I've spent 2 months trying to get my daughter some benefit. All the forms are geared to physical disabillity. There is no system for people who are suffering from severe mental distress that doesn't make their condition worse. Would someone seriously ill in intensive care have to fill in pages of useless forms and be questioned by a DHSS doctor, only to have the doctor a non specialist decide whether or not the patient is ill? How can someone with a mental illness describe it to an outsider especially as the patient herself doesn't know why people think she's ill in the first place? Even I a non expert knows the chances of you finding out how ill she is doesn't come from a friendly talk. There are specialist questionaires that could. Finally after a letter from her CPN and her psychiatrist she has got it.

I've spent 2 months trying to get my daughter some benefit. All the forms are geared to physical disabillity. There is no system for people who are suffering from severe mental distress that doesn't make their condition worse. Would someone seriously ill in intensive care have to fill in pages of useless forms and be questioned by a DHSS doctor, only to have the doctor a non specialist decide whether or not the patient is ill? How can someone with a mental illness describe it to an outsider especially as the patient herself doesn't know why people think she's ill in the first place? Even I a non expert knows the chances of you finding out how ill she is doesn't come from a friendly talk. There are specialist questionaires that could. Finally after a letter from her CPN and her psychiatrist she has got it.

Hi

We are returning to Sheffield soon. My 18 years old has mild mental retardation and suffers from mental illness. How do we go about applying for benefits and which types, register with a psychologist and psychiatrist, finally, do you know of any good specialists how do we get registered for their services? Thank you I look forward to hearing from you. I hope all goes well with your daughter.

Hi
My 18 years old has mild mental retardation and suffers from mental illness. How do we go about applying for benefits and which types, register with a psychologist and psychiatrist, finally, do you know of any good specialists whom are experienced with working with special needs how do we get registered for their services?

Hi
My 18 years old has mild mental retardation and suffers from mental illness. How do we go about applying for benefits and which types, register with a psychologist and psychiatrist, finally, do you know of any good specialists whom are experienced with working with special needs how do we get registered for their services?

http://www.ruskin-mill.org.uk/
This may be of interest to you.

I've spent 2 months trying to get my daughter some benefit. All the forms are geared to physical disabillity. There is no system for people who are suffering from severe mental distress that doesn't make their condition worse.

No, they're not at all. In fact there are many parts built into the assessment from the forms which are specifically about mental illnesses.

Would someone seriously ill in intensive care have to fill in pages of useless forms and be questioned by a DHSS doctor,

Purely on a technical point, they wouldn't be entitled to benefits whilst in long term hospital care, but I know what you mean .....

only to have the doctor a non specialist decide whether or not the patient is ill?

All doctors used by ATOS are GPs, and fully qualified. It's also not their job to diagnose the illnesses, but to assess what is written against all the other evidence, crucial to which is the patient him/herself.

How can someone with a mental illness describe it to an outsider especially as the patient herself doesn't know why people think she's ill in the first place? Even I a non expert knows the chances of you finding out how ill she is doesn't come from a friendly talk. There are specialist questionaires that could.

Again, the doctor isn't there to diagnose or assess the illnesses themselves, but to assess the extent of them, with regard to being able to work/how they affect day-to-day living.

Finally after a letter from her CPN and her psychiatrist she has got it.

Alls well that ends well :thumbsup:

Mentall illness should def be classed as a disability. I work in the mental heath arena myself so I see on a daily basis how debilitating it can be. I also have an 8 year old with ADHD and quite often people don't believe in this they just say it's bad parenting...live with it and you will soon see thats not the case...

anyway well done for pushing for DLA and good luck to your Daughter.

I thought she had her money now we have another letter saying she has been refused and should sign on. The visiting doctor could not have understood what he was examining her for despite her psychiatric worker explaining to them what her problems were and why we requested a home visit. His report has just put that she had problems leaving the house without someone with her. He didn't mentioned the fact that she thinks people are out to kill her and sometimes she thinks they are in the room. Or the fact that she couldn't even leave her bedroom sometimes. How the ---- did he expect her to be able to work? The form has nowhere you can explain these things either but both the psychiatric worker and myself stated it clearly to him. So my daughter went through all the extreme anxiety of an examination for nothing. It put her back for a couple of weeks and she is now anxious about it all over again. The support worker is going to the appeal without her so at least she doesn't have that and her psychiatrist is writing a letter to them. I'm working hard here to boost her confidence and getting her out and about but without benefit she has no independence and it is stretching our resources financially looking after her.

