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View Full Version : Agoraphobia? (Benefits) anybody help?



MidnightCalm
17-02-12, 15:09
I was wondering what benefits I can get?
I think I'm about to be thrown out because I live with my friend and her mother but I have been on a downward spiral for a long time, I've used to sign on when my anxiety got bad but going to the jobcentre started making me really ill so I stopped and it has been a long time since then and nobody has asked for money for my keep. I have just lazed about feeling ill and sorry for myself, lay in bed all the time an gradually felt worse and worse and now when I do go out I can't sit in cars because they make me panic massively, I can't walk very far because I get breathless and panic and have to rush home.
I literally have not been more than a few blocks distance of my house in the past year.
What money can I get if I can't sign on? Is there money? What can I do?
Please somebody help :/
I feel like everything is getting too much, I haven't even been up very long and I heard them talking about me and how I should be doing this and that and it's made me feel ill and like I want to get back into bed but I know this has to be done I just preferred to ask you guys instead of calling the jobcentre because that also makes me anxious and I'm not feeling too good right now :/
Will I ever go anywhere again :( I was rthinking this a year ago and that was when I was still travelling not far places, now I don't even go there :( x

Lilyblue
17-02-12, 15:59
Hi, You can apply for esa, which you will have to have a medical.

nicola1980
17-02-12, 16:10
Hi i just wondered if your getting any help from your doctor like meds or therapy to help you overcome this? xx

MidnightCalm
17-02-12, 16:39
Well I was on sertraline but I didn't like the effects so I came off and by that time anyway I was pretty bad so wasn't going to the doctors or to get my prescription. I don't even feel like I can get to the doctors with the way things are at the moment.
I don't know what I'm doing wrong, it just seems to be getting worse.
I had a fear of lymphoma and other diseases, I had blood tests and things and the doctor tried to assure me I was okay but you know what it's like, as I am seeing myself progressively get worse even when I'm not in anxious situations (like just sitting around doing nothing I feel ill 24/7) then I wonder could it be something worse :(

dan1234
17-02-12, 17:03
Well I was on sertraline but I didn't like the effects so I came off and by that time anyway I was pretty bad so wasn't going to the doctors or to get my prescription. I don't even feel like I can get to the doctors with the way things are at the moment.
I don't know what I'm doing wrong, it just seems to be getting worse.
I had a fear of lymphoma and other diseases, I had blood tests and things and the doctor tried to assure me I was okay but you know what it's like, as I am seeing myself progressively get worse even when I'm not in anxious situations (like just sitting around doing nothing I feel ill 24/7) then I wonder could it be something worse :(

I understand its difficult but you need to see the Doctor. They are there to help. With meds / therapy you can greatly improve.

nicola1980
17-02-12, 17:08
You really need to see your doctor they WILL i promise you be able to help you, you cant carry on living like this x x

MidnightCalm
17-02-12, 17:27
Thanks for you replies.
I know I should get help and probably go on meds again and talk things through with my doctor, I just find the whole thing so horrible.
I literally constantly feel like I need to be in bed and even then I feel awful :( Everything I have is in the anxiety symptoms but it has literally been CONSTANT for a year and I haven't even been anywhere or done anything to get anxious about, is it even that.

eight days a week
17-02-12, 17:34
Phone up and apply for ESA today! (or as soon as you feel able to.)

It sounds like you are entitled to it. Phone up, they will send you a medical questionnaire, and later on you will have to have a medical (for mental health it's more like an interview than a physical medical).

You will need a 'sick note' from your GP to claim it though.

You may be entitled to DLA (disability living allowance) if your condition is bad enough. Housing support and all the other things too maybe. I don't know about that as I don't need to claim them. Your local Citizens Advice Bureau is the place to start finding out about your rights, you can call them.

I agree, you need to see your doc. You need the sick note for ESA (at first) but it would also be good I reckon for you to start getting the care you need. Medication is NOT the only option, but you will need to find out about all of your choices from your GP.

