JSA harrasment?

julie237

Thanks again everyone. Unfortunately, i did not go to the workshop today as i just couldnt face it. I will face the wrath of my adviser tomorrow
I do intend on finding my own voluntary work, i have a form ready to fill out and take it in tomorrow, i know that will be the best thing for mento move forward. I have been extremely depressed for years and during that time i have opted out of life in general, the only things i do is take my son to and from school etc. I have just had a course of counselling but it was only 4 x 1 hour sessions. I have tried yoga classes before and would love to get to another one if i could arrange. I do not have any support with my child, parents are ill and his dad is a lost cause, but onwards and upwards i suppose

theartfullodger

Best wishes: Don't let the b*gg*rs get you down.

rockingbilly

julie237 wrote: »

Thanks again everyone. Unfortunately, i did not go to the workshop today as i just couldnt face it. I will face the wrath of my adviser tomorrow
I do intend on finding my own voluntary work, i have a form ready to fill out and take it in tomorrow, i know that will be the best thing for mento move forward. I have been extremely depressed for years and during that time i have opted out of life in general, the only things i do is take my son to and from school etc. I have just had a course of counselling but it was only 4 x 1 hour sessions. I have tried yoga classes before and would love to get to another one if i could arrange. I do not have any support with my child, parents are ill and his dad is a lost cause, but onwards and upwards i suppose

Will you be sanctioned with the loss of your benefits because you couldn't be bothered to turn up at the workshop?

julie237

rockingbilly wrote: »

Will you be sanctioned with the loss of your benefits because you couldn't be bothered to turn up at the workshop?

What is your problem?
I came here for support and advice, not for
Someone like you to leave snide remarks. Until You have been in exactly the same position as me, i would keep it to yourself.

Thanks.

rockingbilly

julie237 wrote: »

What is your problem?
I came here for support and advice, not for
Someone like you to leave snide remarks. Until You have been in exactly the same position as me, i would keep it to yourself.

Thanks.

Which is what I have offered. You said "Unfortunately, i did not go to the workshop today as i just couldn't face it. I will face the wrath of my adviser tomorrow".

Having apparently not cleared this with your advisor beforehand and if it was compulsory that you should have gone, it is quite likely that you will be reported for a sanction.
Now where have I offered a snide remark?
I don't have to have been in your position - it is common sense that if you don't turn up for a compulsory meeting then there will be consequences.
At worst I would have telephoned the JC+ beforehand telling them that you are not feeling at all well.

xylophone

Suffering from depression and stress while you are bringing up a child without much help or support must be very difficult.

Lack of sleep and being unable to concentrate must make settling down to finding paid or voluntary work very hard.

However, it would seem that you are dependent on your benefits to pay your bills/buy food etc so that you do need to comply with the conditions set by your adviser.

Set yourself the goal of completing your application for your chosen voluntary work and getting it in the post before the end of the week?

Once you start the routine may help lift your mood.

Being active will also use energy and make you more physically tired and so ready to sleep at bed time.

Incidentally, listening to an audiobook or some music while you are lying in bed may help you drop off to sleep?

annandale

You aren't being harassed, you are being treated exactly the same as many other jobseekers. To be honest with you how are you going to manage voluntary work if you are ill, exhausted and never have any enthusiasm to do things?

What support are you getting for your anxiety and depression?

FBaby

I agree, depression is horrendous and combined with being a single parent makes it very hard.

Only you know your limitations. It is a vicious circle though. The more you remain in that state of dependence having nothing to do but think about negative things, most that you can't control, the worse you are going to feel. Most likely, the only way to get out of this spiral is to start experiencing some positive feelings, confidence, worthiness, pride, excitement, but to do so, you need some stimuli and these you can only gain from being active, doing things, and taking some control of your life.

However paralysing anxiety makes you feel, the only way to get out of it is to face what makes you anxious, which of course, goes against all you want to do. That's why getting out of it is so difficult, especially when you're alone.

There are many self-help guidance available on the internet, and your counsellor should have directed you to it after your last session. I know it can all feels overwhelming because the results seem so far away, but it really is about taking little steps. Try to look at how you can turn the daily visit in a positive outcome, ie. you have no choice to go, you can't control it, but what you can do is try to make it work for YOU. I wish you good luck.

Londonsu

julie237 wrote: »

What is your problem?
I came here for support and advice, not for
Someone like you to leave snide remarks. Until You have been in exactly the same position as me, i would keep it to yourself.

Thanks.

You are posting on a benefit advise board, ONE of the ways people here can help is to make you aware of the repercussions of not fulfilling your obligations when you claim tax payers money, and these can be quite serious a lot more seriously then you are willing to admit.


You say you have application forms you need to fill out but cant do them because you are traveling to the JC everyday, does this travel and meeting take all day? I doubt that very much especially as you are talking about collecting your son from school, I would suspect that if the daily sign in mean you can't pick your child up from school you would have added the fact to your harassment claim.


So I doubt its all your time, once you have given your son his tea and made sure he is doing his homework that would be early evening and you really saying you have no time to fill out a job application form, especially as you are finding the time to fill in a form for the voluntary work you want to do.


I work in the charity sector and have volunteers like you on a downward spiral, stuck in a rut and are suddenly confronted by realities of life on benefits which can be taken away and I know the difficulties you face, but these difficulties are not insurmountable but you actually need to want to do something about your situation, not just coast along because you are getting other benefits that you don't have to do anything to keep claiming for. I don't take volunteers through the DWP but I do expect my volunteers to give me a commitment, any volunteer who just doesn't turn up because they couldn't face it would be treated sympathetically but the one's who don't bother to ring me and tell me they are not coming in don't last very long with me


I too have had no sleep, my arthritis is playing up big time and I have a chest infection which meant that every time I lay down I thought I was going to stop breathing I have had a horrendous night but I am having to go into work today because I have an obligation to do so.

Mersey_2

rockingbilly wrote: »

because you couldn't be bothered to turn up at the workshop?

To be fair to the OP, this did read as rather snide.




OP - incidentally, there is no automatic sanction for failing to attend at a JCP appointment. 'Good reason' covers a dozen possibilities (from family emergency to death of a relative), as long as it is reported within 5 days of the appointment. Although as you said previously, you presumably cannot use illness again, as only 2 periods of sickness per year are permitted by the DWP.


To others commenting - I don't think it's fair for any of us who have not experienced depression to try to second guess its impact or compare it to arthritis.