True mental illness is silent. The suffer would not be in the right frame of mind to contemplate claiming for benefit, probably sat with the cider next to a bin stock in one of the roughest part of town journeying to an early death whilst society sits back and watches, filming on cctv, recording the shame...

That sounds like someone who has known a lot of sadness. Doesn't have to have alcohol involved to be mentally ill. It is a disturbance of the mind the same way that may temporarily incapacitate or permanently need assistance. But like many illnesses just because it is invisible doesn't mean it can't be just as debillitating as someone with a stroke or other brain disability. I think from experience that these forms and the medical examinations are designed by someone who has not thought through the impact mental illness can have.

The form has nowhere you can explain these things either but both the psychiatric worker and myself stated it clearly to him.

Yes, there is. There is a section about anxiety, and also there is the section for 'additional imformation'.

So my daughter went through all the extreme anxiety of an examination for nothing. It put her back for a couple of weeks and she is now anxious about it all over again. The support worker is going to the appeal without her so at least she doesn't have that and her psychiatrist is writing a letter to them. I'm working hard here to boost her confidence and getting her out and about but without benefit she has no independence and it is stretching our resources financially looking after her.

I deeply hope that the appeal succeeds. Are you talking about ESA, DLA or both?

Don't ask me about which benifit I'm totally confused. We've had so many letters saying can't claim for this can't claim for that I'm totally lost. I'm just leaving it to her support worker to sort it out because obviously whatever I say or do isn't listened to. Hopefully they will listen to the psychiatrist as they have ignored what the support worker has said too. After eight months of battling I'm quite honestly worn out.

Good Luck with it and don't loose hope.

you NEED to get in contact with the carers service like yesterday. it sounds like you are having a battle and it needs to be taken off your hands, you sound like you feel on your own and you need to get some support for YOU to help you deal with it... the link is around here... anyone have it?

dull

I've been talking to rethink but they don't give that kind of help or they haven't. They just tell me she is entitled to the money I just have to keep trying. I just keep wondering what would happen to my daughter if I wasn't there, if we hadn't brought her home.

http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=294718

Now they've refused her appeal and they want us to go to another appeal in Leeds in January. How the heck are we supposed to get there. Report says that their medical examiner who spent approx 15 minutes with her was of the opinion since she talked to him she obviously had no problems. Despite the psychiatric worker spelling it out, despite the form my daughter filled out to explain all the problems she has. Found out even though they refused the benefit they should have been paying her something all the time she has been going through the appeal process. She hasn't had a penny for nearly 4 months. This is really making me angry. She can't move into supported housing as she needs to be in receipt of benefit and now she has to go to Leeds. This system stinks.

a quick question HappyHippy,

Again, the doctor isn't there to diagnose or assess the illnesses themselves, but to assess the extent of them, with regard to being able to work/how they affect day-to-day living.

If the medical condition is little known, how can the doctor do this and is that doctor the best person to do this? should it not be refered to a specialist medical pro?

a quick question HappyHippy,

Again, the doctor isn't there to diagnose or assess the illnesses themselves, but to assess the extent of them, with regard to being able to work/how they affect day-to-day living.

If the medical condition is little known, how can the doctor do this and is that doctor the best person to do this? should it not be refered to a specialist medical pro?

No. The burden of proof, as is the case in all assessments, is on the claimant to show that s/he is too ill to work. What s/he should do is provide extra information from the specialist with whom they are dealing.

That information should be detailed enough to say how day-to-day actions are limited, and would be used at the initial claim decision, and with any further decisions if needed.

I know exactly where you're coming from, but it misses the point somewhat. The condition itself (for benefit purposes) is immaterial. The salient parts are the effects. It really doesn't matter if a condition/illness is little understood.