All the best :)

flossie
17-02-12, 17:55
I understand that you can't get to the GPs surgery. I can't either.
A good starting point would be to write to your GP. Explain that you are unable to get there but would really like some help with your anxiety. Your GP should then, I imagine, phone you to find out better what help they think is suitable for you. Don't hold back on how you are feeling. If you are not honest you won't get the support you need.
Next, and you probably won't like me for this. You are a guest in your friends mothers house. You say that you have been there rent free for a long time. I'm assuming they even feed you. That can not go on any longer. The least you can do in return is to get out of bed at a reasonable time, not 2 oclock in the afternoon, and stay clean and presentable. Are they both going out to work to support you? Help pay your way by doing some housework and cooking a meal for them in return for your board and lodging.
You are going to need a lot of support and they have stuck by you so far but you do have to give something back. They sound like very caring people to have kept you this long. If you truly want help with your anxiety then talk to them honestly. Show them that you are genuine in trying to overcome your problems and if they say that they will allow you to stay ask if they would consider supporting you to your recovery as they seem to be the ideal people to have on your side.
To quote from your OP 'I have just lazed about feeling ill and sorry for myself, lay in bed all the time an gradually felt worse and worse'
Well you have proved to yourself that this isn't working, it's time to get back to a more normal routine. If you want to stay with them you have to pull your weight. Only you can put this right. Firstly apologies are in order, a real frank and honest conversation needs to be had and you need to contact your GP. I know it's hard but get this first bit sorted now and go on from there.
Just to put your mind at rest about the ESA medical. You can ask for it be held at home if you can't travel to the centre. Don't start worrying about that at this point but you will need a doctors letter to support this so please write or phone your GP. You really do not have to go to the surgery to speak with him.
Sorry if I have upset you but I want so much for you to start your recovery.
Take care.

eight days a week
17-02-12, 18:11
You can ask for a telephone appointment with your GP and explain that you need help but you cannot travel to see him or her. Then, you will get support by phone or a home visit.

Flossie has written a lot of good advice, but I'm going to completely disagree with part of it. There are some lazy people who need to get motivated, but there are also many people for whom depression is so bad they simply cannot get out of bed, even to make a cup of tea or eat something, often for days or weeks on end. I have been one of them again (very unfortunately) recently. I am not simply lazy. My benefits adviser is in close contact with my psychiatrist and knows just how bad I have been, and has been urging me to claim DLA, because I can not do the simplest thing when I am so beset by depression and anxiety. I haven't, because I know this will pass, and am fighting my way back from it as I have in the past (this is where motivation does help), and I don't want to label myself with a disability as I am trying to look upwards, not back at the worst times.

There is nothing in your post to suggest one way or another that you 'choose' to be like this, so while I agree with Flossie it would be a great thing and no doubt help you to try to do more, I absolutely disagree that you have to.

teez
17-02-12, 18:20
i know you can get the lowest rate of dla when your agoraphobic because i did,,i dont know how much that is nowdays,,
this is going to sound odd but get ntouch with your local health clinic through them i was put intouch with two lovely ladies from the council who also worked with mind,,who eased me out my house at my own rate and time,,they were lovely even on the days i didnt want or couldnt leave my house they allowed me to talk through my worrys,,try it out might be well worth it hun,,what you got to loose,,stay strong helps out there x

MidnightCalm
17-02-12, 19:28
Thank you.
I do try a lot to get out and I would love to be able to get out and get money because there are so many nice things I want to buy but I find myself so unable to do that and I hate it :(
I will try all the things mentioned by everybody and I hope I can sort something out.
I am very grateful to my friend and her mother and I wish I had money to pay them back for everything but I don't.
Living here is getting complicated, if I was able to go out and get money and visit the doctor and do all this stuff then I would find somewhere else to live.
I will call my doctor and see what they suggest, a while ago they did give me a short sick note.

flossie
17-02-12, 19:54
Good, I am so pleased. Don't put off calling the doctor though, I can't tell you how many times I have done that. Leaving it just makes it harder to do. I'm sorry if I sounded harsh but I have been where you are now - not the living with friends bit but not wanting to do anything and not knowing where to turn. It is so very difficult, I really understand all that you said.
I know you don't feel motivated to get up sometimes but you are not going to move forward that way. Little steps like this are what it takes.

ckyrule
08-03-12, 15:46
i was exactly the same. i couldn't go out anywhere or do anything but sit in my bed till the other day when i decided things had to change. i went to the docs which was hell but i got it done and got put on sertraline. i to was also scared by this but something had to change and although i'm only a day into it and not liking the effects im gonna see it through. you can do it, find that little spark and it'll help you so much.