E.s.a

Muttleythefrog

Spamfree wrote: »

Are you a qulaified benefits adviser?

You don't need to be... that's why the board exists. Giving psychiatric advice on the other hand is something not even a psychiatrist would do from a few words on an internet page regarding someone. And political discussion of benefits and doctors belongs elsewhere on the site.

smiler651

I know through personal experience that if you go to a doctor suffering from depression, they will ask questions from a ticklist and based on your answers, there will be a score. If you score the relevant amount you will be officially diagnosed with depression.

My original post was actually to give some helpful advice on the matter, also based on personal experience.

PippaGirl_2

I think Doctors and Mental Health Professionals might know more than you however smiler.

There is a huge difference between different levels of depression and anxiety some have add on additional psychiatric diagnosis', what works for one person therefore would be totally inappropriate for another and only the professionals can possible know for each individual person.

Muttleythefrog

smiler651 wrote: »

My original post was actually to give some helpful advice on the matter, also based on personal experience.

As above.. that's the problem... your experience may not be applicable to the complexities of another patient's situation. Generally speaking depression can be helped by increasing activity.. things like social contact, working, exercise... that's well established... the problem is that the person here isn't 'general' .. they're a specific patient with unique circumstances that HCPs will have explored to some degree. To give an extreme example I suffer depression... but psychiatrist has determined that improving my depression is not appropriate given the complicating factors...i.e. if I were to do what you suggest then if it worked I may commit suicide or become even more dangerous to others... so no method of treatment seems appropriate. The political point you made regarding doctors issuing medical certificates for people with depression etc... well it's a surprising claim... you could be talking about some very seriously ill people.. but anyway that's probably for the discussion board.. perhaps set up a thread 'should people with mental illnesses x,y,z be able to claim ESA/refrain from work'.