dla and depression

kkpolobear

hi there

i have benn signed off work since 2001 with depression and knee problems
does anyone know if i can get any other benefits i have tried dla and they say no
all i do get is income support

stargirl73

Hi

Do you have a carer or support worker who could help you appeal against the DLA decision?

It might be worth persisting with it, but it can be a long and hard battle to get them to understand the effects your problems have on your day to day life.

This link might help you to figure out what to put in the claim form

http://www.bhas.org.uk/dla/dla_mental_test.shtml

It's worth persisting though because if you do get awarded it, it can make a substantial difference to your income.

Are you not entitled to incapacity benefit?

If you get income support you should be entitled to council tax benefit.

Don't give up - I know how hard it is to face the forms but stick with it.

StarGirl

Shellybee

Are you being treated by your GP for your depression?

If you are then you will be entitled to Incapacity benefit. There is a section on the incapacity claim form for Anxiety & depression.
You would have to list all the medictaion you take for depression and how your depression affects your daily life.



HTH

John_T_5

As someone who suffers from Clinical Depression I was informed that I was better off receiving Income Support than Incapacity Benefit, I am still registered as being on Incapacity Benefit but I am paid Income Support, the upshot is if I was receiving a payment of Incapacity Benefit I become liable for a lot of other charges including prescription charges, Housing Benefit and Council tax, leaving me worse of than I would be on Income Support.

healy

You cannot choose Income Support instead of Incapacity Benefit. If you have paid sufficient contributions you have to claim Incapacity Benefit. Then Income Support only comes into play if you receive DLA at certain rates.

beanielou

Depends on how severe your depression & knee probs are.
Why dont you speak to your local CAB / welfare rights for advice?

GOOD_BOY_3

hi

STARGIRL73
i only got dla mobility and only realised that i could apply for dla carers a little while ago and it was accecpted no one on the benefit helplines told me or helped me find out what i could claim and i only found out by the cab.
i have only been awarded the lower rates on both but i dont want to reapply as its xmas soon and i need the money and the person on the phone said it would be taken away if it was not increased!

i think DjSatansfury was out of order and obviosuly hasnt experenced depression his or her self so if you dont have anything nice to say dont say anything at all!!!

DjSatansfury

stargirl73 wrote:

DjSatansfury

I think that's a bit harsh.

What for? Telling the truth

Its not like i was insulting the OP, i was just giving my experience, and the people i know who claim for DLA for depression, know how to play the system. Where as others who should receive it, dont.

Thats all i was saying.

Ted_Hutchinson

In the same way that rich people pay tax accountants to arrange their finances so that they pay the least amount of tax so people on benefits need to use qualified professionals to present their case for Welfare Benefits in a way that maximises the chance that the claimed benefit is awarded. There is absolutely nothing wrong in a good presentation.

The best most up to date advice isn't from BHAS as that information is dated. The same authors present up to date information at Benefits and Work though I still think it would probably be better for a mentally ill person to use a representative from Mind (National Association for Mental Health)
or Sane or such like experienced mental health support system. These people will know the problems, particularly the catch 22 situation of being dammed if you don't present the evidence relevant to the criteria, and dammed if you do (because that shows you must be lying to be so efficient you've kept a diary and argued a reasoned case)

janaltus

Ted_Hutchinson wrote:

In the same way that rich people pay tax accountants to arrange their finances so that they pay the least amount of tax so people on benefits need to use qualified professionals to present their case for Welfare Benefits in a way that maximises the chance that the claimed benefit is awarded. There is absolutely nothing wrong in a good presentation.

The best most up to date advice isn't from BHAS as that information is dated. The same authors present up to date information at Benefits and Work though I still think it would probably be better for a mentally ill person to use a representative from Mind (National Association for Mental Health)
or Sane or such like experienced mental health support system. These people will know the problems, particularly the catch 22 situation of being dammed if you don't present the evidence relevant to the criteria, and dammed if you do (because that shows you must be lying to be so efficient you've kept a diary and argued a reasoned case)

Thanks Ted. The MIND website can be a minefield to navigate (no pun intended) but this link puts you through to the DLA factsheet. Hope it's useful, Stargirl73.
http://www.mind.org.uk/Information/Factsheets/Employment+and+benefits/Benefits.htm#Disability_Living_Allowance

Ted_Hutchinson

janaltus wrote:

Thanks Ted. The MIND website can be a minefield to navigate (no pun intended) but this link puts you through to the DLA factsheet. Hope it's useful, Stargirl73.
http://www.mind.org.uk/Information/Factsheets/Employment+and+benefits/Benefits.htm#Disability_Living_Allowance

Unfortunately that factsheet is simply a bare bones description of the benefit criteria. To make a good presentation you need EVIDENCE directly related to the specific questions on the actual claim form. This is why you really need to invest in a membership of Benefits and Work or download the dated BHAS guide and spend a week or so keeping a diary/log book and noting down examples of your behaviours that appear to you to fit the DETAILED information in those guides.
When you have thought about your behaviours in the light of the DLA claims guide guidance and prepared your own answers to the questions on the DLA claim form you then need to take these provisional answers to the CAB, Mind, Sane, or your Mental Health Support Worker and get someone with successful DLA claims experience to vet those provisional answers so that any apparent contradictions are eliminated and any confusions sorted out.

The reason I think it better for you to prepare your answers first and take these to be vetted, rather than simply asking a professional to fill in the form with you there, is that it takes a while to remember exactly all the details/examples of the way you react in different circumstances.
If I ask you what you did yesterday and simply wrote that down straight away it probably wouldn't be a full account. As soon as you left my office you would probably start thinking about other things you did (that fitted the criteria) that you forgot to tell me, because of time constraints, stress you simply forgot. So preparing your answers over a few days, following the full guidance in those DLA guides and presenting these to you Welfare Rights Adviser, will enable a fuller more detailed better evidenced claim to be submitted. It also gets round the problem of THE DWP DLA Decision Makers becoming Representative Aware. If your WRA is as busy as most there will be a tendency for stock answers and standard wordings to be used. In the same way regular readers here can spot a regular poster when they post under an assumed name, so DLA Decision Makers will learn to spot the claims from particular WRA's and may be prejudiced against them and their stock phrasing or bog standard replies.

It is easier for the claim to sound like your own personal, individual, claim if you have been the main author and the WRA has simply tidied up the grammar, spelling, and sorted out any badly worded or unclear passages that could lead to disqualification.