I am 48yrs old and having suffered depression and anxieties since i can remember. I have a long history of self harm and suicide attempts/ and was diagnosed with bipolar and bpd in 2004. Since my discharge I have had no further help with anything apart from having my perscription repeated monthly. I actually feel worse than before. Every1 has referred me and finally my advocate suggested I put in a complaint. I complained to the MHD, then to NHS had no joy there so went to the Ombudsman. After a yr the Ombudsman sided with MHT and closed my file. I had a solicitor who was willing to take my case on as he stated I had been treated terribly but then the legal aid law changed and he said he unfortunately could n't help me anymore. I submitted over a 100 documents that proved the mental health team had lied to aid my discharge.
I have now received an ESA form to be completed, I have no one that is helping me anymore and even though I receive incapacity benefit and high rate of DLA I dont think I will have a chance of receiving this and these entitlements will stop.
I have worked since the age of 13yrs old and was signed off sick in 2002 with severe depression and a breakdown and have not been signed back.
Has anyone experienced this, if so, how did you deal with it, who helped you?
I would appreciate ANY advise please I realy would.
Thank you so much
-x-
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cheekipixi
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Hi there. I cannot comment on your illness but i can on the ESA as i worked for the DWP and became sick so got released on medical grounds. I do understand your concern when it comes to change of benefit and no matter what we do or say things are going to change regardless of how people feel. I had recently put in a complaint regarding the issues my aunt went through with this but i ended up helping her and we got it all sorted but for the help of me she would have most def not got anything sorted. I complained about the lack of information given to customers at the stage of change, and various other issues but they have said there will be more help now available within the jobcentres and on the phones when people want to know. But hey DWP what more can i say on that. Anyway i have just recently received my letter and had my home phone call and next is the ESA 50 which is the questionnaire about your conditions and i can tell you they are shocking to fill in. Its not that they are hard but the questions do not give you enough choices. So if i was you hun i would email Welfair rights as i did and explain to them your struggling and will even more so when you have to complete your form and ask if they will help you with it. They will ring you if you leave a number and go through some things with you. I do hope this information helps some way hun and hope you will get some help with this ESA scenario. Its a nightmare to say the least but it will not change and eventually everyone will be on it. But given about 12mths people will be living a life of hell again and there will be lots more on sick or claiming benefit. The government hey, what are they trying to do people. As if people do not have enough to contend with in their life without all this. Good luck and keep us informed. Debs
I can't comment on the legal aspects of your case because I don't have the experience but I do know that it's intolerable that you aren't having any treatment or care from psychiatric services. What were the reasons you were discharged?
Could you not return to your GP and ask for a referral to a psychiatrist? There are now new therapies which help people with Borderline - I know this because my daughter is having DBT and I am being assessed with a view to having MBT (Mentalisation Based therapy). So you could ask about the possibility for referral to one of those if they are available in your area, but I think you might need a psychiatrist to refer you. It's simply NOT good enough for them to wash their hands of you. You are clearly ill and still need help and support.
The other things you could do are to phone Rethink for advice about what you should do and where to get support. Google them for contact details. Also MIND. In your position I'd try EVERY mental health charity I could think of, and when you see your GP, if you have a choice of them, make sure it' s one you feel more comfortable with and you think might be sympathetic. Make sure they know exactly how your condition is affecting you and how desperate you feel. This situation is simply wrong and I hope you get better treatment in the future.
Between March 2008 and October 2008 I was given many reasons for my discharge, such as, 'you look like ur coping'..........'a diagnosis cud not be found'.................'ur all better now, u now dont meet with our criteria'............the last reason was so humiliating, ' there is nothing wrong with her apart from her inability to parent her son adequately, for which there are planty of parenting groups in the community'.
I have a 12 yr old son with severe ADHD, ODD, learning difficulties, dyslexia and severe behaviourial problems, I have fought for 10yrs with social services as they have denied my son access to services he needs and deserves, even the ADHD team refuse to help him as and I quote, ' the mother of this child is far too knowledgable and experienced in ADHD, are intervention would be of no use'. Each case of ADHD is different, I might have read every book on this subject but putting what you've read into practice, in the real world, where ADHD is only 1 problem to deal with, is very difficult, because each case is different, and whether I do know or don't know anything about ADHD is 1 thing, talking, listening, learning from parents in the same boat is a huge help on it's own, it helps to talk to others who know exactly what you're talking about, to exchange stratergies can only be good and helpful, yet we were all denied their intervention.
Finaly, in Oct 2008 I was invited to my Care plan review, I honestly thought the MHT had had a change of heart. I poured my heart out in this review, explained about the horrific yr I had had, how social services had constantly threatened me with taking my children away from me, how my house was so close to be being repossessed, how my daughter had opened up to me about the sexual abuse she had had to endure from the age of 7-8yrs - 12yrs and this only stopped when I threw him out. My daughter had carried this baggage around with her for 4 yrs after it had stopped before telling me. How, social services, having been informed of this abuse, decided to interview my son (with adhd) with the police, at school and without me present, of which the Head of the school agreed with me that this shud not happen and wouldn't allow it, so because of this, I was then forced down the child protection route, were my son was placed on the 'at risk' register, for a matter of 6 weeks (took my solicitor, who informed me that everything about the conference was unlawful and cruel ). I explained I didnt sleep in my bed anymore and the only sleep I got was if i noded off in the chair. I stated I had not felt this low, for a long time. I later saw the letter to my DR about this meeting from my psychiatrist, who had stated the complete opposite, that I admitted being a lot happier, my son was doing well, I was financially sound, and I agreed to my discharge, the 2nd page of this letter was missing, I managed, with the help of my advocate to get this 2nd page 2 YRS later, and it was, by no surprise to me unsigned. At the end of this farsical review I was issued with a form to sign, my discharge form, where i felt i had no option but to sign.
