Whilst trawling the web finding out info on the Blue Badge I did find this article, not sure if it's still relevant as I know they keep on changing the criteria all the time, but it makes interesting reading
http://www.dft.gov.uk/transportforyo...ligibility.pdf
People with mental health difficulties
Due to the wide range of mental health difficulties, it is difficult to generalise as to the relationship between mental health difficulties and access to services. This study shows that, while some people with mental health problems encounter no problems, others face serious barriers. There is evidence in this study that travelling independently can be problematic for people with anxiety-related conditions, as this can trigger a panic attack, especially in crowded and unfamiliar surroundings. There was even greater risk of this happening to people with severe disorders (e.g. schizophrenia). For people who have panic attacks, some may start to associate particular places and situations with having such an attack. In an attempt to avoid another attack, some people may start to avoid places where attacks had previously occurred, and this can reduce their propensity to travel and to participate in everyday activities. There is a high risk for people to develop conditions such as agoraphobia or social phobia.
Quality of life and social inclusion could be greatly enhanced by entitlement to parking concessions. More importantly, the evidence here suggests that reduced walking distances to a person’s final destination can, in some cases, potentially reduce the risk of some mental health conditions getting worse. The ability to park close to destinations would help to prevent the person concerned from having an anxiety attack, becoming confused and feeling lost.