State Benefits

[Alabasterlyn]

Sorry I have no idea where to post this thread as I can't seem to find a relevant section so I've posted it here.

I just wondered how many people are claiming any State Benefits due to their anxiety disorders and if those that aren't know of the various ones they may be entitled to?

I've been agoraphobic for many years and unable to work because of it. When I first stopped working no one told me I was entitled to claim Incapicity Benefit and by the time I claimed it I no longer had the relevant NI Contributions :mad:

About 10yrs ago a friend suggested I claim Disability Living Allowance. Once again this was a benefit I had never heard of and I applied thinking there was no way I would get it. However I was quite suprised to find out I was eligible for the lower mobility DLA and it's been useful having this benefit. It also means I have been able to claim under the Warm Front Scheme and I got the loft of my house re insulated free of charge and when my current central heating boiler gives out, apparently I can get one of those free too!

[honeybee3939]

Hi

I used to get Incapacity benefit for my Agorophobia, but then returned to work. After 9 months of working i became ill again and couldnt get the Incapacity Benefit as i hadnt paid enough NI contributions within the 9 month time scale. I do work part-time now but still Agorophobic and Recently through recommendation from a member of this Site i enquired about disabilty allowance to help me get some money for my travel by taxi to work and back as what i earned at work was just paying for my taxi fares.(im having therapy at the moment to try and build up confidence to do bus journeys)
Luckily i have been awarded £60 pounds a month for travel so im quite pleased about that every little helps.:)

Love
Andrea
xxxx

[honeybee]

hello.. i applied for disability living allowance but wasn't entitled to it due to the fact i hadnt paid enough national insurance so i now get income support due to sickness or disability...

[jacq]

hi, i only found out yesterday at the midlands meet up that i might be able to claim D L A and incapacity benefit, also did you know you can apply for a disability blue badge for your car so that you can park closer to your destination i have applied this morning and it is only £2 a year from your local social services a great help if you are agraphobic like me.

Jacq x

[Alabasterlyn]

hi, i only found out yesterday at the midlands meet up that i might be able to claim D L A and incapacity benefit, also did you know you can apply for a disability blue badge for your car so that you can park closer to your destination i have applied this morning and it is only £2 a year from your local social services a great help if you are agraphobic like me.

Jacq x

Hi Jacq, I hope you are successful in applying for a Blue Badge. I applied for the 3rd time last week on the recommendation of my Dr. My agoraphobia is so disabling that unless I can park close to where I am going then I just don't go.

Although my Dr has said she is happy to support my application I did notice on the application form that it stated that they do not contact your Dr until after they have decided on your application. Now this to me sounds quite ludicrious. How on earth can some pen pusher in the Council offices have a clue about agoraphobia and the effect it has on anyone? When I get my letter turning me down again I am going to appeal this time as I know having a Blue Badge would help me enormously.

Good luck Jacq, would love to know how you get on :)

[jacq]

hi alabasterlynn, how naive am i, when i phoned social services about a blue badge and explained why i needed one she just said "fill in the white form send it back with a cheque for £2 and give the other half of the form to your doctor", i thought it was a done deal:doh: . Not sure what to expect now! Hubbies been into benefits office today to fetch claim forms for DLA and incapacity benefit, depending on who i speak to ive been told it is an absolute nightmare to apply or some have had no problem at all. Not sure i will get much help from my doctor as i gave up mentioning how bad it is getting when all they want to do is give me a prescription for tranx and send me on my way (been there would never go there again) but have to struggle so much as my husband went part time at work to be at home with me need more money coming in.
will let you know how i get on.

Jacqui x

[Alabasterlyn]

Hi Jacq, well from what I know the level of DLA you could be awarded will also count towards whether you get a Blue Badge. There are two components in the DLA, care & mobility. I get the lower mobility rate of DLA, but if I could get the higher rate I would automatically qualify for a Blue Badge. I have actually thought of going back to the DSS and asking to be reassessed but I think I will most likely still be on the lower level. I have a friend who is totally unable to even cook a hot meal or have a bath as her agoraphobia is so bad, but she was turned down for the higher rate :mad: I am quite able to cook and clean so I doubt I would get the higher rate.

Another thing that could be relevant is that as applications for a Blue Badge go through your Local Council perhaps some Councils are more sympathetic? I had no part of my form to give to my Dr, so maybe the form I filled in was different to yours. I just put the truth, which is that as soon as I am away from my safe zone, be it the house or to a lesser degree the car, I get dizzy and my legs go to jelly and I need to rush back. If this isn't a good reason to get a Blue Badge then I really don't know what is. I already spend probably 90% if not more of my time at home as it's just so damn hard to go anywhere.

Society needs to realise just how disabling agoraphobia and other anxiety disorders are and how badly they affect our day to day lives. If we broke a leg and couldn't get out and about people would be empathic, if we say we can't do something because we will be disabled by panic they think we are pathetic!

Once again good luck and please let me know how you get on. I think if we can find just one person who has managed to get a Blue Badge with an anxiety disorder then perhaps we can set a prescedent for everyone else. I will now get off my soapbox lol!