Well all, after my JC appointment today. I really have lost the plot. I am expected to work 40 hours a week and have to travel up to 90 minutes each way for work 5 days a week. 😠😠. I am 62 years old for gods sake. I cannot go back to being an educational photographer because of heavy equipment etc. I am going to see JC tomorrow to tell them to get stuffed for the £300 a month they are offering me . Also they expect me to look for jobs every day and keep in touch every morning with them over the Internet. I have worked for over 47 years and would have expected better treatment than this. I am exhausted today. After 2 and a half hours of being spoken to I eventually couldn't even concentrate. Will make a doctor's appointment for Friday morning. I am so angry how we are being treated. Stress can bring on a huge flare which as I have so much on my plate at the moment I really don't need. Sorry for the rant. I am just so upset and angry. Xx
Disillusioned : Well all, after my JC appointment... - PMRGCAuk
Disillusioned
Oh dear. I am so disappointed for you. Is the Dr refusing you a sick note? I thing you need one for anxiety and stress...not to mention depression. Please tell dr EXACTLY how you feel. It is connected to PMR of course but depression is a diagnosis in and of itself. I am not a Dr (well I am. ...just not a medical one!) But I have been depressed and in very dark places more than once. If you tell dr how you felt the other night they should sit up and take noticed. From what you have said you are genuinely clinically depressed. You aren't just a bit down. You need support and treatment from you Dr even if you have been treated for it 20 times before or never. Please stay in touch.
Hi
I'm afraid they make no consideration for age or experience If you break your contract you will be sanctioned.
Don't forget you will get your NI Contributions paid .
You could ask for a Fit note from GP then look at going onto ESA but even then you will have a medical assessment and be told your fit to work or placed in the work related Group where you will not have to be looking for work but be expected to attend interviews and training or the Support Group where you will be left alone at least for a while.
I'm afraid its a long road ahead
Get a sick note from your GP and start a claim for ESA and possibly PIP. That's what I had to do eventually when I reached a stage I just couldn't work anymore.
Thank you. What is PIP?
Personal Independence Payment, a benefit you can get if you qualify. See Gov.uk for more info on benefits and check if you're eligible.
It replaced DLA. There is a care and mobility component. It's another tough process but is meant to enable you to do things like work or on enhanced level of mobility get a motability car. They have rejigged the questions on it but it's at least worth filling in the form. They can only say no. I have learnt that descriptors of worst days rule when completing the paperwork.
It is awful isn’t it? The way they altered the retirement age when people had made plans based on 60 as a retirement age for women. I am caught in that group who really lose out financially. I wouldn't Have taken early retirement had I known that I was expected to stagger on until 66. I did demanding voluntary work until PMR struck. Like you, I have always worked and contributed, full time working mother of three. Coupled with the measly £300.00 I think you get credits towards the retirement pension ( same with sickness benefit) but my information might be out of date. All the changes have had a detrimental effect on claimants. We used to think it was unlikely that we’d get jobs for 50 year olds ( those young things) and kind of go through the motions so that they claimed benefit but didn’t really pressure them about work. A kind of unspoken policy in the late 70s early 80s. It infuriates me that ordinary people are paying the price for Casino Bankers and they still live it large.
I expect school photos are taken on smart phones these days. I treasure mine of all the kids and their friends. There might well be something you fancy doing one day but right now you have a serious systemic disease that knocks the life out of you.
I agree with Poopadoop do not understate how desperate you felt and get signed off sick.
Rant away, I wish I’d been there to go with you. Is it too galling to repeat what they suggested you do as a job? Well done, Big hug, you did it! 🧡
Thank you Jane. When they asked me to fill out the section about what I wanted to do as a job. I stared at it blankly. Like an idiot 😯. The whole thing has completely exhausted me. At one point I wanted just to get up and leave. I just lost all concentration after that. I'll have to find some other ways to bring some money in. They can get stuffed. However I will see a doctor on Friday. Xx
I definitely think I’d want a glass of something after that ordeal. For some reason you put me in mind of a friend of mine who would have had me helpless with laughter if I was going through your day. She just had the knack of finding the most awful things funny.
This is probably very wide of the mark from how you feel but for some reason Lesley popped into my mind . Life was a huge joke and she had a hard life but got her cottage in Cornwall in the end ( her dream).
Let us know what the doc says.
I normally would be the one helping others with laughter .That's why I hate feeling like this. I might see the funny side tomorrow, hopefully. Xx
I knew it, there is a funny feisty lady in there who is just totally p***ed off at the moment with good reasons. I can’t wait for you to tell us that everything is great again in your world. You will you know!
What a s**t storm of a day. Please tell the doc how you felt a couple of nights ago, that’s not just a bit down. I absolutely agree with all that has been said by others. You’re not alone. A big virtual hug and some 💐
psnpaloalto.com/wp/wp-conte...
Morrison, I’m so sorry to hear the outcome of your meeting. Being from the States, I’m not following all of it. Sounds like lots of politics
The above is the diagnotic criteria for Major Depression. Read through it carefully. When you are making your list of health issues for your next doctor appt. make sure that you include any of the criteria that applies to you. I would reword them into your how you would say them. The World Health Organization found the Major Depressive Disorder was the most disabling illness in the USA (report about 10 years ago). So please don’t make light of these symptoms and not list them if you are experiencing them.
Keep exploring your options. Best wishes.
Depression is really the worst thing. I fear it more than any other illness. Even reading the criteria you posted makes me shudder, because in common with a lot of us I have been there.
