Claiming DLA and Esa

GlasweJen

I'd just like to point out to the OP that I've never been out of work or education despite having problems since I was a teenager and I'm only 25. Not long ago I was that 18 year old who could have allowed myself to rot on benefits.

Muttleythefrog

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

So do you really think that someone should be able to claim benefits for a medical condition (whether mental or physical) that they have made no attempt to seek treatment for?

As far as employers go, I had no problem at all getting several jobs (both public and private sector, professional and clerical levels) a few years after taking ill health retirement on the grounds of depression. I've also had many clients who returned to work without too much difficulty after treatment and recovery.

Believe me, there really is far less stigma attached to mental illness these days than you seem to think, fortunately.

Do I think they should be able to... yes. Remember it isn't the condition that people are claiming for but rather the symptoms.. there's no requirement for medical intervention to explain those symptoms... they either exist or they don't. I do not think people should be denied sickness benefits because they have some reason for not attempting to get medical help. Unfortunately the system 'expects' people to have sought treatment and of course most would. I'm only seeking treatment to get benefits..lol.. that's the farce of it... the medical profession have offered me nothing but grief and medication that has given me new problems to deal with. I'm stockpiling clomipramine pills that I have no intention of taking any longer because

I agree there is less stigma these days...and in countries like Australia it is reportedly very low. But to deny it is an issue would be a mistake. As someone with various diagnosed conditions it would be mad for me to assume that I'm going to get the same response from people as I would with a broken leg... and a particular area of concern would be employment. And let's not kid ourselves that everyone 'recovers'... from something as straightforward as depression many will... not everyone will be able to ultimately say 'I once had clinical depression but with medication it is under control' to a prospective employer. There is not going to be a day I will be free of MH problems... that's not just my view.. it's the view of a psychiatrist. For the Op, who presumably came here for advice rather than social judgement, their issues may be complex and largely unexplored... hopefully when they do seek help they actually get some that is in some way positive. Most likely is they'll be diagnosed as suffering anxiety and/or depression, prescribed citalopram and told to wait a few weeks for it to work like I was... after a 10 minute appointment with a corpse masquerading as a GP..lol

GlasweJen

Or the OP could be told "it's seasonal affective disorder, go take a walk in the daylight and eat vitamin C". You've got a diagnosis, the OP hasn't.

Also one of the stipulations for claiming DLA is that you have had care needs related to your disability for 3 months and are expected to have them for another 6. If the OP never saw a doctor and just claimed anyway then who would decide if the OP fits these parameters? Using that logic I could diagnose myself with MH problems tomorrow and claim indefinitely.

Oldernotwiser

Muttleythefrog wrote: »

Do I think they should be able to... yes. Remember it isn't the condition that people are claiming for but rather the symptoms.. there's no requirement for medical intervention to explain those symptoms... they either exist or they don't. I do not think people should be denied sickness benefits because they have some reason for not attempting to get medical help.
l

I have to disagree. Our system is intended to help people who cannot help themselves, which is why we means test many benefits and sanction people who leave a job voluntarily. I really don't think that we should give money to anyone with a medical condition who hasn't even bothered to go to the doctor with it.

Oldernotwiser

Helen42 wrote: »

I have skim read a lot of this thread, I was diagnosed by my old gp 4 years ago with anxiety and depression he put me on fluoxetine.

I have not been back to a doctor for my problems in about 2 years because....

The GP i had prescribed fluoxetine it didnt agree with me i.e. gave me terrible nightmares what ever time of day i took them gp told me there wasnt anything else and i had to take them the nightmares made my days harder so i stopped taking it

another gp in the practice sent me for cbt assessment the person i saw agreed they could help me but when it came to it my usual gp blocked it cause of funding (i kepts the letter from the cbt person saying this)

gp made me feel like i was wasting his time

since then in the last two years my dad died my son quit a private college course he wokred hard to save and pay for for a girl wont go into detail but i hardly ever see my son anymoe and i have a dsabled husband who has degenertatvie spinal condition his life is morpine patch based which make him real moody. my mum since my dad died has lost all interest in life. oh and my landlord sold our house after we lived in it for 10 years and made us move yup this all really helped with my problems

ok no sypmathies i dont deserve them or want them but dont judge me either please what i want to say is though i have depression i hate admitting i have it i hate the depression i hate my life and i wan tot change it but when oyu have no confience in gps and the government put more and more pressure on to you with medicals and all t hese complicated changes how is all the pressure with no medical help going to help me get better.

Until becane ill I I worked and paid taxes ni etc from the age of 16 i am now 45 my husband who will be 60 this year joined the youth navy at 15 stayed in till he was in his mid 20's and he too has worked and paid taxes all his adult life until a year ago when because of his arthritis and spinal problems had to stop work and yet now because we are on benfits due to our health we are now consdiered the lowest of the low.

SOrry didnt mean to go on just want to say that I would give almost anything not too feel like I do to take the feeling in the pit of my stomach away to not think about suicide every day to just be an everyday person going to work shopping etc.. And I really hope the young op turns his.her life around and gets the help and is offered the help needed. not sure i have said what i mean to say but i hope someone gets it

I'm sorry you've had a bad time and that the AD you were given didn't help.

