hi. I have written about this before. my problem is I panic when I talk to new people on the phone or in person. citizens advice don't have an email address that I can contact for help to fill in the form. there is a local hub but I am having problems trying to go to get advise even though I have been before. I am seeing a therapist online but even that is difficult. I only have until the 21st of December before my money stops. I am really struggling with this and I am worried it might cause me harm.I recently had a stress test which they had to stop because my blood pressure was 250/120. I have a machine at home and its averaging at 139/90. I am worried that the stress is causing my blood pressure to be to high. I don't know what to do. all of my family are on benefits and we are struggling to pay for things. if I lose the esa/uc I don't know what will happen.
any advise would be great. I didn't know who else to ask.
thanks.
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Spedyrecovry50
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Did you have family help with your PIP application earlier this year? Are they able to help you do the online form?
Or they could ring the ESA phone line for you, for advice? I have found the ESA phone line really helpful. If you tell them about how the stress is affecting your blood pressure, they may have an alternative way.
I believe DWP can fill the form in over the phone for you, (not 100% sure on this). Could a family member do that phone call with you present?
I don't know the process you have to go through as I moved from the ESA work related group to UC last April. I have social anxiety and have similar difficulties. My form wasn't too long.
My niece migrated across from ESA support group this year. She is mostly housebound and struggles on the phone. Someone ended up coming out to her. I can't ask her the process as she has multiple health issues (from birth) and she hates talking about the disability benefits system as it's so stressful. She did get it all sorted though.
They don't cater for mental health issues at all, do they? Especially social anxiety. My mental health deteriorated doing both ESA to UC and PIP this year.
Definitely seek help with DWP/ESA asap though, to let them know you're unable to do it. As the system can be slow and our finances on benefits is difficult enough, without you missing your payments.
thanks for the reply. I can ask my family to help. my sister would probably do it. they did help with pip. i have found that my social anxiety has got worse after going through the pip process. sorry to hear about you and your niece having a rough time. I have only just started therapy after a very long wait. the system isn't up to the task.
My social anxiety also became worse. It really knocked me back from April until the end of August. I have found every DWP member of staff is absolutely lovely and so caring. If only they created the system and not the jobs worth people.
I was like you, I wanted to bury my head in the sand and avoid it, as it has been the most challenging thing to do since my mental health worsened 2 years ago.
What helped me afterwards was reading a citizen advice report from 2017, saying how people with mental health issues are the most negatively affected by the process. This helped me understand it isn't personal it's unfit for purpose.
update.I spoke to citizens advice. they seam to think it will be a straight transition from esa support to UC support. he said it should work out. I will let you guys know what happens.
update.today was my esa payment day so citizens advice had told me to start my claim from today. I set up my universal credit account. that was ok. I then filled out the claim. I then got to proofs of ID. I had them ready but couldn't see the option for the p60. so it put me through to having a face to face appointment to bring my ids to my local job centre. this was very bad. I used the journal to try to explain that I couldn't go to the appointment as it would trigger a panic attack or even a heart attack. but they didn't want to know. in the end I have gone with a phone call to prove my ID. why they can't do it by the journal I don't know. I have had two major panic attacks and had some serious chest pain which I nearly went to hospital for. luckily the gtn stopped it. my dad phoned the UC line and they said I will need to do the phone call or the claim will not go through. it hasn't been a good day. so much for an easy transition. oh and to top things off I nearly fell off my chair and bent my toe back which is now very painful.
the phone call is on Thursday morning. my dad and sister are going to help me. I am hoping that will be all I have to do.
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DID is painful
Need help!
What kind of therapy should I try? (trigger warning)
I tend to put my foot in it...
triggers
