UC Fit Note WCA

Spoonie_Turtle

itsthelittlethings said:

Also a mental health section would say, do you feel suicidal, do you believe things that aren't true etc etc. Can you set an alarm clock is not really related to mental health.

If you can't concentrate for long enough to reliably set an alarm clock to the correct time, or you have crippling OCD that means you cannot set it to certain times, or you can't set and leave it because you have to keep checking it, or you have delusions that interfere, etc.  Plenty of mental health problems interfere with tasks that are cognitively simple for healthy people.  However that specific section is about learning new tasks so sure, maybe it's mainly applicable to the most severe manifestations of mental illness.  

But you apparently didn't notice the sections that deal with starting and completing daily activities - which someone with ordinary depression will certainly struggle with, for starters - coping with changes (which many people with anxiety or paranoia will struggle with, or autistic people or anyone else needing a very rigid routine), coping with leaving the house, socialising, and appropriate behaviour (which applies to certain types of mental illnesses and conditions that affect impulse control).

The form is not a diagnostic screener or severity scale.  It's to find out how people's disabilities and impairments actually affect their lives and how much of an impediment they are in the areas considered. 
Besides, asking about specific symptoms would exclude people with cognitive impairments without mental illness, and exclude people with mental illnesses that don't have those symptoms.  You can't cover all specific symptoms and effects like that, but asking about activities and areas of functioning does enable people to cover whatever symptoms they have and how they're impacted.

And, the form doesn't specifically ask but the 'significant risk' criterion is designed to cover anyone who falls between the descriptors but still has LCW/RA.

Altior

A nuance with MH is that some conditions can be positive, or at least aspects of them. For example I would say that my autism is net positive. If fairly marked, it would still get me some points in a WCA (the negative elements). 

Muttleythefrog

itsthelittlethings said:

Also a mental health section would say, do you feel suicidal, do you believe things that aren't true etc etc. Can you set an alarm clock is not really related to mental health.

There are specific activities and descriptors (statements of disability) for the WCA as there are for PIP. The questions on the form relate to those activities. There's a limit to how many questions they are going to ask on the form that could be relevant - at the end of the day a disabled person is expected to complete it (many will find the form difficult enough).. any information they feel relevant they can state if not specifically asked for and otherwise given. This isn't a medical investigation... it's an assessment of disablements and quite specific disablements. Things like suicide ideation or false perceptions can be described in any relevant activity if they are considered relevant... or in relation to the non functional descriptors... including in additional information if necessary. 

Setting an alarm clock can indeed be affected by mental health... as can the completion of any task. In fact I qualified at last WCA reassessment years ago through the descriptor "Cannot, due to impaired mental function, reliably initiate or complete at least 2 sequential personal actions." This is due to anxiety disorders... severe OCD. Because of the severe OCD (which brings about false perceptions) I also described how my last ever day of work ended.. with an apparent suicide attempt that I cannot recall... this was no doubt a factor in me previously being put in the Support Group on the basis of significant risk if found not to have LCW or LCWRA. This information was all put on the forms along with supporting evidence and in more recent cases previous assessments including for PIP.

It's important the op understands the form could be considered a teaser in trying to get pertinent information but not necessarily all relevant information. How someone is affected by mental health problems in daily life (or more importantly for this thread in relation to the activities within the WCA) may not always be easy to describe or attribute to hard coded statements of disability... and diagnosis alone may shed light on likely disablements or areas of difficulty but this varies enormously sufferer to sufferer so must be detailed as appropriate. Imagination may be required to appreciate how they are affected... especially if they can at face value complete tasks but unreliably so... mental illness is effectively irrational, troubling or odd thoughts and behaviours so may not always present logically. I'm not a stupid person but I check taps for drips that I've already checked and know are not dripping.... I think.... does it matter if they're dripping anyway... erm... not really... but I feel I could kill somebody if they set a tap dripping.