We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum. This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are - or become - political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.
We're aware that dates on the Forum are not currently showing correctly. Please bear with us while we get this fixed, and see Site feedback for updates.
PIP for ADHD - anxiety
Comments
-
Chablar said:PerRoisinDubh_2 said:I have read on other forums that many ADHDers get turned down for PIP if applying later in life because the assessor says that they've managed this far so they must be OK. Is it worth addressing this in my application or should I wait to be asked?
Are you using the DWP breakdown of all the points scoring to help form your answers to the questions?0 -
RoisinDubh_2 said:Chablar said:PerRoisinDubh_2 said:I have read on other forums that many ADHDers get turned down for PIP if applying later in life because the assessor says that they've managed this far so they must be OK. Is it worth addressing this in my application or should I wait to be asked?
Are you using the DWP breakdown of all the points scoring to help form your answers to the questions?
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/Migrated_Documents/adviceguide/pip-9-table-of-activities-descriptors-and-points.pdf
(And to confirm... a descriptor (the zero scoring one included) will be chosen for all activities and total points 8-11 in daily living or mobility will give standard award for that component and total points 12+ total for daily living or mobility would give enhanced award for the component)
Regarding holidays... they could ask if you ever get an assessment by healthcare professional.... just as they might ask about hobbies, whether you go shopping and how etc... usually such questions aimed at eliciting facts they might use to justify the descriptors they think relevant (or not relevant). More likely they'll ask about your day to day activities in more normal context than holidays though I'd say as they're supposed to be looking at what your disabilities are for most of the time."Do not attribute to conspiracy what can adequately be explained by incompetence" - rogerblack2 -
Muttleythefrog said:RoisinDubh_2 said:Chablar said:PerRoisinDubh_2 said:I have read on other forums that many ADHDers get turned down for PIP if applying later in life because the assessor says that they've managed this far so they must be OK. Is it worth addressing this in my application or should I wait to be asked?
Are you using the DWP breakdown of all the points scoring to help form your answers to the questions?
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/Migrated_Documents/adviceguide/pip-9-table-of-activities-descriptors-and-points.pdf
(And to confirm... a descriptor (the zero scoring one included) will be chosen for all activities and total points 8-11 in daily living or mobility will give standard award for that component and total points 12+ total for daily living or mobility would give enhanced award for the component)
Regarding holidays... they could ask.... just as they might ask about hobbies, whether you go shopping and how etc... usually such questions aimed at eliciting facts they might use to justify the descriptors they think relevant (or not relevant). More likely they'll ask about your day to day activities in more normal context than holidays though I'd say as they're supposed to be looking at what your disabilities are for most of the time.
So, at the moment, I would truthfully answer that I easily go days and days without leaving the house, but that when I really have to do something, I can manage it. I get to all my medical appointments, and most of the time once I'm out, I then manage to do things like browse the shops and sometimes have a coffee or some food. I manage to go to the hairdresser when I really have to. My fear is that someone will follow me one day and take photos and use them as evidence that I'm a fraud since my disabilities are almost totally invisible. I don't think anyone would look at me and know I'm autistic. I mask very well and its exhausting.
I think if I was awarded PIP, I'd be much more likely to get my life back, go out again and try to meet people, go to the pub, etc. because I'd have the spare money to do things like get proper meal plans and get a cleaner in so I wasn't living in squalor. I'm worried this will be used against me when actually, if I looked healthier or happier or got out more, it would be purely because I would have some help and support!2 -
RoisinDubh_2 said:Muttleythefrog said:RoisinDubh_2 said:Chablar said:PerRoisinDubh_2 said:I have read on other forums that many ADHDers get turned down for PIP if applying later in life because the assessor says that they've managed this far so they must be OK. Is it worth addressing this in my application or should I wait to be asked?
Are you using the DWP breakdown of all the points scoring to help form your answers to the questions?
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/Migrated_Documents/adviceguide/pip-9-table-of-activities-descriptors-and-points.pdf
(And to confirm... a descriptor (the zero scoring one included) will be chosen for all activities and total points 8-11 in daily living or mobility will give standard award for that component and total points 12+ total for daily living or mobility would give enhanced award for the component)
Regarding holidays... they could ask.... just as they might ask about hobbies, whether you go shopping and how etc... usually such questions aimed at eliciting facts they might use to justify the descriptors they think relevant (or not relevant). More likely they'll ask about your day to day activities in more normal context than holidays though I'd say as they're supposed to be looking at what your disabilities are for most of the time.
I think if I was awarded PIP, I'd be much more likely to get my life back, go out again and try to meet people, go to the pub, etc. because I'd have the spare money to do things like get proper meal plans and get a cleaner in so I wasn't living in squalor. I'm worried this will be used against me when actually, if I looked healthier or happier or got out more, it would be purely because I would have some help and support!2 -
I'm a bit confused about how a "paper based assessment" works. I'm already working myself up about a phone assessment and really struggled even on the phone call to get the form sent out. Has anyone had one and would I be very disadvantaged by asking for this?0
-
Muttleythefrog said:RoisinDubh_2 said:Chablar said:PerRoisinDubh_2 said:I have read on other forums that many ADHDers get turned down for PIP if applying later in life because the assessor says that they've managed this far so they must be OK. Is it worth addressing this in my application or should I wait to be asked?
Are you using the DWP breakdown of all the points scoring to help form your answers to the questions?