Also in this time my Dr re-reffered me back to the MHT twice, with no luck. My advocate reffered me, no luck. My sons SW refferred me, no luck and I also referred myself, no luck. In 2010 my advocate suggested I complain. I did this and the reply I received was that I had nothing to complain about, I went further, to the trust then to NHS and then to the obudsman, i submitted over 100 documents and e-mails to prove that the MHT had lied about nearly everything, yet they kept saying I was treated well by the MHT.
They will NOT offer me counselling, therapy etc as they say there is nothing wrong with me. Being classed as a carer for my son, I was informed I would be entitled to therapy, after 2 sessions it had to stop through lack of funding, social services denied me 'dierct payments' for this therapy and I cud not possibly afford this.
I have been everywhere for help, without any luck at all, and considering, I have a life long history of self harm and suicide attempts, that for 3 yrs I had a psychiatrist, psychologist and a CPN who wud visit me at home every 2-3 weeks, that because of my diagnosis of bipolar, I was given many different tablets which gave me a siezure and had to stay overn ight in hospital, to come home and then have a breakdown as the hospital had forgotten to give me my meds., that because of the cocktail of medication i was on I was advised to abort my unborn child as the meds wud have had a negative impact on the development of my baby, that i have, because of my diagnosis's been subjected to 3 child protection conferences, all uneccassary pain and heartache, to then be informed that I have nothing wrong with me just cant parent my son properly.
I have recently written to my MP explaining my situation but have heard nothing. So my next move is the papers and the government and everywhere else I havnt been. I have been treated disgustingly by proffessionals that are there to help you, I have been lied to by proffessionals who have abused their authority and basically now have the label of child abuser, even though this treatment i have received is unlawful and inhumane, cruel and wicked, by the people you are supposed to trust..................sori off on a tangent again.
The government have no idea what some people have to cope with alongside the everyday living that we all have to deal with, I have always said that if you are an elderly person or have a disability you really are doomed.
This ESA thing is hurrendous, my 1st letter regarding this stated I would receive a phone call within 2 weeks, from this call would determine as to whether I would receive the form ESA50, etc etc. When I read the letter about the fone call I freaked, I dont do answering the fone, it may sound so stupid and it is really, but the ringing causes me to panic, I think this stems from my ex constantly ringing me day and night, as a result of this I damaged my fone and have never replaced it. I wrote to them and explained this and gave them my e-mail address, before I had chance to post this letter, I had received the form and what a form, i have filled it all in, but it's taken forever as I had to keep stopping, it brings things back to you that you've tried to forget, brings home what you're really like, and thats 'not the norm'. I also see it as, I've proved to the Incapacity Benefit people and the DLA people that I'm not lying about my mental health, I paid enough stamps to warrant me receiving IB and I must have a mental health issue/s to be awarded high rate care, so, why do I have to prove it all again, just because the past governement could not budget properly this countries money, you know, if they want to make cut backs, why not bring our soldiers back etc etc instead of driving ill people insane, phew glad thats off my chest............back to it...........I panic so much I cant breath in or out and I truly believe Im going to die, I cannot go out alone most of the time, on a good day I will do my shopping at 3am as this is the quickest time, I wear sunglasses when driving even when its not sunny and I cling to my handbag for dear life, even though I dont use it. I do not answer the phone unless I know who it is,for this I have an answering machine, I don't answer the door and most of the time hide behind closed curtains, when talking to people I get that flustered I dont even know my name, and I tend to waffle on and on and on, like now haha I only wanted to say thank you hr=ehehehe
HI there. Well if you get any response back from the DWP and they want to take you off Incap then please try and get in touch with Welfare rights or do so now and explain your situation to them. Im sure they would be more than willing to help you with everything. As for your panic and being unable to breathe, let me tell you hun i know that only too well and its an awful feeling. Infact it appears while being on this site there are a lot more people now suffering the same. Im aware there are a lot of people but more and more actually want to talk about it now which really does help. I can see though you have asked for all this help and it appears no one is listening to you. Im not sure i truly understand why this is because this is to say the least disgusting. Personally i would not tolerate this at all, i would be looking into something to get my help. Like i said try welfare rights and see if they can help you in anyway. What location are you in hun i can also look online for you as well, im certain somewhere out there will be an answer for you and someone will come forth to help.
If at any stage you hyperventilate to the point there is no control then grab yourself a brown paper bag and take in deep breaths in and out very slowly, approx i would say to the count of 10 in and 10/15 out, this does release the oxygen level your taking in and puts the carbon dioxide back into your system, although im sure you know this but sometimes when your feeling all this rush of anxiety your irrationally thinking so it does not help you at all. Sometimes actually reading how to calm yourself down helps.
Im not sure if anything i have said has helped but i would like to think there is something in it that will help and hopefully support you a little. We are all here and if you wish to speak any time then please feel free to message any one of us. There will always be someone available to chat to.
Good luck hun and keep us informed. Re- ESA please try welfare rights they are good when it comes to this new change and finding they are helping a lot more people. In your case im certain they would be more than happy to help and assist you. Not easy doing the form yourself i know that.
You have helped, more than u'll know and I am very grateful to you for the taking the time to read and reply to my thread, I do realise i go on and on a bit, sorry, it's so lovely and appreciated that people here have listened to me and taken the time to reply and share things with me to try and be of sum help xxx I will look into the Welfare rights with regard to the ESA and I will also look into rethink and mind.
Thanx a mil and take care.
-x-
Your more than welcome and this site will always be at hand with one thing and another. Everyone on here appears to give sound advice in relation to what they are suffering so there will always be someone who can help in some way about something. good luck hun. try keep us posted on the benefit side incase we can help more. x
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