Agoraphobia and incapacity benefit/employment support allowance

[nomorepanic]

My previous post about it was here:

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=104846

[eight days a week]

Thanks everybody for your advice and support. Eight days a week, could you tell me where I can get the criteria they are assessing against please? The benefits enquiry line told me not to send the doctors letter to ATOS but to the DWP itself, not sure how that's going to work out, but I'll let you know! It's been really helpful to be able to ask people on here about an issue that was concerning me a lot and making me quite anxious. I'm not quite sure why the admins want to discourage open discussion about this. What conflict does it cause? I'm quite happy to accept anybody's comments on the issue, but I really can't see why it is inflamatory. Yes I'd read the previous forum posts on the issue, but i actually wanted personal feedback and a chance to interact with people who have had similar anxieties. I very rarely post new threads and do feel quite discouraged by the official response. Thanks again though to those that have helped.

I can send you the criteria my friend, I will PM you Why should they know it and not us? Without that knowledge I would not know that I was being wrongly assessed in the first place!!

I'm very much of the mind that this should be able to be discussed here on this forum, because it is literally something that might make or break someone's life. However, I completely understand why Nic (nomorepanic - the owner) is sick of the topic. It's politically very charged right now, and I think almost everyone looking in from the outside who just sees the press thinks 'oh good on the government for kicking off all the scroungers'. Unfortunately we get lumped in with the scroungers AND mental health is very hard to either prove or disprove :( So, it can lead to upsets when it's discussed.

I can also see that it's primarily a forum for discussing panic and anxiety, supporting each other, empathy, and hopefully helping each other to find new ways to cope and approach things. At one point there were a lot of posts from people about benefits and it almost seemed to be half a 'how to claim benefits' site!

There were a few passionate posters at both ends of the spectrum who clashed on a few threads, and with such an emotive subject there was some real upset I believe, and a few people quit the forum, which is very sad.

I have been posting on these sorts of threads for years, and maybe been a bit short with people once or twice (nothing major though!!) and also felt a bit riled, but never got into an argument or got really upset. It depends on your philosophy I guess. I hold people responsible for their own actions/posts/responses online just like in real life, so for me if people react in an extreme manner it's them, and not just the subject (which really in this case is quite straightforward imo).

I understand though (and am sorry) that it's a right pain for the moderators and admin on here (and goodness knows they have enough to deal with), but really appreciate that while Nic says she'd rather not have it here, she tolerates discussion while there are no more arguments!!

Sorry for going so off-topic

---------- Post added at 20:53 ---------- Previous post was at 20:16 ----------

We have had quite a few of these threads end up in arguments as there are some members on here who are unable to get any benefits and are forced to work despite their illnesses/problems etc so conflict occurs when other members seem to be able to get them easily.

We as admins are entitled to stop a subject being discussed if it gives up more hassle long term hence my comment.

I am so sorry for people who are entitled to benefits and cannot claim them and/or have been unfairly rejected, that breaks my heart, and I would like to help them all, if I could.

I also understand this is NOT a benefits site!! But it is a part of my life...(alas).

Sorry again, that is not the point of this thread at all. I will shut up for tonight!

[nomorepanic]

Thank You Peter for explaining the reasoning behind my worries much better than I did lol

[scaniajess]

I was claiming jsa for a while but as I have bad anxiety and agoraphobia (can only travel a short distance from my home) I was told to claim esa instead as I told them point blank that no way would I travel 90 mins each way to find work plus they could also see the state I would be in when going inot town to sign on. So after a few weeks of claiming esa, I had a telephone call saying im to attend a medical 10 miles away from me which is the nearest one. I told them the situation and they said for me to have my doctor fax them a letter stating this was true and that I would need a home medical. He did. I then had a letter saying my reasons for not attending was "not justified" and im to attend. Well i didnt go obviously. I had a letter last week asking why I didnt attend and why didnt I tell them when they rang that I couldnt go and if I didnt respond within a couple of days my money would be stopped. I answered their questions very bluntly saying you were told quite clearly I would not be attending and apart from basically calling me a liar, you are calling my doctor a liar also.

I havent heard anything back yet and im due money this week. We'll see

[Meewah]

I feel if you are physically fit enough to work then work is your best medicine. If you can hold a job down or should I say not get dismissed from a job for your anxiety then working will give you the best lift from this condition. I have never felt as bad as when I had to stay at home dwelling on self pity. I first got some voluntary work helping less fortunate people than myself and then this led me to paid work. I feel I have self worth and independent now. Yes I have bad days and very bad days but I remember when I was at home day in and soon want to go to work. Assuming you don't pick a high stress job or have unsupportive colleagues you will feel great after a while.

I believe in what this government is doing and I feel it should be done even if we weren't in a financial crisis too. (except for the NHS, which I will reserve judgement)

Go with this and let them help you feel good about yourself.