I fought it, too - in the 1990s. Was off work for 9 months. Told my doctors that they wouldn’t be able to get me well as I was the sickest person they had ever treated. They assured me that I wasn’t and that i would get well. They were right, I did get well, and fortunately have never slipped back in to it. Glad to see that you made it through, too.
I too am in the states so I can only partly follow. What a pounding they gave you! I am 62 went from 40 hours a week to 20 and retire in 2 months. I have worked since I was 14. I don't know how I could possibly do what they are expecting of you. Makes me want to sob just thinking of it. I find myself frequently feeling overwhelmed so know how you must of felt after the end of the day.
Remember you are one day closer to being well and many people here understand.
I am also in the US. Yes, indeed, getting help when you need it after paying in to the system for decades is really an awful experience. Do try every gambit to get what you deserve from the government you've supported for so long.
Now on the other side, if you have to work 40 hours a week and must accept a position within 90 minutes of where you live, it can be done. I work 50-60 hours a week and have a 90 minute each way active commute that combines taking a bus, a ferry, sometimes the subway, plus walking at least a mile between the legs of the commute. I have worked every day from the onset of PMR except for 2 days where the snow storms were just too heavy for me to walk safely down the hill I live on.
It can be done.
It might even lift your spirits and help you focus on starting that new adventure.
You are exceptional for this PMR. I dont know how you do that. I most certainly could not. Well done you.
I'm only 62. I can't retire for 5 more years, even though I've been paying into Social Security for 50 years as of July 1 this year, and the last 30 years I've been paying in at the maximum level. But that's just the way it is. We took a big loss to our retirement accounts in the financial crisis, and we just don't have enough to retire on. We had a lot of expenses in those years, and not much income, and we need to build back as much as we can before I give in and give up. My dear one had a heart attack 2 years ago, and has only gone back to teaching at the local college this semester. He's carrying 2 sections, but that's the limit for him. He just can't do more than that.
I think it's good for me to keep working. Many days I have just wanted to curl up and stay home, but I get up and get going instead. I admit I spend most of the weekend on the couch, and that once I get in the door every night I am done for the day. But I love my job and I love my staff. I suppose that helps.
As much as I adored my job for the last 25 years I just couldn't carry the equipment sometimes 4 times a day. The photography was easy. But now I couldn't even talk to over 500 heads everyday. Each one before photographing you would speak to. Wears me out even thinking about it.
I can understand that. It must have been very hard for you to give that up.
It's hard to give job search advice from the other side of the world, but someone with the talent and temperament on a daily basis to wrestle a couple of hundred kids into a chair, get them to sit still, get them to look neat and clean, and get them smiling must have some formidable skills to bring to any workplace. We call that kind of thing "herding cats" over here.
I could see someone like you working as a receptionist in a medical setting or dental office, as a customer service rep on the phone or in a bank, working in some sort of government office dealing with the public (think unemployment, tax, benefits etc). Getting the specific knowledge of the business is the easy part. But few people have the disposition and talent for making people comfortable and happy - especially when they have to deal with something they don't want to do. Those skills can't be learned - certainly not easily. That's partly you and partly experience. One thought is to search the job postings under "Miscellaneous". These are the jobs that are "odd", with unusual or non-specific requirements, and are often in small businesses or working in family settings that just might be more to your liking and somewhat flexible with starting and ending times etc.
Challenge the folks at the JC office (which I take it is the re-employment agency) to help you find jobs that would use the unique skills you have developed. You could be a real gem to a place that needs someone to deal with the public and get them settled and happy before they sit down with the "professionals" behind the desks.
What a situation to be in. I am so sorry. With your photography background, could you make yourself self-employed? Work your hours/days/times? Maybe even from home? Wishing you all the help you deserve.
I am in the uk and been through the "compassionate cruelty" that is our welfare system today. I was self employed, became too poorly to work and had "Fit note" (sniggers!) from my GP for PMR and anxiety. I claimed ESA in March and it took until January of the following year before they finally assessed me and awarded me ESA in the support group. I Also applied for PIP and that process was no less stressful but a bit quicker and I got an award of that too. The whole process was so stressful and during that time all my anti depressants had to be doubled. Then there was all the Pred side effects etc to deal with.
I could write for hours about my experience but that won't serve a purpose for you. How I did it might help you though. I used a website called Benefits and Work. Yes you have to pay a subscription but its only about £15 a year. Its worth every penny. They publish guides to filling out all the paperwork for all the different benefits and also guidance on DWP reconsideration s and appeals. I used their guides to make sure that I was completing the forms to give the DWP the proper information they want. Its so easy to put the wrong thing. There is also info about the face to face assessments. All the info is kept up to date so when the goalposts get moved you are aware. Best £15 I have spent. Still subscribing now as I don't know when I will be recalled for reassessment. Take a look at the site.
Age UK can also help with completing these huge forms too. Each branch has a benefits advisor. You only have to be over 50 to access their service.
The whole process is completely demeaning and stressful but its worth a lot more than £300 a month if you are unable to work and get ESA and PIP.
First step, go to GP and get an inappropriately named "fit note". Ring up and apply for ESA based on your NI contributions.
All I can say is persevere. You have contributed for years and now you need some assistance. You cannot help the vagaries of your body 
Good luck!
So sorry that you had that horrendous experience!! Certainly what S4ndy has posted above looks very helpful. You need your GP on side as well. Hope that meeting goes well.
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