Tribunal hearing advice

Dear All,

I have to go for a tribunal hearing about my GAD and two bouts of PSTD which I'm currently on medication for and going through EMDR. I want to get back to work but not until I've finished the course of EMDR.

I received the results from my initial hearing for Employment and Support Allowance and they said I was fit for work. I admit I look and sound like a professional, which I am, I did go back to work between 2007- 2010, but it was so horrendous I decided to take ' time out' to fix my problems. I can get through a day at work but I have to take diazepan etc to do so and it is no way to live your life so I'm trying to get if fixed and the EMDR folk, who I am paying for privately, say I shouldn't go back to work until the course is completed.

I get the feeling that unless you have lost a limb, your eyesight, have terminal cancer etc they will let you take ESA. As soon as you mention you have a ' mental illness' they don't take you seriously and say you should get back to work. Its comical because there is a huge campaign on TV at the moment saying mental illness isn't something to be embarrassed about. Which I agree with.

I think what really irritated me is that the people who do the assessments think some people with mental health issues are work shy. This couldn't be further from the truth. I am itching to get back to work full time. I find not working boring and I hate being broke. But I want to go back to work when I am fully mentally fit.

Do I make this case in the tribunal hearing.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

James

I used to work at the tribunal service just tell them how you feel and how affects you just tell them the truth hope this helps

James, if I were you id take someone with you, maybe someone professional if you can get it. Try MIND or CAB to see if they can help. You failed the descriptors for ESA. Nothing else matters, you need to prove at tribunal that you have at least 15 points from the descriptors. It is very black and white with them, whereas mental health issues are varying shades of grey. Look at the descriptors, find out which ones apply to you, then take it from there. You will however do a lot better with professional advice.

In my experience, the ATOS shower are a complete joke but the tribunal lot will actually listen to you. My first round of ATOS I was given zero points (desptite the assessor constantly clucking and saying how terrible my case sounded!) which was overturned in an approximately 10 minute tribunal. In the second round of ATOS I was again given zero points but I actually took a letter in from my GP which was summarily ignored by the assessor and decision maker but when I appealed, their decision was over turned on the basis of the letter.

I would certainly see if you can get some legal help via your local CAB if you still can - I know they were talking about removing legal aid funding for WCA appeals but this may not have happened - I'm afraid I haven't kept up to date so I'm not sure. Other than that get as much paperwork as you can from every medical person you see to back up your case and get a list of the descriptors ATOS use so you can point out which apply to you and why. Make them try and disprove why a descriptor applies to you not try and find an appropriate descriptor. And finally think about what you are like on your bad days and build your appeal on the basis of them not on what you are like on your best day.