I don't know whether I should apply for ESA or not

[GingerFish]

I've been on ESA in the past but for no more than a few months. I have severe OCD, eating disorder, panic attacks and depression and I have been in and out of help for years for it and I am currently in therapy with NHS for it after getting an urgent referral from my GP.

At the moment, I am living off of my partner's student loan which is about £600 a month which isn't a lot when you have a house to keep, bills to pay, a car to run etc.

I know I am ill and I am entitled to ESA but I feel cheeky going and asking for a sick note from my doctor. My GP is fully aware of my conditions but I still don't feel right asking for a sick note. I was once told by one doctor that it was 'unethical to give me a sick note for anxiety' and ever since then I have been too scared to go back for one. This was back when I was housebound from panics. I applied for jobseekers and I couldn't make it in for an appointment one day due to my panic attacks and my benefit got terminated and now I don't know whether to apply for that again or go on ESA

[MyNameIsTerry]

I know I am ill and I am entitled to ESA but I feel cheeky going and asking for a sick note from my doctor. My GP is fully aware of my conditions but I still don't feel right asking for a sick note. I was once told by one doctor that it was 'unethical to give me a sick note for anxiety' and ever since then I have been too scared to go back for one. This was back when I was housebound from panics. I applied for jobseekers and I couldn't make it in for an appointment one day due to my panic attacks and my benefit got terminated and now I don't know whether to apply for that again or go on ESA

What an ignorant idiot! But I bet he was dishing out sick notes for bad backs and colds, eh? That's an old fashioned attitude towards mental health and thankfully such medical dinosaurs are becoming extinct.

When I was a child I went through a few years of constant colds & chest infections which bothered my asthma. One of the senior partners, an old bloke, wouldn't prescribe steroids when several courses of antibiotics failed. He said 'I don't believe in them'. My mum demanded to speak to another doctor (which saved me a potential hospital trip!) and I saw one of the juniors (who had asthma) who gave them to me. All the other doctors, including this senior dinosaurs wife & 2 children who all worked as doctors at the practice, would give them.

Please disregard ranting fools from the past.

I was in hospital with pneumonia and spent 2 months recovering overall. I would take a few bouts of that every year over battling with my anxiety!

[debs71]

'Unethical to give a sick note for anxiety???'....What a total knob.

This kind of ignorance is bad enough from Joe Bloggs on the street, but coming from a so-called 'medical professional', I find it inexcusable and pretty disgusting. The first port of call for help and understanding should be your GP. Urgghh, vile.

Please don't be put off by this neanderthal. You have every right to ask for a sick note or anything else you need in the circumstances, as an unwell person!!

As far as claiming for Jobseekers or ESA, I would very much advise to think twice about applying for Jobseekers. I speak from personal experience. I applied many years ago, after I left nursing on health grounds - I was struggling with the stress due to my GAD and panic disorder. They treated me like dirt, to be frank. Constantly pushing me back to nursing, telling me I was overqualified for jobs which I would bring them to the desk and horrendous interrogation about what I was doing to find work, and that I wasn't 'trying hard enough'.

The trouble with making a claim for Jobseekers is that you are effectively saying that you are fit for work, which I am not sure that you are, hon, plus the last thing you need is some pushy oaf in the Job Centre giving you stress every 2 weeks.

I stopped claiming in the end as I decided I would rather eat bread and water than see my mental state get worse, plus be treated like a sponger who had never paid a penny in tax.

You have every right to make a claim for ESR. I would explore that option and don't be put off by a fool doctor who needs to drag himself into the 21st century.xxx

[MyNameIsTerry]

'Unethical to give a sick note for anxiety???'....What a total knob.

Is that a technical term for bad doctors from your nursing days, Debs?

[debs71]

Is that a technical term for bad doctors from your nursing days, Debs?

Nope, that is purely one of my own making, Terry, LOL!!!

[Shazamataz]

Please don't let some ****** of a doctor stop you from asking for financial help! I assume ESA is a benefit for people who are ill? Anxiety is an ILLNESS just like any other illness and should qualify you to claim as such. If you are really unwell with anxiety and can't even make it to a jobseekers appointment, then you are too unwell to work.