I am a cancer sufferer, and like all cancer victims suffer mental distress regularly as well. When they tell you its 50/50 if you survive another 5 years then that is stressfull and often results in patients coming down with depression. ATOS dont give a ****, I dont recieve any benefits at all due to their assesments. Who will employ a 60 year old with a history of lung cancer.????? One or two of the decision makers at ATOS should experience cancer first hand, they may be a little bit more compassionate then.
I would expect this treatment under the Tories, but not under our CARING New Labour. They are too busy fiddling their expenses to care about people.
BUT COME ELECTION DAY and the BNP takes a huge slice of the vote because people dont trust Labour or Conservative. People dont want to vote BNP but they terrify the main parties.
Labour appointed ATOS so I blame them.

Its all about numbers isn't it. The more people they have off the sick the better. It was the same thing under the Tories. I sincerely hope no one thinks voting BNP would improve anything as the right wing remedy to disabled and sick in the past was extermination.
The strange thing about my daughter is they have ackowledged that she cannot leave the house without support and have given her the mobility component. How she would be then able to function at work as she would require on their own admission continuous support?

Its all about numbers isn't it. The more people they have off the sick the better. It was the same thing under the Tories. I sincerely hope no one thinks voting BNP would improve anything as the right wing remedy to disabled and sick in the past was extermination.
The strange thing about my daughter is they have ackowledged that she cannot leave the house without support and have given her the mobility component. How she would be then able to function at work as she would require on their own admission continuous support?

I only mentioned the BNP because people who are fed up with the main parties often vote BNP as a protest vote.

The strange thing about my daughter is they have ackowledged that she cannot leave the house without support and have given her the mobility component. How she would be then able to function at work as she would require on their own admission continuous support?


I know nothing about your daughter, but this is certainly possible for a hypothetical claimant with certain types of condition. For instance, a person who cannot walk, needs the maximum mobility component; but if they are capable of sitting at a desk indefinitel - or using a wheelchair to get around an office - then they can still work and won't qualify for care.

I only mentioned the BNP because people who are fed up with the main parties often vote BNP as a protest vote.

Thankfully, they don't in general.

I know nothing about your daughter, but this is certainly possible for a hypothetical claimant with certain types of condition. For instance, a person who cannot walk, needs the maximum mobility component; but if they are capable of sitting at a desk indefinitel - or using a wheelchair to get around an office - then they can still work and won't qualify for care.
I could understand if her mobility problem was one of a physical nature but in her case she is physically able to move but mentally unable to go anywhere without a family member and as that family member is me and I am unable to support her in that fashion due to my own severe physical disabillities I'm not sure how they envisaged her going to work.

I could understand if her mobility problem was one of a physical nature but in her case she is physically able to move but mentally unable to go anywhere without a family member and as that family member is me and I am unable to support her in that fashion due to my own severe physical disabillities I'm not sure how they envisaged her going to work.

Given that, I have to say that neither am I. My wife has similar problems, although since she met me, I'm happy to be able to say that she has greatly improved - but she still doesn't like going anywhere without me.

It is, of course, fairly easy to pretend that you have a mental condition of this type, which might mean the doctors are overly suspicious of such claims; but not everybody who claims to have such a condition, will be pretending.

Yes but in this case they had agreed she had a problem leaving the house as it caused her extreme anxiety so they were not querying that. They had accepted that but could not see that was a severe hindrance to her even signing on let alone seeking work. This is why I say they have not really thought out how mental illness can affect people's ability to function. In many ways I am less disabled than my daughter but it is accepted given the number of physical problems I have I am unable to work.

Actually ATOS use nurses as well as GPs.

For my medical i had a nurse, who wasn't a trained mental health nurse, which i wasn't happy about. If i went to my GPs surgery regarding my MH problem i would be directed to a GP not a standard nurse so why should she be qualified to assess my MH?

Yes but in this case they had agreed she had a problem leaving the house as it caused her extreme anxiety so they were not querying that. They had accepted that but could not see that was a severe hindrance to her even signing on let alone seeking work. This is why I say they have not really thought out how mental illness can affect people's ability to function. In many ways I am less disabled than my daughter but it is accepted given the number of physical problems I have I am unable to work.