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/Migrated_Documents/adviceguide/pip-9-table-of-activities-descriptors-and-points.pdf
(And to confirm... a descriptor (the zero scoring one included) will be chosen for all activities and total points 8-11 in daily living or mobility will give standard award for that component and total points 12+ total for daily living or mobility would give enhanced award for the component)
Regarding holidays... they could ask if you ever get an assessment by healthcare professional.... just as they might ask about hobbies, whether you go shopping and how etc... usually such questions aimed at eliciting facts they might use to justify the descriptors they think relevant (or not relevant). More likely they'll ask about your day to day activities in more normal context than holidays though I'd say as they're supposed to be looking at what your disabilities are for most of the time.
Also for interacting with people, when I do interact with people, I can mask very well and appear very normal, but it takes so much out of me to do so. On my bad days, which at the moment are at least 5-6 days a week, I can't interact at all. I don't go to the shop, I order my groceries in, and if I run out of something, I just have to make do. I cancel social engagements or don't make them at all. So would this be an '8', since I'm supposed to be writing about my worst days? Or an '0' since I'm sometimes capable of interacting with others with no visible difficulty?0 -
Hello, I get PIP and for my difficulties with autism and I got high points for cooking and eating and personal care. I wrote how I struggle when I am thinking about food and eating because I forget, cant manage due to overwhelming of sensory input from things happening during day, I burn myself when cooking as awareness not good also forget the food is cooking as I get distracted and no idea of time - i destroyed microwaves so dont have one of them anymore. Just write what you have put above and just make sure that if you put ordering food you state that is rare or only if you can manage using the computer/phone due to mental effort needed.
Masking is what we do and tell them it takes so much out of you so that when you dont have tmask you are exhausted and your brain is empty and thoughts to focus on anything have disappeared and it is a struggle to think of anything - I have obsessions that can sometimes ground me but then I am so into them I only do them.
just be you and not the masking you and write about you - it was the one time I could say me and be me.2 -
RoisinDubh_2 said:Muttleythefrog said:RoisinDubh_2 said:Chablar said:PerRoisinDubh_2 said:I have read on other forums that many ADHDers get turned down for PIP if applying later in life because the assessor says that they've managed this far so they must be OK. Is it worth addressing this in my application or should I wait to be asked?
Are you using the DWP breakdown of all the points scoring to help form your answers to the questions?
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/Migrated_Documents/adviceguide/pip-9-table-of-activities-descriptors-and-points.pdf
(And to confirm... a descriptor (the zero scoring one included) will be chosen for all activities and total points 8-11 in daily living or mobility will give standard award for that component and total points 12+ total for daily living or mobility would give enhanced award for the component)
Regarding holidays... they could ask if you ever get an assessment by healthcare professional.... just as they might ask about hobbies, whether you go shopping and how etc... usually such questions aimed at eliciting facts they might use to justify the descriptors they think relevant (or not relevant). More likely they'll ask about your day to day activities in more normal context than holidays though I'd say as they're supposed to be looking at what your disabilities are for most of the time.
Also for interacting with people, when I do interact with people, I can mask very well and appear very normal, but it takes so much out of me to do so. On my bad days, which at the moment are at least 5-6 days a week, I can't interact at all. I don't go to the shop, I order my groceries in, and if I run out of something, I just have to make do. I cancel social engagements or don't make them at all. So would this be an '8', since I'm supposed to be writing about my worst days? Or an '0' since I'm sometimes capable of interacting with others with no visible difficulty?
Difficulties count whether they're visible or not. The concept of Reliably includes the aftereffects and whether you can do it as often as would be reasonably required for a typical life that a nondisabled person might choose to lead. For instance, I hear people socialise many weekends and during the week, as well as dealing with people at work and shopping etc. Alien to me! But that's the kind of comparison that underpins PIP, being able to do things as often as a typical nondisabled person, to an acceptable standard, not taking more than double the length of time, and without them wiping you out. The consequences of trying to do an activity are important - if you can do it but then can't do some of the other daily living activities that you'd reasonably be expected to, then you can't do it to an acceptable standard.3 -
Sorry which breakdown do you mean? I found a guide online with prompts for physical and mental health issues and i've mostly been using that.
This link here. It's a brilliant resource. If you go to "assessment criteria" it breaks down the points awarded for every question on the form, amd what the criteria for each point score is. You can tailor your answers accordingly. It's a bit of a read and constantly going back and forth is a bit of a pain but definitely worth it.1 -
RoisinDubh_2 said:I'm a bit confused about how a "paper based assessment" works. I'm already working myself up about a phone assessment and really struggled even on the phone call to get the form sent out. Has anyone had one and would I be very disadvantaged by asking for this?
She's been seeing a doctor for years about these things, so there's a pretty hefty paper of doctors appointments, notes, prescriptions etc to support the PIP assessment. We also see the same doctor every time (to help with her anxiety) so when they wrote to this doctor for her opinion on my wife's ailments she's quite familiar with how they affect her.
It completely depends on your situation.
How long have you been seeing medical professionals for for the conditions you are applying for PIP with? Do you have a familiar GP? If so there could be a wealth of information there they can access without putting you through the stress of an assessment.
It's tough to say for sure without knowing your specific situation. All I can say is the paper assessment was definitely the right choice for us.1
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

Categories
- All Categories
- 348.4K Banking & Borrowing
- 252.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 452.4K Spending & Discounts
- 241K Work, Benefits & Business
- 617.3K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 175.7K Life & Family
- 254.1K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16K Discuss & Feedback
- 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards