In a confusing situation regarding ESA (eligiblity)?

Swoop

baza52 wrote: »

If you can still eat and talk you cant be that bad to look at.
If you can hear everyone talking about you then put headphones or earplugs in.
If it was as bad as you say you would be waiting for the surgery to open to see a doctor for medication to help you.

Actually, it's very difficult to eat many types of food (some impossible) and it does affect my speech, and my sleep (because it affects the rest of the body) to say the least! Also, it is bad but with medication come side-effects and as I do everything natural to combat the intense anxiety. I'm not making it up, I'm totally serious and it's easy to say 'do this, do that' when you're not in this situation - I've tried for so long (and will continue to do so) but there is no denying that I'm severely anxious - and I don't actually care what people say anymore, I don't care if that's weak, or anything like that. I'm tired of being so anxious no matter what I do, and even medicine isn't enough - if it were strong enough, it would be too strong to allow me to function - I have just remembered that I was in fact prescribed one box of diazepam months and months ago, and it was only a drop in the ocean - plus, it made me too tired to do anything work-wise.

My reason for asking for advice was that I know that I should be getting ESA but didn't know how the benefit deciders would view this - if it were the other way round and I understood how someone in this situation felt, I would be really glad to know that my taxes were being put to good use - and as soon as I start earning properly, I'll be happy to know that I'm helping people in the same situation.

Morglin

You may be eligible for ESA, based on possible anxiety/depression, if it is severe, but a perceived jaw 'abnormality' will not entitle you to it.

You need to see a doctor you can talk to, and discuss with him exactly how you are feeling.

People are born with various body abnormalities, but for your jaw to have been injured that severely in bed, stretches the imagination a bit, to be honest.

I broke my jaw, years ago, through horse riding but it was fixed and is perfectly ok now.

If people really are heckling you, then I don't think it's likely to be because of your jaw!

Most disabled people go through life without any abuse from strangers -I often use a wheelchair, and people are perfectly pleasant (sometimes too pleasant, when they start to try and patronise lol) - and I have never had a single problem.

So, speak to a GP about your thoughts and feelings, instead of your jaw, because without medical support, you will find it impossible to be awarded ESA.

Lin

skintmacflint

Unless your GP will support you by issuing fit notes for several months , it's unlikley you'll even get an ESA claim off the ground.

As for the DWP deciding whether your condition or more importantly how your condition affects you, merits an ESA award will depend on how you meet certain ESA descriptors if at all. .

Why not try reading and understanding the ESA descriptors to see if you think you meet enough of them to get the points needed for an ESA award.?

skibadee

As has been said, I think you need to find a GP who is looking at your issue from the Anxiety point of view not the physical.
It maybe that it will take the trying of different medications before you find one that works for you.

Raksha

In the meantime, perhaps your GP could send you for counselling to help you develop a thicker skin, a more mindful reaction to these comments.

baza52

OP, What is actually wrong with your jaw?
You mentioned in December you had an impacted wisdom tooth.

baza52

Ahhh I knew this had been posted before under a different name..
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4748246




post 7 sums it up nicely by the OP


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.

Indie_Kid

Um, didn't the rules change last year (?) so that you couldn't claim ESA on the basis of mental health issues due to physical issues? IE, you can't claim for depression on the basis of a physical injury.

Gigervamp

OP, in that other thread you say that you're male. Would a beard help to cover the disfigurement?

Swoop

Hiya, thanks for the suggestion but a beard would not help at all - my mouth is much too damaged and a beard would just draw attention to my mouth - and it would not do anything to cover it up.

As for the actual injury itself, I don't know what it is as the specialists I have been to see so far don't seem to know (and I'm still running this gauntlet so time may tell). I have an impacted wisdom tooth as a result of the injury which is getting removed in early march (before I can take the next step). My lower jaw basically comes forward and to one side (a lot!), and it affects the rest of my face (and body, and posture). I know that it is a combination of different injuries which exacerbate each other. If you were to feel right behind your lower jaw at the top there's a kind of dip where your jaw meets your neck. For me, it seems as if this has become torn open (thus being made longer and deeper, and causing my jaw to shift much more to one side) - however this is only part of it and doesn't really explain the full picture.

Whilst I'm not sure exactly what I have, if you search 'condylar hyperplasia' in Google you will see people with a very mild-looking version of what I have - this is why I feel that I have condylar hyperplasia as well as other injuries that exacerbate it, but as I have said the specialists seem to not understand it fully. When you see these pictures, you won't see anything that comes close to what I have (and I haven't seen anything else so far).

Thanks for the help - it does stress me to talk about how I feel and so on but I know it's necessary. Also, if it's true that I can not claim for this then that is totally wrong and needs to change ASAP.

Also, thanks Lin for the great answer - the thing is, I slept on my jaw with a lot of pressure, damaging it a lot - and then over time the injury has grown (as some injuries do) - also, I had an underbite before which is part of the reason that exacerbates it (but not everything). Also, I do get heckled about how my jaw/mouth is injured, and I feel that it's also because of my age and the fact that I am 6"1 and quite athletic/strong body-wise, it's as if I am expected to be a certain way and allowed to be insulted (when people think I can't hear them). Also, it makes rude people of around the same age feel better about themselves to insult someone else (with something easy to pick at).