Is your daughter still recieving the mobility component of DLA? I can empathise with your situation. What I don't understand is that the DLA department can award DLA for e.g High Care which basically means full time carer required and then The ATOS (dr's/nurses) can decide your fit for work. Its beyond belief. I just feel that those cheating the system will still do and it's the vulnerable and ill who are getting sent back to work.

ESA is a complete joke in my eyes, I have accompanied someone to these "work focused interviews" and the advisor has asked each time what is schizophrenia and asking really personal questions to the person about his ill ness which could have quite easily put this person 10 steps backwards.she's even said these interviews are a waste of time but they "have to tick all the boxes".

Your CPN maybe able to help with travel to leeds or know of organisations that can help.

I wish both you and your daughter all the best

I'm so sorry that you're having so much trouble trying to get your daughter what she has a right too. It's so unfair isn't it?

It is possible to get ESA for mental health problems but the assessment is points based and you need to prove that your daughter has enough points to qualify. The qualifiers are listed here and as 15 points are awarded for not being able to go places by yourself and the number of points needed to qualify for benefit is 15 your daughter must have a good chance of winning her appeal.

http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/core.nsf/a/wr_esadescriptorslcwmental

CAB should be able to help you put together your case and even attend the appeals with you so I suggest you contact them asap.

There is a CAB that specifically helps those with mental health problems at Nether Edge hospital but your daughter may have to be using the hospital services to be elligible. I'd definitely give them a try though as they are excellent.

http://www.smhcab.org.uk/

I really hope things work out for you both.

I'm so sorry that you're having so much trouble trying to get your daughter what she has a right too. It's so unfair isn't it?

It is possible to get ESA for mental health problems but the assessment is points based and you need to prove that your daughter has enough points to qualify. The qualifiers are listed here and as 15 points are awarded for not being able to go places by yourself and the number of points needed to qualify for benefit is 15 your daughter must have a good chance of winning her appeal.

http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/core.nsf/a/wr_esadescriptorslcwmental

CAB should be able to help you put together your case and even attend the appeals with you so I suggest you contact them asap.

There is a CAB that specifically helps those with mental health problems at Nether Edge hospital but your daughter may have to be using the hospital services to be elligible. I'd definitely give them a try though as they are excellent.

http://www.smhcab.org.uk/

I really hope things work out for you both.


Thanks for the link I had never heard of this CAB and this may well help someone I know when their DLA claim is up for renewal.

My daughter has a lawyer now but at present we are no further forward. She has had no benefit from July to September and then they gave her the mobillity component but no more. The lawyer reckons she is owed quite a sum of money. My daughters health has suffered considerably since they kept insisting she sign on. She feels everybody does not believe her and has lost faith in those trying to help her. Her mood swings are alarming and she has gone off all medication as she says people think she's ok when she's on it. She says I do help so at least she still trusts me but she is back to mistrusting all those in authority. I wish I could sue the DSS for all the heartache and stress they have given us. She was becoming independent now she's back to clinging to me.

I thought she had her money now we have another letter saying she has been refused and should sign on. The visiting doctor could not have understood what he was examining her for despite her psychiatric worker explaining to them what her problems were and why we requested a home visit. His report has just put that she had problems leaving the house without someone with her. He didn't mentioned the fact that she thinks people are out to kill her and sometimes she thinks they are in the room. Or the fact that she couldn't even leave her bedroom sometimes. How the ---- did he expect her to be able to work? The form has nowhere you can explain these things either but both the psychiatric worker and myself stated it clearly to him. So my daughter went through all the extreme anxiety of an examination for nothing. It put her back for a couple of weeks and she is now anxious about it all over again. The support worker is going to the appeal without her so at least she doesn't have that and her psychiatrist is writing a letter to them. I'm working hard here to boost her confidence and getting her out and about but without benefit she has no independence and it is stretching our resources financially looking after her.
Can I ask what her diagnosis is?.
It is really important that she gets a written diagnosis of her illness to enable the professionals to offer her the best support.

