I -NEED- PIP, will I get it?

TORTURED

I would appreciate ANY help on the matter!

Basically, I'm a 22 year old man (young man, super-old teenager, whatever) and I suffer EXTREME anxiety due to a damaged jaw which within a couple of months turned me from being really confident and self-admittedly attractive to messed-up looking and EXTREMELY ANXIOUS!

When I hear and see people say 'I suffer from severe anxiety' - all the time, that is NOTHING compared to how I feel. 24/7 I'm going absolutely cluckin' INSANE!

I left my job (lied to them because I didn't want to seem weak) because of anxiety. Whilst I was there I was ostracized for rapidly going crazy (due to EXTREME anxiety) and had to leave for many reasons to do with this.

I can't sign on because I'm TOO ANXIOUS to go to the Jobcentre, and I'm destitute and always starving because I have no money, and when I do scrape together some money from the pits of reality, I'm too anxious to go to the shop and buy food.

So I starve and starve and go crazier and crazier.

The few times I do go out I feel like my heart is about to BURST - my heart feels literal, SHARP PAIN as a result of this extreme stress and pressure and there is no escape, no outlet, nothing.

I sleep well, when I am given food I eat as well as I can and when I can get someone to buy me food I make sure it's the healthiest stuff.

But still, the anxiety is EXTREME and I'm dying as a result!

I'm otherwise physically healthy/athletic and the like, but my anxiety is a result of MY FACE which is ALWAYS THERE and always gets mentioned, no matter how hard I try and escape my thoughts and feelings.

I could go into so much more detail about how EXTREMELY, DEEPLY AND HORRIBLY ANXIOUS I am but I don't want to waffle too much.

I feel like I might just blow my cluckin' brains out!

I stop myself going to the doctor's, because it means sitting in a big open waiting room full of people as I shake and sweat and visibly go crazy.

I've taken strong medication before but it does nothing to help - it makes me very tired but the anxiety can not be relieved - BECAUSE IT DOES NOT FIX MY FACE!

My particular 'illness' is extremely difficult to diagnose and I have met with 4 different specialists, all of whom don't know jack about what's up with me, so finding physical treatment is very distant at the moment (if possible at all).

So do you think I could get PIP, and could I get it without a diagnosis from the doctor if I tell the PIP people this?

MY SOUL IS STRUGGLING AGAINST A RAGING BLACK ABYSS

Please help, I'm literally dying! So close to pulling the trigger on my skull!

seven-day-weekend

I think the Benefit you should be trying for is ESA, not PIP. ESA is for those too sick to work, PIP is to pay for the extra care and mobility needs arising from of a disability.

I think however, you will need to go to the Doctor (as you will need a Doctor's note to apply for ESA) and also you need to have some counselling/therapy to help you come to terms with what has happened. Get someone to come to the Doctor's with you if you can't manage on your own.

As for food, you can order it online and get it delivered from the major supermarkets, so you don't need to starve.

Do you have a good relationship with your parents? Enlist their help and support. They will probably be glad to help, I would do all I could for my son.

tomtom256

Sorry for what you are going through, but as above states, ESA is the better route.

You also need to get help from your GP or local mental health team.

ESA/PIP is not going to help long term with the issue at hand, money won't change anything, you will still have these feelings unless you get the cause of the anxiety dealt with.

starlight29

Hi
I dont know about the benefit side but I know that if you explain to the drs receptionist how unwell you are the dr will do a home visit my mums neighbour cant go out easily either and the dr comes to him I think this is probably your first step as people above have said you will need a drs backing im sure.
Take care
Starlight

Dovah_diva

TORTURED wrote: »

I would appreciate ANY help on the matter!

Basically, I'm a 22 year old man (young man, super-old teenager, whatever) and I suffer EXTREME anxiety due to a damaged jaw which within a couple of months turned me from being really confident and self-admittedly attractive to messed-up looking and EXTREMELY ANXIOUS!

When I hear and see people say 'I suffer from severe anxiety' - all the time, that is NOTHING compared to how I feel. 24/7 I'm going absolutely cluckin' INSANE!

I left my job (lied to them because I didn't want to seem weak) because of anxiety. Whilst I was there I was ostracized for rapidly going crazy (due to EXTREME anxiety) and had to leave for many reasons to do with this.

I can't sign on because I'm TOO ANXIOUS to go to the Jobcentre, and I'm destitute and always starving because I have no money, and when I do scrape together some money from the pits of reality, I'm too anxious to go to the shop and buy food.

So I starve and starve and go crazier and crazier.

The few times I do go out I feel like my heart is about to BURST - my heart feels literal, SHARP PAIN as a result of this extreme stress and pressure and there is no escape, no outlet, nothing.

I sleep well, when I am given food I eat as well as I can and when I can get someone to buy me food I make sure it's the healthiest stuff.

But still, the anxiety is EXTREME and I'm dying as a result!

I'm otherwise physically healthy/athletic and the like, but my anxiety is a result of MY FACE which is ALWAYS THERE and always gets mentioned, no matter how hard I try and escape my thoughts and feelings.

I could go into so much more detail about how EXTREMELY, DEEPLY AND HORRIBLY ANXIOUS I am but I don't want to waffle too much.

I feel like I might just blow my cluckin' brains out!

I stop myself going to the doctor's, because it means sitting in a big open waiting room full of people as I shake and sweat and visibly go crazy.

I've taken strong medication before but it does nothing to help - it makes me very tired but the anxiety can not be relieved - BECAUSE IT DOES NOT FIX MY FACE!

My particular 'illness' is extremely difficult to diagnose and I have met with 4 different specialists, all of whom don't know jack about what's up with me, so finding physical treatment is very distant at the moment (if possible at all).

So do you think I could get PIP, and could I get it without a diagnosis from the doctor if I tell the PIP people this?

MY SOUL IS STRUGGLING AGAINST A RAGING BLACK ABYSS

Please help, I'm literally dying! So close to pulling the trigger on my skull!

Firstly, no Government in the world is going to give you money without physical evidence of your illness. This means you have to visit your GP and enlist his help and support.

Secondly, you need to deal with your issues. You are far too young to be giving up on life. While I appreciate you appear to have a physical deformity, that has not yet been diagnosed and therefore treated, you need to deal with the anxiety issues that this has caused. Plenty of people have physical deformities and they manage them and live fulfilling and enjoyable lives.

Therefore, I would suggest you make this your goal - of course, receiving some financial assistance from the Government while you do will help.

TL;DR Go to your GP and get some help.

Troutwrestler

If your condition... Means you need help with your care/mobility needs then you can apply for PIP...not saying your would get it..but you should apply for esa.

Also you need gp and even hospital records /reports to support benefit claims for illness/disability....also at 22 you really need to try and get your life back...it's far to young to resigning yourself to a life on benefits..it's no life really...

TORTURED

Thanks for all the great replies, magical ones.

I was really purposely melodramatic in my post to exaggerate how I am - I am extremely anxious though.

My point was that I wanted to get enough benefits to rent a bedsit, where I would get a monthly internet connection and do some work online to build up a sizable income, with which I would eventually fund my treatment and leave benefits ASAP.

Thanks for the info and it seems like things will take a lot longer than I had expected! Time for the push!

Housing_Benefit_Officer

You would only get the SRR of Local Housing Allowance as you are single and under 35.

Do you have a local Disability Information Advice Line service (DIAL) who can help and guide you through the benefits process and see what other services you can access?

marybelle01

TORTURED wrote: »

Thanks for all the great replies, magical ones.

I was really purposely melodramatic in my post to exaggerate how I am - I am extremely anxious though.

My point was that I wanted to get enough benefits to rent a bedsit, where I would get a monthly internet connection and do some work online to build up a sizable income, with which I would eventually fund my treatment and leave benefits ASAP.

Thanks for the info and it seems like things will take a lot longer than I had expected! Time for the push!

I am sorry because I do feel for you, but this is wholly unrealistic. There are no online fortunes to be made from home to fund private medical treatment. And as a previous poster has pointed out, at your age there is only very limited housing benefit, and ESA won't fund bills, internet connections and living costs - it just isn't enough to live even a modest lifestyle and do what you want to do. Plus, you have to "pick" - you can't receive ESA and also work - that is called fraud! ESA is for people who are too ill to work, so you won't be able to do work from home and collect benefits for being sick. One or the other, not both.

You say that this has all happened within a few months, so I assume the deformity of the jaw you refer to is a result of some form of accident and not something you were born with. If it is that recent, surely your GP if not also your consultant are still monitoring your medical condition, and this should mean that they are also considering the mental impacts of a disfiguring injury? This is standard medical procedure. If you are failing to attend appointments then you need to realise that you are not helping yourself. If a disfigurement is severe and/or the mental impacts of that are traumatic, then remedial work is available through the NHS. It won't be fast, but probably faster that your idea of saving up from online work at home. And you won't even be considered for it if your doctors cannot evidence a need because you aren't talking to them!

I don't know how much you exaggerated your feelings in your first post. You admit to some. And I do understand how much even a minor disfigurement can affect some people. But you need to get a grip! You cannot hide in your home, wherever that is (why do you need a bedsit, and where are you living now?). Yesterday there were people without limbs down at my local supermarket collecting money so that they could compete in athletics. Wearing sports gear (rather revealing), so you can bet that a lot of people were staring. And the people collecting weren't in the slightest bit bothered about being stared at. I think I would have been in their shoes, but they weren't. There are people in this world with far worse disabilities, disfigurements and injuries. And there are people in this world starving to death because there is no food - not because they can't get it together to go and sign on, or go to the doctor and get help.

You are one of the lucky ones - there is help and all you have to do is ask for it. It may not just fall into your lap, but it's there, and for many people it isn't. You obviously still have some "get and up and go" - get and go before it wears out!

