PIP was 2nd claim with new conditions but from 15 April 2025 new 3rd claim as advised.

tifo

@Muttleythefrog "you've seen no psychiatric teams?"

the therapist from the CBT has suggested this and may refer me (or my GP will) but from the 3 sessions we've had she hasn't yet.

"you describe the MH problems as new conditions in a post today but they're not"

they're new problems for the PIP claim as i didn't include them in 2021 (depression from 2019 on my medical record) or this year with the previous claim. This current claim was to correct that mistake.

tifo

@peteuk "I am sure I asked if you self referred to CBT or if you were referred by a doctor".

the GP gave me the NHS talking therapies link to contact, at the time he prescribed fluoxetine medication. 

tifo

@Cressida100 "(maybe) reapply a few years down the line when you have given the MH therapy a chance"

isn't the whole point of PIP to apply when you are suffering from an ailment rather than when you're better, at which time you'd have nothing to claim for? Because it's how you are on the day of the assessment not how you were before?

tifo

the PIP decision is clearly a copy and paste job as some paragraphs are repeated (exact same text). So it's 'copy' and 'paste' 'paste' 'paste' .... in the 2 pages of the decision letter there's only really half a page that says anything different.

for driving, several times the DM has said "your vision is OK" but i'm not saying that my vision isn't OK, i'm claiming that my conditions affect my one eye severally which sometimes affects the other eye but it's nothing to do with vision when driving because i don't drive at those times. In fact, i say i don't drive when i can't (which has been consistent at every assessment) and i drive only a few thousand miles a year which is proven from my car MOTs.

for me, they use having a driving license as a reason to decline almost everything again and again and this can't be fair because lots of people on PIP have a driving license (even if they don't drive). And more than 800,000 use that driving license with the Motability vehicles.

i need to sometimes drive because i can't use public transport (MH/OCD) and i feel safer in my own vehicle. I don't know how to explain it but it's 'my' time when i'm away from everyone else (people) and have my own space. Does that make sense? But i make clear i only drive when i can.

tifo

I do things that i need to at the last moment and hurriedly (i'm aware that i do this and it's from my MH but i just can't help it) and this affects how i do them. Because i'm quiet forgetful i miss things out. I try to mitigate this by doing things in stages, so i took a week to complete the whole PIP claim (as i remember things later) and have the claim form printed out to refer to in the assessment. But this time the assessor didn't go through it like on the form but just asked random questions and i had to figure out which descriptor she's talking about. In the end i asked her if she'd gone through the whole form and she said 'Yes'. I asked her if she'd looked at all the submitted evidence inc MH letters/emails and she said 'Yes'.

fuzzzzy

tifo said:

@Cressida100 "(maybe) reapply a few years down the line when you have given the MH therapy a chance"

isn't the whole point of PIP to apply when you are suffering from an ailment rather than when you're better, at which time you'd have nothing to claim for? Because it's how you are on the day of the assessment not how you were before?

No, the whole point of PIP is to help with the extra costs of living with long term illness or disability.

tifo

fuzzzzy said:

tifo said:

@Cressida100 "(maybe) reapply a few years down the line when you have given the MH therapy a chance"

isn't the whole point of PIP to apply when you are suffering from an ailment rather than when you're better, at which time you'd have nothing to claim for? Because it's how you are on the day of the assessment not how you were before?

No, the whole point of PIP is to help with the extra costs of living with long term illness or disability.

Yes, and i understand that the criteria is the illness or disability must've been present 3 months prior to the claim and last more than 9 months after .... which I meet with my claims.

peteuk

tifo said:

fuzzzzy said:

tifo said:

@Cressida100 "(maybe) reapply a few years down the line when you have given the MH therapy a chance"

isn't the whole point of PIP to apply when you are suffering from an ailment rather than when you're better, at which time you'd have nothing to claim for? Because it's how you are on the day of the assessment not how you were before?

No, the whole point of PIP is to help with the extra costs of living with long term illness or disability.

Yes, and i understand that the criteria is the illness or disability must've been present 3 months prior to the claim and last more than 9 months after .... which I meet with my claims.

Which is not the only criteria.  I have two long term illness, and previous spinal surgery.  So if you use your criteria I should get PIP.  And yes as per government guidelines I’m classed as disabled.  But I am far from the threshold of PIP. 

born_again

tifo said:

fuzzzzy said:

tifo said:

@Cressida100 "(maybe) reapply a few years down the line when you have given the MH therapy a chance"

isn't the whole point of PIP to apply when you are suffering from an ailment rather than when you're better, at which time you'd have nothing to claim for? Because it's how you are on the day of the assessment not how you were before?

No, the whole point of PIP is to help with the extra costs of living with long term illness or disability.

Yes, and i understand that the criteria is the illness or disability must've been present 3 months prior to the claim and last more than 9 months after .... which I meet with my claims.

Just not the threshold required on the activities.
Which have all had the same points, other than the 2 points on the last claim.

That makes it pretty clear that 3 assessors are coming to the same opinion.

peteuk

tifo said:

@peteuk "I am sure I asked if you self referred to CBT or if you were referred by a doctor".

the GP gave me the NHS talking therapies link to contact, at the time he prescribed fluoxetine medication. 

Fluoxetine is a first line medication for low level mental health, prescribed by a gp with no specialist input.  Therefor it is easier to support a no scoring descriptor with the words along the lines of….

”client claims mental health issues, is prescribed first line medication by gp, there is no specialist input or ongoing high level treatment, therefore…”

This is a prime example of an assessor using the evidence to support an able to carry out activity descriptor.  Equally having a prescription for antidepressants does not make you reach the threashold for PIP.  In 2023 there was more than two million people in the UK taking antidepressant for five years or more.