeks before think he took this as the reason behind my depression i was last assessed 3 years ago latest doc i got refered for councilling and was refused to be transfered i was having a good day and medicated so didnt help really , has said this to me again and i went really hyper infornt of two frinds of diffenernt occations arms floppy talking really fast both late at night i told him about my spending etc even my lovely sue CAB has said the same to me before but did say she had got a debt wrote of before was 20K under mental health grounds ie bi-polar so question is to others with i was wondering what other bi-polar suffers thought about this theres something in my gut that says thiers more to this x

Hi
I couldnt even begin nor would I even attempt to give you a diagnosis as I am not qualified to do so but Im a bipolar sufferer and was ill from teenage years but only diagnosed 2yrs ago when I was 34 due to the mental health services basically being incompetent, one psychiatrist said "oh you cant be bipolar you havent been sectioned" what a load of rubbish! I was lucky enough to be with a partner at the time who paid for me to see a highly renowned private psychiatrist who diagnosed Bipolar and Adult ADHD immediately! I understand most people cant afford private healthcare so what I would recommend is that you demand another psychiatrist appointment from your GP and before going sit with someone who knows you well and write down certain behaviours and incidents that are cause for concern, also I would highly recommend you print off the royal college of psychiatrists information sheet on Bipolar (google it it should be easy to find) and highlight any of the things mentioned that relate to you and how long it has been going on for...when you see your psychiatrist take all this info with you and show them, this will help to give them a better perspective into what exactly is happening in your life so they can hopefully give you a correct diagnosis.

Hope this helps
Take Care
Kat x

angeltoad

simone6333 wrote: »

Ive recently bought a house but cant find anyone who will give me life insurance on the mortgage. One of the factors is I have been ill with depression and off work for the last year. I wouldnt even mind if they made death due to the Bipolar Disorder an exclusion but my parner would be left with a mortgage he couldnt afford on his own if I died. ? Any ideas

It is illegal to discriminate against someone on account of their mental health status under the Disability Discrimination Act. Worth finding out why they refuse you and getting that in writing. You are lucky though to have got a mortgage - most lenders will not even lend to anyone without a "proper job", whether that is through unemployment or incapacity.
A list of good companies and bad companies would be useful.
HTH

angeltoad

Debts seem to get sold on from company to company, and be pursued for years by an increasingly dodgy series of "bailiffs". Some are pure bullying, threatening thugs, and some pretend to be police officers, or boast of powers that they do not legally have, all to intimidate people into paying up. THESE TACTICS can make people very ill, or cause a relapse in those who have been recovering, and so are actually counter productive. IS there a way to stop the selling on of debts down the line like this so we don't have such pond life sending threatening letters and trying to kick our doors down? Usually there is no breakdown of the amount or explanantion of the dates that the debt originated from, and although bailiffs are supposed to be regulated it seems that there is no active poloicing of how they operate. I know many people who have been scared out of their wits and live in fear of the calls and the letters, to the extent that they just stopped opening all mail. Serious problem....

angeltoad

A friend with a mental health diagnosis is living manageably on medications, but they would not be advisable to drive under so he did not learn to drive and so does not have a license. Likewise, he does nto travel abroad. The mere thought is enough to bring on a panic attack, so he does not have a valid passport. Try to open even a basic bank account without either a passport or Driving License and it is impossible. Asking to see the manager and explaining the problem, and also that not everyone drives or holidays in other countries he admitted that the "policy" wasn't good and said that at their discretion other forms of proofof identity might be acceptable... "do you hold a valid firearms certificate?" We didn't get anywhere and other banks just refused to even discuss the issue.
I remember a time when a birth certificate was valid proof. or if you did not have one vital piece, such as the passport, then it could be substituted with 2 or 3 additional proofs such as travel passes, proof of being on the electoral roll at that address, utility bills or payslips for example. I am not sure when the system tightened up, but it leaves us with a society deeply divided where some do not even have the right to hold a bank account, which surely then leaves them vulnerable to private moneylenders or dependent on friends who can write or cash cheques for them, and buy things from the internet on their behalf. There needs to be more flexibility to ensure social inclusion of those with mental diabilities and the elderly, who are teh two categories most likely to not hold a driving license or have a valid passport.

phoenix11_2

At present, the guide is only going to be as good as the available resources and those vary to such a huge extent from area to area, and even from GP to GP etc UNTIL something is forced to change within society. This guide can be a great catalyst for that change, working together with those organisations that are trying to provide support in this areas.

The different approaches from various so called caring organisations can be almost devastating when they get their facts wrong, or, which happens all too often, they seek to misuse the information to avoid providing help.

This is never more the case as with local authorities on the question of providing housing for those with mental disabilities. They will misuse and twist the law to prevent those in need from accessing what is actually their lawful right.

When it comes to finances, it's difficult for everyone because, if the financial insitutions are to be required to take this growing situation on board and supply more supportive resources, they would be very reasonable to request proof of a person's status.

Not only do many people with mental health issues not want to be have their situation logged and effectively publicly 'owned' by every kind of organisation, many simply never have a formal diagnosis especially in cases of Bipolar, ASD etc where even the actual disorder is still not fully recognised by the medical profession itself!

As a parent of an adult with Asperger's who has only just been formally diagnosed, I am extremely concerned as to how he will manage his finances from here on.

He has significant debts from when he was at college and then university, and these are made up of over 55% bank charges. This is nothing to do with his condition - just about every student and a huge number of disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged customers have been badly screwed by the banks for years.

He has been 'tricked' (and I do mean 'tricked') into accepting larger overdrafts after huge bank charges have been applied on tiny overdrawn amounts.

However, he has not just had no support from the banks to sort this out, he's been mercilessly bullied, like so many, gone without basic food to pay money he did not have, and as a result his financial situation has gone from bad to worse.

Now that I've taken over helping him with this as he's on benefits, we can at least keep them at bay for the time being and he has someone who is prepared to fight his corner. BUT - as an example - whilst I might feel it would be in his interests to declare bankrupt, I cannot take the responsibility that he may not fully understand or appreciate the implications of this and he may come to feel he was badly advised.

The very simple matter is that there are almost no resources to help the hugely varying situations for people with mental health conditions, whether they're a permanent or a hopefully temporary one.

I've wondered whether those people who have a mental health condition from birth and who are diagnosed early, and who are going to be financially vulnerable, should have some kind of social bank account - one where the responsibility for handling their account rests as much with the 'bank' as it does with the customer.

The big battle is to get an acceptance that mental/ neurological conditions are not a stigma to hide, but are something that affect a huge number of people, possibly up to a third (???) of the population.

Then I would like to see the banks forced to provide accounts that are managed helpfully, but not restrictively, so that people can live their lives without fear or anxiety on that front.

eg - it is perfectly simple for a bank to operate an account where the customer could not go overdrawn - and not incur charges as a result. This is vital for those on benefits too

I would also like to see some kind of 'amnesty' for those people who do receive a late formal diagnosis of their condition so that they have a chance of getting back on track with their finances.

It is patently unfair and I'd would even argue contractually punitive, for someone to have their debts held over their heads for possibly the rest of their lives when it can be clearly and professionally evidenced that they had no control of their actions, had no understanding of what they were agreeing to and had no ability to fully comprehend the actual ramifications of the mess they were getting in to.

The financial institutions have managed to side-step their responsibilities for far too long - bad enough for those of us who are responsible but were misled - simply not acceptable for those who are simply not 'wired' the same way and can or could not understand what was happening to them.

I would also like to see more power given to organisations like the CAB and other charties that support those with mental health issues so that anyone who is diagnosed with a condition and uses their services can have immediate relief from DCAs - ie the bank are put on notice by those charities and have to handle the account themselves and agree a safe repayment option.

footballerswife

My husband suffers from clinical depression and bipolar disorder. He's been off work since October 2009. Thankfully he was on full pay for the first 6 months, then was paid statutory sick pay for 3 months.Now that's stopped he has to apply for incapacity benefit. My question is, even though he has been seeing a psychiatrist for 9 years and now also has a CPN, how come no one told us about Disability Living Allowance?
We only found out about it from a friend of his who as it turned out, is now a psychiatric nurse! I am very disappointed that no one told us about this a long time ago. There must be many people in the same position who probably struggling unnecessarily because they do not know they can claim.
Whilst his work has been quite understanding about his situation we are both concerned about the possibility that he may be laid off. Would his employer be able to do this?

PeckhamBelle

Hi all,

Having had a parent with severe depression and seen the considerable financial problems this led to, it's an incredibly important issue.

The mental health charity Rethink has support and information on this via their website. They also have specialist debt advisers who can be called through their information and advice line: 0207 840 3188 or 0845 456 0455.

Also, Rethink and the Royal College of Pschiatrists produced a booklet called 'Final Demand: Debt and Mental Health', which you might find useful. I certainly have.

Good luck!