There are enormous number available these days as you can see on the internet and your doctor has been very wrong to tell you otherwise. I've been on 3 or 4 different ones over the years and some are more effective than others, some won't suit certain people and some work but have difficult side effects.

I can only suggest that you should change doctors and find one that can help both you and your husband. You have to be proactive with healthcare these days as I found when I had cancer years ago and now when my husband has very severe emphysema. Your health, both mental and physical, is too important to be left in the hands of someone who is incompetent and who you don't trust.

Good luck.

mazza111

Have to agree with the above post. It's about finding the right help. One doctor in the practice I go to likes to brush mental health issues under the carpet, where another is very understanding and gives what's needed.

Muttleythefrog

GlasweJen wrote: »

Or the OP could be told "it's seasonal affective disorder, go take a walk in the daylight and eat vitamin C". You've got a diagnosis, the OP hasn't.

Also one of the stipulations for claiming DLA is that you have had care needs related to your disability for 3 months and are expected to have them for another 6. If the OP never saw a doctor and just claimed anyway then who would decide if the OP fits these parameters? Using that logic I could diagnose myself with MH problems tomorrow and claim indefinitely.

Well it comes down to making a convincing case to DWP DM... I mean at the end of the day the medical profession only have my reported symptoms in order to make diagnosis and give treatment. They (medical profession) just accept my reported historical issues (and then usually go on to report them incorrectly..lol).. they've no obvious way of telling whether they're factually based. When I claimed DLA they (or at least a tribunal) accepted (at least some of) my problems had existed for months before seeking medical treatment... but then the types of problems I am claiming aren't really the sorts of problems that just materialise overnight.. like say the effects of a stroke or accident may well.

Problem with system we have is the expectations of diagnosis and treatment. I only got diagnosed beyond anxiety because I persisted and insisted. I have been questionned as to why I seemed so obsessed with need for diagnosis. The DWP A-Z of medical conditions indicates the sort of intervention and treatment likely for particular illnesses and their severity... but that unfortunately ignores issues of service availability and the actual symptoms of many illnesses...and possibly even the reality that often treatment options are exhausted and a severely ill person may not be getting any medical intervention. I'm actually trying to make my medical intervention fit with DWP expectations..lol... the reality is I'm only seeing a psychiatrist and getting medication (which I now just stockpile while I try to recover from the side effects) because I've insisted on it. I've done nothing more than waste valuable NHS resources... and they sure as hell make you feel that way as they clock watch in appointments and wander off into their own imagination...lol. I certainly don't get 'we're here to help' at all..lol... more a case of 'just f*** off please'.

Prinzessilein

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I I really don't think that we should give money to anyone with a medical condition who hasn't even bothered to go to the doctor with it.

This sounds eminently reasonable to me.

However, I can see it leading to the question of whether or not to give benefits to those who have been to their GP but refuse treatment for their condition.

In my own case, there is no cure for my medical condition. However, some of the symptoms can be eased/treated. Without medication I would possibly need a higher rate of DLA than I now get. If I was to stop taking the meds would it be right/fair/legal for me to claim the higher rates? My needs would have increased, so I could tick the DLA boxes......but my needs would have increased because of my personal choice not to take prescribed meds.....to me this is clear-cut, I should be taking the meds!

What about a smoker? If they are told that their breathing difficulties are linked to the ciggies - should they still be entitled to DLA?...In the same way that I would be deliberately making my condition worse by stopping the meds, would a smoker be deliberately exacerbating their condition? Should their benefits be sanctioned?

Then what about people who are overweight? If this affects their condition should they lose benefit?

Going to the GP is, I feel, necessary to a claim for any form of sickness benefit -even if the help they can offer is limited. But if we insist on this, then should we also insist that the claimant accepts treatment?

(I apologise if this doesn't make sense! My head is somewhat befuddled...I know what I meant to say and hope it comes across!)

Muttleythefrog

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I have to disagree. Our system is intended to help people who cannot help themselves, which is why we means test many benefits and sanction people who leave a job voluntarily. I really don't think that we should give money to anyone with a medical condition who hasn't even bothered to go to the doctor with it.

...even if there is a possiblity the medical condition (or beliefs they have) itself means the person is unlikely (or less likely than expected) to seek help? I'd prefer a system which operates to the assumption people may not always act according to expectations of healthy people. I think to do otherwise is shortsighted. The current system seems to fit in between the two positions... it expects sick people to seek medical intervention but it doesn't absolutely block claims on the basis they don't.. although ESA general requirement for sick note in assessment phase sails close to the wire.

In reality of course the system, whatever its intention, ultimately helps those who can't help themselves, sometimes who don't want to help themselves, sometimes people who don't give a sh*t about the system, criminals and even people like me who I honestly can't bracket for classification... depends on mood..lol...which is usually that the self is so pointless and irrelevant that I don't exist in the system for classification.

Muttleythefrog

mazza111 wrote: »

Have to agree with the above post. It's about finding the right help. One doctor in the practice I go to likes to brush mental health issues under the carpet, where another is very understanding and gives what's needed.

I couldn't quite believe the difference between two GPs in the same practice... but I think when the receptionist giggled when I said I wanted to start seeing Dr X instead of Doctor Y even if it meant waiting weeks for appointments then I knew I was probably not the first to discover similar.