The psychiatrist called it an episode of psychosis. The DSS have his letter explaining his diagnosis in full. It involves extreme social anxiety, paranoia and hallucinations. There were going but since she left off medication she has got extremely moody and agressive in her language but not dangerous.

good luck with the appeal. Mental illness being recognized a disability is an uphill battle, but with the right professional help (attorney and psychiatrist) you should get the help you deserve.

Thanks but I do wonder what happens to those who do not have anyone to help. Are they left to wander the streets?

Thanks but I do wonder what happens to those who do not have anyone to help. Are they left to wander the streets?

that's probably not far from true. I think many people who are chronically homeless are mentally ill, after a little while of living on the street you can factor in substance abuse and alcoholism, and I guess you've pretty much got someone who will never live a productive or happy life.

Thanks but I do wonder what happens to those who do not have anyone to help. Are they left to wander the streets?

unfortunately YES

hi good luck with everything,i myself have a 8yr old with autism and global deylay development,and i have recieved dla for him for 3yr and now they have decided he doent need the mobility comp even though nothing has changed,so we loose the mobility car.i am now awaiting appeal,so if any one has any helpful info for me etc please let me know as i am getting nervous about the whole thing and feel bamboozled at times with what lays ahead.thanks.:help:

I do feel for you. My only advice is get professional advice. I had a niece that was refused help several times and it was only when she had help filling in the forms from someone who understood the system that she finally got what she should have had three years before.

Thank you for that,i guess i need help because i dont think i can fight this one on my own,and will follow you advice ,thanks x:)

Thank you for that,i guess i need help because i dont think i can fight this one on my own,and will follow you advice ,thanks x:)

get to a CAB they should help you also get as much evidence from any proffesionals involved in your sons care.
It is your responsibility to provide the DWP with the info rather than them writing to specialists, G.P's etc.
Good luck xx

get to a CAB they should help you also get as much evidence from any proffesionals involved in your sons care.
It is your responsibility to provide the DWP with the info rather than them writing to specialists, G.P's etc.
Good luck xx

Definitely. You have hit the nail on the head, in fact several nails on the head.

Well today is supposed to be the day we go to the tribunal but the weather is awful and they may cancel. I was up with anxious daughter till 4a.m. Time for tribunal is 3.30 and careworker says daughter and myself may have to find our own way there as she is worried about using a car on our ungritted road. We don't have to go but daughter is worried about things going on behind her back. She has legal representation and the careworker both legally able to represent her but not a good situation for a wound up daughter with paranoid tendencies. Its a situation I was trying to avoid. If I do find a taxi and go with her, my chest is bad and I was told to stay indoors but what choice do I have? I am my daughters rock, no matter how confused she has been she has consistently trusted me and hung onto me. This is an impossible situation.

Well we got to Tribunal which is a long walk from carpark. Waited till it was time and went in to see Judge and his clerk. Sat down. Judge said to daughter we have ruled in your favour. The DSS doctors conclusion was not supported by his own evidence that he wrote down at the time. So after 6 months of heartbreak we have won unless of course the DSS wants to challenge the ruling. What the **** is going on here?

thats great news. as long as you have it written down i think its prob best to put it behind you and move on. put it down to the system being the way it is.

i am really happy for you. good to hear, its just a shame it took so long...

dull

glad it went in yor favour!: D

Well we got to Tribunal which is a long walk from carpark. Waited till it was time and went in to see Judge and his clerk. Sat down. Judge said to daughter we have ruled in your favour. The DSS doctors conclusion was not supported by his own evidence that he wrote down at the time. So after 6 months of heartbreak we have won unless of course the DSS wants to challenge the ruling. What the **** is going on here?

The Government can only challenge the ruling of the tribunal if it believes that an error in law has been made when making the decision.

Put simply, that means that just disagreeing with the decision isn't enough. The law has to have been wrongly interpreted when making the decision. What would happen then would be a Hearing of the Commissioners.

In reality, this is very unlikely, purely going on the number of hearings in comparison to tribunal decisions made. Without having your bundle, it would be impossible to see if it might ask for a hearing, but if there were only two people there (the chairman and the appeals clerk), and not a full panel of three and the clerk, then I can assure you that you have nowt to fear.