Mee

[purplesky]

The ESA system is not fit for purpose in my opinion. Yes people can get huge benefit from work, and yes it is healthy to have meaningful occupation.

However, the system that is designed to assess level of illness is not fit for purpose. There are people who are clearly unfit for work who are being treated disgracefully by the system. In order to get benefit it is necessary to navigate a system that is designed to be difficult to navigate (similar to others) and designed to confuse. The descriptors for mental illness are very broad and do not take into account the very unpredictability of mental illness, and how that affects people on a daily basis.

I'm not even going to go into how they expect people to work in a country where 'fit' people find it difficult to find work, and so if you have been claiming sickness benefit you will be bottom of the pile, which can have a knock on effect because we all know that confidence is often the first thing to go and the last thing to come back when mentally unwell.

The real scandal is the sick and jobless are easy targets for political manipulation, and always have been. I sound like a political activist, but I am not. I'm just someone who is angry about the way this has been introduced and sold to the public.Yes I want to work, but my needs and daily life are erratic and chaotic. Who the heck wants to employ me..?

A good website is benefitsandwork.co.uk. It has a free forum, but charges for membership and further help. However, if one person joins, they can get access to all the info, and share the cost perhaps? It has helped many who have not been able to get assistance from their local welfare rights (many of whom are closing or closed). However, try welfare rights first if you are in urgent need.

Yes, people with anxiety and depression can work if it is not to intrusive in their lives, but many people have associated conditions that make life intolerable enough without having work forced at them in a form of moral outrage because they do not meet societies demands or fail the governments weighted questions on the ESA form.

Yes, there are people who abuse the system, but the very nature of some people means that their lives are being ruined by a system that is supposedly there to support them, as a tolerant and compassionate society should.

[TelboyD]

I can send you the criteria my friend, I will PM you Why should they know it and not us? Without that knowledge I would not know that I was being wrongly assessed in the first place

Hi 8Days and all at NMP...

This is my first proper post here.

Is there a possibility you could let me know those criteria too please (PM?)? My wife has suffered from panic attacks/anxiety since 1995 and I'd like to know which criteria need fulfilling in regard to her forthcoming medical assessment. I've suffered from panic attacks myself (so everyone here has my 100% empathy) due to getting stabbed in the head/tortured (in an unprovoked attack) by some youths back in 2010 but after two years of treatment I'm a lot better. I have my life back, though as the husband of someone who suffers from agoraphobia, it's hardly something 'normal' people would refer to as 'normality'. I have to do EVERYTHING for my family outside the house (we have two children, aged 8 and 16, and it's impacted their lives tremendously too). Sometimes it takes a real toll on my health and general well-being, probably through the stress of trying to cope. However, after seventeen years of this, the situation is probably as bad as ever, now compounded by the thought that she may have to leave the house for a DWP/ATOS assessment (it's making her anxiety/depression sky-rocket).

Our last assessment was four years ago, and we have had them at similar intervals ever since she first claimed Incapacity in 1996. Imo she has never been denied because they can see she's a physical wreck by the time she gets to the assessments. She can't stand the thought of having to tackle this but should she go? Contact a doctor and get them to fax her medical history/hospital reports? Have the goalposts moved that much since 2008..?

Any help or advice would be most appreciated and I thank you in advance for any you may give.

Tel.

[eight days a week]

Hi Tel,

I'm so sorry to read of your situation...

The guide my benefits officer gave me is from www.benefitsandwork.co.uk

You can join the site for free but you need to pay for a membership (which I doubt will be very expensive) I think for access to their guides for ESA and DLA criteria. It is called 'A guide to the limited capability for work assessment'.

I have the ESA one. It is co-written by a barrister, and is superb. I was sending out copies of this to anyone who I knew was 100% genuine, but unfortunately can no longer afford to...

Before my medical visit I was really struggling and panicking to know what to tell them. After two hours looking through the guide, with its notes and examples, I had over 10 pages of notes on how my condition relates directly to the criteria.

The incompetent doctor who 'examined' me did not ask about almost any of it So I know if I have to appeal I am very well-prepared and have a very strong case.

(At the appeal stage you will need to provide 'further medical evidence' e.g. a letter from a doctor or other person treating you to support what you are saying about your condition.)

[rachel m]

Hello Tel. Ito suffer with chronic anxiety and agoraphobia. The DWP are aware of my situation and told me to get a letter from my GP stating that i am unable to leave my home to attend a medical and that i would require a home visit. I sent the GP,s letter to the DWP who forwarded it to ATOS. Iam now booked in for a home visit. So ring the DWP and tell them of your wifes situation and she should get a home visit too. Good luck.

[chloe83]

I gt a home visit causr im agropbic,im stil on esa bt bi put in thevwrk group,dont no what to dp as I dpnt leave the house,x