TORTURED

marybelle01 wrote: »

I am sorry because I do feel for you, but this is wholly unrealistic. There are no online fortunes to be made from home to fund private medical treatment. And as a previous poster has pointed out, at your age there is only very limited housing benefit, and ESA won't fund bills, internet connections and living costs - it just isn't enough to live even a modest lifestyle and do what you want to do. Plus, you have to "pick" - you can't receive ESA and also work - that is called fraud! ESA is for people who are too ill to work, so you won't be able to do work from home and collect benefits for being sick. One or the other, not both.

You say that this has all happened within a few months, so I assume the deformity of the jaw you refer to is a result of some form of accident and not something you were born with. If it is that recent, surely your GP if not also your consultant are still monitoring your medical condition, and this should mean that they are also considering the mental impacts of a disfiguring injury? This is standard medical procedure. If you are failing to attend appointments then you need to realise that you are not helping yourself. If a disfigurement is severe and/or the mental impacts of that are traumatic, then remedial work is available through the NHS. It won't be fast, but probably faster that your idea of saving up from online work at home. And you won't even be considered for it if your doctors cannot evidence a need because you aren't talking to them!

I don't know how much you exaggerated your feelings in your first post. You admit to some. And I do understand how much even a minor disfigurement can affect some people. But you need to get a grip! You cannot hide in your home, wherever that is (why do you need a bedsit, and where are you living now?). Yesterday there were people without limbs down at my local supermarket collecting money so that they could compete in athletics. Wearing sports gear (rather revealing), so you can bet that a lot of people were staring. And the people collecting weren't in the slightest bit bothered about being stared at. I think I would have been in their shoes, but they weren't. There are people in this world with far worse disabilities, disfigurements and injuries. And there are people in this world starving to death because there is no food - not because they can't get it together to go and sign on, or go to the doctor and get help.

You are one of the lucky ones - there is help and all you have to do is ask for it. It may not just fall into your lap, but it's there, and for many people it isn't. You obviously still have some "get and up and go" - get and go before it wears out!

Hi, thanks for the reply - some good food for thought. Still, my idea of working from home is not unrealistic - I have a skill and it's a fact that I can make money, all I need is a few months (which I don't have right now). However, I don't have a home and this place I can come temporarily (father's house) is not an option for much longer - he's moving out very soon so even my last chance at free internet is gone. He's not going to get more internet. He's 72 and I'm 22, and he doesn't seem to understand how I'm feeling, no matter how much I tell him - also, I don't want to bother him anymore and there's no reason for me to. I have no-one in my family/friends that can help me with this.

And about people with missing limbs, etc - I understand that but it's completely different! The mental effects of facial disfigurement are a different ball game altogether, if you are missing a limb people can still 'get you' and so on, and speak to your face normally and so on. But with how I look, even when I ignore it completely, people seem to find how I look odd and it changes how they communicate with me - some people even seem offended by speaking to me, it's really strange. When you're not in this position, you just can't understand it - and I see that now that I'm suffering from this. Also, everyone that knows me asks what's up with me and mentions it constantly (even in a nice way, or an unknowing way), so there's no escape, there's no forgetting about it.

I've studied CBT for over a year, even before this - I was into CBT, and have had countless words from close people, but it can't change anything! Not when it happened so soon - and especially with the fact that even specialists don't get it.

I've had medications and the like, and they just don't work - the strongest ones put me to sleep, and even then - when I'm awake my face is still there, you can't medicate away your face.

But it's true what you're saying, the gist of it - I just need to push! And that's what I'm going to do. I know I'm physically strong but people don't seem to realise that bravery and confidence in certain senses can't change how you feel in other senses. When I do finally go out and so on, I do it with force, confidently and everything - but the underlying pain doesn't go away, no matter what.

The several doctors and so on I've spoken to all have the same idea - see more specialists (which I am continuing to do, and which takes lots of waiting time and the like) and take medication - which doesn't work! I live healthy and sleep healthy, but everything is a struggle! Non-stop.

All in all, you're right - I need to shut up and fight on, and never give in. I'll just fight harder.

ComebackGirl wrote: »

I've no advice about benefits , sorry , but it sounds like you have developed body dysmorphia.

It's incredibly hard to overcome but try to visit your GP and don't waste more time struggling alone. Some people waste decades unable to go outside due to fearing how bad they look to others.

EDIT: Can't post links as old posts have gone awol but google "body dysmorphia"

Thanks for the link - it's kind of true, about the body dysmorphia - still, it seems that a lot of people with body dysmorphia are deluded - mine is a fact!

Interesting reading! And I will not waste any more time.

Pollycat

TORTURED wrote: »

Hi, thanks for the reply - some good food for thought. Still, my idea of working from home is not unrealistic - I have a skill and it's a fact that I can make money, all I need is a few months (which I don't have right now). However, I don't have a home and this place I can come temporarily (father's house) is not an option for much longer - he's moving out very soon so even my last chance at free internet is gone. He's not going to get more internet. He's 72 and I'm 22, and he doesn't seem to understand how I'm feeling, no matter how much I tell him - also, I don't want to bother him anymore and there's no reason for me to. I don't have a mum and no other family that I can call/anything.

Are you sure you don't have any family?

You posted the above at 01:38 this morning but in this thread that you started at 02:39 this morning you're asking about sharing a flat with your sister.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4750389=