My daughters Support worker told me that the whole system is up for review. Since the new system started the length of time for decisions being made has been incredibly long and also the new guidelines are often used inappropriately with people with mental health problems meaning that my daughter is not an isolated case. Apparently there is quite a number of mental health professionals who are pressuring the government for changes. In my daughter's case six months of fighting for money has actually put her back by about 18 months if not more as we had hoped she would go into sheltered housing before Christmas with the hope that she could gain confidence there with professional support to start being independent again. She couldn't do that because she had no benefit. She totally lost confidence saying they don't believe me and they are just abandoning me. I did manage to persuade her to look at courses she could take next year but she hasn't the confidence to apply. It may take months to get her back to where she was in June. She has to make a decision in March whether to apply for a place. She may not be able to make that decision there so end up having to wait another year doing nothing. I am so angry with the DSS and in particular their doctor who having taken all the notes disregarded them and stated there was no problem, and the DSS who disregarded mental health professionals opinions and doggedly stuck to the doctors opinion without even reading his notes which told a very different story. There is a total lack of humanity in the DSS. It used to be there but I find no evidence these days of anyone considering the client at all.

My daughters Support worker told me that the whole system is up for review.

Please bear with me as this will take a long time to explain. The legal process will NOT change. That's why I'm saying not to panic about a legal challenge to the tribunal's decision.

Since the new system started the length of time for decisions being made has been incredibly long and also the new guidelines are often used inappropriately with people with mental health problems meaning that my daughter is not an isolated case. Apparently there is quite a number of mental health professionals who are pressuring the government for changes. In my daughter's case six months of fighting for money has actually put her back by about 18 months if not more as we had hoped she would go into sheltered housing before Christmas with the hope that she could gain confidence there with professional support to start being independent again.

To be honest, the length of time for the case to be settled is really not unusual. It also must be remembered that there are a lot of people who use the appeals route 'for fun'. Not people such as you, but people I know whom I've interviewed who think it's dead fun to clog the system up with frivolous claims.

She couldn't do that because she had no benefit. She totally lost confidence saying they don't believe me and they are just abandoning me. I did manage to persuade her to look at courses she could take next year but she hasn't the confidence to apply. It may take months to get her back to where she was in June. She has to make a decision in March whether to apply for a place. She may not be able to make that decision there so end up having to wait another year doing nothing. I am so angry with the DSS and in particular their doctor who having taken all the notes disregarded them and stated there was no problem,

This has often been a major problem, but again, without seeing the bundle, it is difficult to form an opinion.

and the DSS who disregarded mental health professionals opinions and doggedly stuck to the doctors opinion without even reading his notes which told a very different story. There is a total lack of humanity in the DSS. It used to be there but I find no evidence these days of anyone considering the client at all.

Unfortunately, the decision maker isn't a doctor, but a bloke on £15k who gets to see ticks on boxes. That's all.

It wasn't bloke who saw ticks in boxes I'm blaming, her claim was reviewed twice before it got to a Tribunal and thrown out. According to their letters all evidence was considered. If it had been we would not have had to go to the tribunal. The system I am saying is due for change is not the tribunal but the original assessment system. I know there are people who try to exploit the syatem but I see a lot more really deserving people who can't get what they are entitled to. It took my blind, partially paralysed niece 2 years to get her entitlement. I know in the course of my church work they are not alone and it is getting worse. My daughters main problem was with the examining doctor who although had written about her mental condition came up with a false conclusion. Why did he do this? Was he getting pressured to declare most people fit whatever the indications? Will his work be examined? Will he be questioned at all? I remember a few years ago going to an educational psychologists conference and the psychologists complaining that they were being pressured by LEAs at the time to not statement too many children as there was not enough funding to cover. I also know of a disabled couple I knew that could not get a shower for their council flat because funding had run out that year. It has happened to me in the past that I could not get help with a ramp to my door because funding had run out. I think the DSS is being pressured not to take on too many. I'm not alone in thinking this. What happens to those like my daughter who don't have parents who are prepared to support them?