I expect your system is as bad as ours (in new Zealand). I tried to get to speak with someone at Work and Income (where our benefits come from) and asked if i could do things over the phone as was having terrible panic attacks and they refused, insisted on making me an appointment and ultimately I wasn't able to get to it. That's how they save themselves money and make ill people suffer even more.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Please don't let some ****** of a doctor stop you from asking for financial help! I assume ESA is a benefit for people who are ill? Anxiety is an ILLNESS just like any other illness and should qualify you to claim as such. If you are really unwell with anxiety and can't even make it to a jobseekers appointment, then you are too unwell to work.

I expect your system is as bad as ours (in new Zealand). I tried to get to speak with someone at Work and Income (where our benefits come from) and asked if i could do things over the phone as was having terrible panic attacks and they refused, insisted on making me an appointment and ultimately I wasn't able to get to it. That's how they save themselves money and make ill people suffer even more.

Yes, it's pretty bad. They will insist a housebound agoraphobic go to a meeting or threaten to cut your benefits or deny them so you have to fight (with your doctors support) to get them to realise that's very stupid!

Basically, we have had decades of benefits scammers claiming for bad backs and getting free cars for it and now they've had to clamp down to get rid of them but they brought in a company that treated people so shocking that lots of charities & pressure groups forced the government to give them the boot but it's still a mess & up in the air now.

ATOS employees are probably up their with terrorists and paedophiles in terms of public hatred over here these days! There are some tragic stories of people being booted off benefits who have become malnourished or ended their lives. Not just people with mental health problems, but having anxiety is hardly a good one when you have to fight through the system for your rights. I suspect that is the plan so it stops people applying.

[KeeKee]

I got ESA for a short while in 2014 and all I needed was a sick note. I didn't get the assessment and stopped claiming at 13 weeks due to council tax taking money owed out of my benefit so I thought what's the point in making myself nervous every 2 weeks for a sick note when I'm not getting any money anyway.

Word of warning though, if your partner is living with you his student loan may come into account when determining whether or not you are entitled to any money. When I had a student loan we lost all housing benefit and up until July of last year we were living off something like £800 a month for us both and our daughter (this included child benefit and child tax credits) and I wasn't entitled to any ESA or JSA. You may however be entitled to housing benefit as we did get full housing benefit at that time.

It's very hard not being able to work and feeling like a financial burden on your other half. My partner never has money left after the bills and I live off the tax credits it's awful and I feel horrible on him. We've only just bought an oven having been without since March of last year. Not sure how we'll fit it thougjh hahah.

Good luck and I'd try for anything and everything available. The worst that can happen is they'll say no.

---------- Post added at 13:49 ---------- Previous post was at 13:30 ----------

Forgot to mention I'm quite sure PIP doesn't take into account other income. I was advised to apply by a friend but as I'm not, nor have ever been housebound I met very little criteria.

[GingerFish]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Yeah the doctor was quite old - say late 50s/early 60s and he basically brushed my problems off as me 'being young' even though he could see I had been diagnosed with OCD at a young age and had been in and out of help with psychologists and psychiatrists but that went for nothing and tbh, made me feel like the fraud even though there was all the proof in front of him that I am and was then too, ill. I have decided I am going to apply for ESA. I have made an appointment at my local benefit enquries centre so they can help me with it and see what else I am entitled to. I've made an appointment with my usual GP who is back from maternity leave and she has always been very understanding when it comes to my MH but I still feel cheeky asking for a sick line if you know what I mean?

[debs71]

Great news.

Don't feel cheeky, Ginger. The trouble with society is that we are made to feel like we don't have an 'actual' and valid illness, because unlike a physical one, people can't usually see that we are unwell, so society says 'oh, you are not REALLY sick', but that is sheer ignorance and very wrong. That doctor you saw was from the Stone Age, and his viewpoint was both insulting to you in terms of his patronising line that 'you are young', and a disgrace as so-called doctor.

All the best with your application. xx