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View Full Version : Mental Health not being taken seriously need advice



zillasorus
11-11-17, 20:57
I have suffered from Social Anxiety and Selective Mutism since I was a child but I've only recently found out and told my doctors, I'm currently waiting for a therapist appointment which will take six months. I am an adult now, and have been claiming Universal Credit for over a year. I found it very difficult to tell them my problem and looking for work over the past year has been stressful for me that I ended up being sanctioned though Christmas.

When I told my doctor I was able to get a 'fit note' stating my anxiety that I would send to them for months, until they noticed I was sick for a long time and gave me a form to till for a Health Assessment appointment. I went to that appointment and told them everything. While waiting for the letter on the results, I got a letter from the Job Centre asking to come to a meeting. I was confused, since I'm still off sick, so I rang them in case they hadn't got my note yet and they said I still have to go in regardless if I'm sick or not.

So I did, and I started a new commitment for look for work and also found out that I should have already received the letter from the Health Assessment, so now I have to ring them up and ask for another since it's missing. This woman treated me like dirt, and thought I just didn't bother opening my letters. And because I was scared and confused, I signed to agree to the commitment anyway. So I knew that the letter I don't have yet says I'm still able to look for work.

The problem is it's too much for me, the reason why I have been on Universal Credit for this long is because of how difficult it is for me to find a job with my condition, even just looking for work on the internet gives me so much anxiety and stress that I faked some of my searches just to fill my work book.

I can't answer or make phone calls, when I do it never ends or goes well. Phone calls are the worst, I'd rather talk to them in person! I am expected to make or answer phone calls 5 times a week. When I apply for jobs (and most of them I can't do because they all require good communication ect) sometimes I'd get an email from them asking to phone them or they would phone me, and I would stare at my phone in horror until they stop ringing.

Basically, I signed something I cannot do, but I still need the money or I will have nothing to live on. Half of the money I get from them goes towards the rent (I live with my mother who is also on JSA and also got denied support for her health) so I'm left with what i would get if I was a teen. I try to keep as much as possible, but there's always a gap in the month where I'll have little to no money at all.

I just don't know what to do now, I go for a meeting with another work coach next week and I'm wondering if I tell them or not. :weep:

Confetti
22-01-18, 06:38
You definitely need support separate from the job centre if it is too much for you to handle, you will end up with nothing, I have been there and if you cannot handle what is demanded of you, you need to have people on your side who understand what that means and appreciate your backstory and the complexities of your problems. I hope you are okay, I know you have not posted since this but I have just browsed this section and seen it.