disability living allowance (dla) & agoraphobia

[julieb]

sorry just reread that and it should say * monopobia and*

[Angel64]

Hi, I recieved the form yesterday, but as I was having a really bad day dizzy wise I just read quickly through it and put it to one side. When I am like this I really can't consentrate properly and have read that we shouldn't make any important decisions when feeling this way.
I liked the post that said 'when' rather than 'if' that is a good point. Because on my 'good' times (I wont say day because seriously the symptoms can come on so quickly and can even change minute to minute) I can manage to go out to the local town on my own people presume I am 'better' but the effort attached to making such a small journey is so enormous, but putting it into words seems impossible.
All your advice is great, I am going to fill it in and see how it goes, you don't lose anything for trying.
There isn't a part that asks about driving though only about walking and how far you can walk, but I realised I don't ever go far from the car. I will mention the fact that I do my weekly shop online though as this does cost me £5.00 a week to have delivered.

Thanks everyone wish me luck. Christine xx

[gary_2.0]

For some time I lived off my saving and didn't wish to be reliant on the Social'. But my girlfriend at the time convinced me otherwise and the short version is that everything got sorted ok and I now have a regular payment coming in, not a lot, but it's of some comfort knowing that I don't get bothered by anyone as they only contact my doctor to determine if my circumstances have changed. All in all I find the process very sympathetic to my condition.

Always at the back of my mind is the desire to get a car again - not had one for over two years now - and it hadn't occurred to me that I might be able to get help with this. Again, I don't like to be reliant on others but if it's an option it would seem churlish to ignore it. I understand the road tax has increased too? Any way I shall have to look into it.

[xxHonetBeexx]

Hi

I was told I could claim, I did a few yrs ago and didnt get it. I had forms come through today, but im not good with words!

Bee

[gary_2.0]

Hi

I was told I could claim, I did a few yrs ago and didnt get it. I had forms come through today, but im not good with words!

Bee

There is a section here that is devoted to help with form filling I think? I don't think I imagined that. If you would like help with specific questions just type them up here along with your own answer to the question, (if that's appropriate and ok with you), so I and others can help you refine things that might better explain your situation - if you would like us to?

I hate filling in forms but generally know what kind of information is required. I'm sure others will have more recent experience with a successful claim too that can help.

We're all here for you Bee

[kashameets]

julieb i think you should go for it

[kashameets]

on the form put what you are like on your worse days.
put the words WHEN and not IF.
put the words support and encouragement not help.
ie i need support and encouragement to go out or when im out not i need help to go out.
dont skip bits in the form, i skipped the bit about walking as i dont have a problem with walking but i then read it and saw it says do i trip or fall and i ticked yes and no boxes, yes as when i have a panic attack i get really hot, go deaf and my eye sight goes and i feel like im gonna faint so i would fall if no one was with me to help me sit down and cool me down.
if in doubt tick the yes and no box and then explain it i the box at the end thats what i did.

[julieb]

thanks sara x

[xxHonetBeexx]

There are so many questons, I cant seem to take anything in at the moment! x

[Angel64]

Hi an update, felt motivated today and so spent over 3 hours filling in the DLA form.

Last night I googled 'filling in DLA form' and got loads of advice off the net.
This and the advice from people on here helped enormously. I was going to go to CAB but thought that in my own home I can take my time and come back to it to add further information when I think of it, and I would be so flustered trying to explain things to some-one else it seemed better to tackle it myself.

I still have bits to fill in, and as I finished each page I made notes of extra info I wanted to add at the end, where there is a page for further information.

A good bit of advice was to understand that the person reading it probably hasn't heard of agoraphobia or health anxiety, so rather than write 'start to panic', I have explained exactly how I feel :- I start to feel anxious, I can't consentrate, my hands shake and I feel dizzy and like I am going to faint, I feel very scared and have to leave the situation I am in and find a safe place to sit down and calm down.

Funny thing is I didnt realise how much it did disable me till I went through this excercise !!

My neighbour (whos daughter gets dla for epilepsy) has told me that you can claim for the cost towards a gardener in the summer, and her daughter can get a free travel pass for buses and trains, funny thing is she has no problems going out all weekend clubbing it and has frequent visits to Theme parks where she goes on all the rides, seems the system is so unfair !

I will give it my best shot, keep you posted.

Christine xx