In ESA Support Group,having to attend ANOTHER medical

lynndy36

Hey guys,
I was put into the ESA support group about a year ago,I suffer with Severe depression,OCD,chronic anxiety, self harm and alcoholism(been in recovery for 2 1/2 years:o)
At my last medical I was so anxious I cut my arm open and had to have an ambulance called by the doctor doing the medical,I went to hospital for stitches.
Ive been making HUGE progress regarding my mental health issues,I have CBT and havent self harmed for 8 months now as well as staying sober.
Now I have to attend another medical and Im terrified it will knock my recovery back.
I worked from being 15(Saturday Job)then until I had my first child at 25 when I became a stay at home mum,my ex husband had a well paid job for me to be able to care for our child. Sadly we divorced and I had a huge breakdown........hence the need to be on benefits and I HATE it.

Anyway,is there anyway I can avoid this damn medical.....can't they see from my last medical it caused huge problems.I want to get better but am not quite there yet. I dont want to SH but worry that when the day comes I will be in such a state I'll fall back into my old coping habits.
I am not scum....I paid my taxes for a good 10 years. I just need help at the moment.

Any feedback would be appreciated.
Thankyou.

mynameistallulah

By your own admission you are on the path to getting better, so a review would seem suitable. This does not mean they are going to find you fit for work, but perhaps they may move you to the WRAG rather than the Support Group.

As you did not have any problems being put in the Support Group last time, I don't see the need for such worry?

lynndy36

Thankyou for your reply and comment. I do feel however the fact I ended up in ER because of the damn medical in the first place(Im sorry I failed to mention it was the appeal medical) I didn't just gently fall into the support group......the first medical I had my psychiatric nurse attended with me,made no difference......so at the appeal I totally lost it. Can you understand Im scared to take steps back rather then forward? Again appologies for not mentioning it was my appeal.

mynameistallulah

lynndy36 wrote: »

Thankyou for your reply and comment. I do feel however the fact I ended up in ER because of the damn medical in the first place(Im sorry I failed to mention it was the appeal medical) I didn't just gently fall into the support group......the first medical I had my psychiatric nurse attended with me,made no difference......so at the appeal I totally lostt it. Can you understand Im scared to take steps back rather then forward? Again appologies for not mentioning it was my appeal.

I can understand it, but the fact is that you have made progress and as such there is a need for you to be reassessed. You would be better placed speaking to your CPN to look at coping mechanisms to get through the experience - make it an opportunity to aid your recovery, rather than seeing it as a negative.

mynameistallulah

Just to clarify, according to your old posts your last medical was December 2010 - you are lucky to have gone this long without being reassessed.

lynndy36

I know Im very lucky to have come as far as I have without being called back.....I will take this into account. At the end of the day I'll just have to deal with the medical,if it harms my recovery I'll have to deal with that too.
Thankyou for your advice.

Chrissiew

You may find it wont be as bad as you think, its something that almost everyone has to go through to either get on the benefit or stay on it, you have said you have progressed so it may be a completly different thing for you when you attend, you may find you will get through it a lot easier.

lynndy36

Thankyou,
I know Im like most people and just want to be left alone and to be not made to feel like some scammer and piece of dirt.
I understand why they have the medicals,I just dont think 'the powers that be' understand how difficult and self degrading they are.
I just don't want to go back to feeling suicide and self harm is the only way out. Maybe it wont be as bad as Im thinking.Fingers crossed!!!

HB58

I'm sorry that you feel this is likely to set back your recoveryn - it sounds as if you have been doing really well. I don't believe there is any way you can get by without attending the 'medical'. I agree with 'mynameistallulah' that you can perhaps use the intervening time to work on your coping skills.

Good luck!

FBaby

you've said you've made huge progress, so things are likely to be very different. You know what to expect, you know that it is very unpleasant, you need to work with your counsellor to prepare yourself for it. Accepting the reason behind it will be the first stage, then accepting that they are not there to make you feel horrible, just confirming that you are indeed entitled to the benefit. They are not doing anything to you, you are letting yourself be affected by it.

You can decide from the start that they will traumatise you, you will regress and it will be all their fault OR you can prepare yourself for it, go through it step by step, coming out of it feeling like you've accomplished a big step and feel much better about yourself.

Muttleythefrog

Best advice I can give you Op is to fill in the ESA50 as fully as possible (and preferably electronically.. the pdf version... so you can use it again in future at least in part), provide as much supporting evidence as possible, refer to previous assessments and reasons you qualified for support group and say they still apply (if they do). I got lucky this time... also in Support Group... I even used my previous ATOS medical report as evidence..lol... referring to its finding in my ESA50 answers as well as other medical reports. ATOS decided to contact my GP to complete the ESA113 form and as a result of the response they got they decided a face to face medical wasn't necessary. I would therefore also advise keeping your GP/specialists up to date with specific information relevant to your claims. Not having the face to face medical and getting put back in Support group for a year has enabled me to focus away from benefits and look to making changes so I understand you position pretty well. There's absolutely no doubt whatsoever that the process of claiming and getting appropriate awards of DLA and ESA have been the biggest barrier to me focussing on what I should focus on... and in all probability have made me significantly worse in terms of health... and therefore much more likely to be dependent on the very same benefits.