ESA oh great!!!!

[kashameets]

I have suffered with agoraphobia and social phobia all of my life thats 36 years of not knowing what it is like to be 'normal'
I have only ever worked for 6 months in my life and that was when i was having a manic high (as i may also have bipolar) but then lost my job when i then had a manic low.
I have not gone out the front door on my own for 7 years, anniversary of the last time is today and today i get my ESA letter telling me i will be getting a phone call in the next 2 weeks to start the process of changing from income support over to ESA, yep just what i need
This month so far my brother was rushed in to hospital with a suspected mild heart attack, my husbands had a great deal of upset to do with his family (he also suffers depression and possibly BPD) my dog who is my baby has been ill and needs an xray on the 25th were she will be put out, the 16th was the 12 year anniversary of my mum's death, the council messed up my medical points so its unlikely that i will be able to move back to the village i grew up in and the only place i feel less anxious and can go out on my own sometimes, today is the 7 year anniversary of the last time i went out on my own and the 6 year anniversary of my other dogs death and i have a over the phone psychotherapy assessment on the 27th and NOW this!!!!!

I have read so many horror stories about ESA i just know its up going to go i have had to write to the benefits office asking them to send me a letter telling me what the number is they will be ringing me from as i cant answer the phone to people i dont know and sometimes not at all then i guess i will be sent for a medical interview which i wont be able to go to so that will be more stress as i will have to request a home visit which they dont like doing then best case i will be put in the work activity group where i will be told i have to go to interviews that i wont be able to attend
And all this is meant to help me get better and back to work, no seeing my psychiatrist and taking things one step at a time with no pressure will get me better and back to work not causing more stress, anxiety, worry and in fact making me a whole bloody lot worse by trying to force me to do things that make me freak and take two steps back
I wondered if anyone else has been through the ESA nightmare and how they got on?

[kashameets]

The ESA form if anyone is wondering what it looks like...note that the question ....Can you leave home on
your own and go to
places you don’t know?...... only gives the answers .......Usually, Not very often, It varies, .....there is not a NO option well i will put one in


http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum.../dg_195544.pdf

[doodah]

Just come across your post - how did you get on? Hope all was okay.

Wendy xx

[MargaretHale]

I just filled in that form and also crossed out the options and put 'NO-NEVER' They have messed me about trying to get me to attend a centre for assessment, my GP and I have both told them 'what part of 'Agoraphobia' don't you understand??

[doodah]

Dear me - nothing is ever straightforward is it! I received a letter yesterday saying that they would ring me in the next 2 weeks to discuss the changes from Incapacity Beneft to ESA and to assess whether I need to go for a medical/interview. I guess I'll have to explain that I have been agoraphobic for 36 years, haven't seen my doctor for 3 or 4 years and am just "getting by". I would really love to be able to work and hope that there IS some help out there, but after my experiences with Pathways to Work, I doubt it. I explained to them how agoraphobia and anxiety affected me, that I hadn't been able to get on a bus for years etc etc and they very thoughtfully sent me information on interviews for places over 20 miles away from my home, most of them working in a supermarket!!! Talk about being thrown in at the deep end. I think my experiences with them (and that was about 4 years ago) very nearly put me off trying to improve my situation at all.

I'm just glad that I didn't receive my letter a few years ago as I have been my elderly mum's main carer (saving the government thousands of pounds); I worked like a trojan supporting my mum and was glad to do it; they'd probably have told me I could get a job in a care home, miles away from home! Sadly mum passed away in June.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings - I just wondered how everyone coped with the anxiety of having to explain this weird and wonderful illness!!

All I can do is be honest and take whatever is thrown at me.

Wendy

---------- Post added at 11:11 ---------- Previous post was at 11:09 ----------

Ooops! I meant to add that I work 2 hours per week (allowed income) from home maintaining a website and am also a volunteer at a community centre, which is only 5 minutes from my house. So I really AM trying!!

Wendy

[london]

sara

get your doctor to fax them and tell them your history and thay should do a home visit and dont give up
god bless