ESA Health and Work Conversation and Face to Face Medical

[littleme92]

iHi

I have a Health and Work Conversation tomorrow afternoon and my Face to Face Medical on Thursday next week.

I am terrified that they will take one look at me and think that I am fit for work. I do want to work and I am thinking about doing a bit of voluntary work but I am still so up and down that there would be no way I could hold down a job.

I am scared that at the health and work conversation, they might force me to start searching for jobs. Although I am more scared about the face to face medical as I have heard lots of terrible stories about it. As I said, I look fine on the outside and don't have any physical disabilities or illnesses (well, apart from scoliosis and asthma but that doesn't really count). It is just anxiety and depression and if they see me on a good day I would feel different than if they saw me on a bad day.

I guess I am just asking if anyone has any advise or can tell me a bit more about what happens in these. I don't really know that much about them and I am not sure what to believe because of all the different things I have read online.

Thanks in advance

[BikerMatt]

How long have you been on ESA for? If not long i presume you're still on the assessment rate? As far as i understand it even if they pass you fit you can ask for mandatory reconsideration and if that doesn't work you can take it to tribunal.

[yvonne_uk_98]

here is a link from Benefit and work, they have a whole lot of information that might help.

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/

hope this helps.

[littleme92]

How long have you been on ESA for? If not long i presume you're still on the assessment rate? As far as i understand it even if they pass you fit you can ask for mandatory reconsideration and if that doesn't work you can take it to tribunal.

Yes I am still on assessment rate, I have only been on ESA since 1st February

here is a link from Benefit and work, they have a whole lot of information that might help.

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/

hope this helps.

That's great, Thanks Yvonne

[Confetti]

I understand the sheer dread that such propositions carve within you, the face to face assessments are absolutely miserable and exhaustingly cruel events where you have to hope you get a compassionate and considerate human being who views yourself and your life as meaningful and doesn't seek to massacre the excruciating confessions they extract from you. I have encountered what I believe genuinely kind employees of these grotesque companies, one of them was not as balanced however and did not really understand much of anything about the complexities and severities of my conditions, so even if you get a good hearted person, you have to worry about whether they are even qualified to grasp mental matters. They are all there to remove as many points as they believe they can get away with and the preferable outcome is to put you back in the torture rack of a job centre which many of us found out the hard way we are not equipped to handle, or to make you vanish from the statistics game sadly. They'll use anything you declare as ammunition to twist and shoot you with if they find a way to glue it. They take a snapshot of you and fill a lot in that they don't know about you, some is innocent and understandable, some is completely unacceptable. They have a tough job to do and many are decent people, many are bordering on disturbingly impassive although I have not personally encountered these yet, read innumerable accounts of the zero points, zero empathy type. I understand why it's necessary with invisible illnesses in particular but I am not sure this process is suitable, it doesn't translate the same way as purely physical ailments and being subjected to it constantly does not yield improvements or cause one to magically mend their brain, they should listen to the support workers and specialists who know the claimant, not one bloody random person who has an hour with them.

Complete transparency is how I always approach it, I cannot disrespect those who are in acidic pain each minute or cannot even pull their own pants up or see a sunrise or are in and out of psych wards for trying to ram a pen in their heart. I know deep darkness and go through it daily very intensely, I do my best to explain it to them in each relevant section, nothing more or less, I am aware of how I'm affected as I am a student of my own mind. Be weary though as even presenting your case, no matter how many days you were awake 24 hours and shaking and doing things that harm you because of the distress can be held against you as evidence you can function and communicate lol. The only thing you can do is be confident in your knowledge and feeling every single gnarled branch of your own journey and the depth and scope of your smothering struggle, there is dignity in being peaceful with the truth you have to spill, it can't be stamped out of you or erased and if they don't give you the respect for what you go through, you will have to be willing to fight for it. Gotta play ball with the system, not much else you can do if you're trapped by your circumstances. Those evil brown envelopes turn my blood into ice!

[Sandra1980]

That's the way I look at it too it's all a big game to them and you just have to play along.You need to expect to fail the assessment and be prepared for the next step that way you will stop worrying so much about the assessment,that's what I do anyway.

[Deep Blue]

Completely understand your fear of the face to face. I had panic attacks 😥and (more) sleepless nights just filling out the forms. The interviews were, from my point of view, just awful.
The sheer intensity and duration of my physical symptoms, throughout the process was horrible.
I have just made the decision to manage without the money and have written to them saying I'm stopping my claim.
The whole thing is terribly difficult. I hope that everything works out well for you & you are put into the support group.
Good luck.