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Universal credit and PTSD

Alastor Trivia said:
Recent post by Jay Watts on whether the benefits system is so punitive it is giving people PTSD

Any thoughts?

novaramedia.com

Britain’s Inhumane Benefits System Is Giving People PTSD | Novara Media

The psychological violence of welfare applications is destroying our mental health - and an increasingly two-tier benefits system won’t help, writes clinical psychologist Jay Watts.
novaramedia.com novaramedia.com
Click to expand...
I day yes, it probably is. There's the trauma of applying, then the trauma of asking for mandatory reconsideration if you don't get it first time round, then appeals, coupled with waits of months and months in between. Then a brief repreive before going through it all again.

People aren't committing suicide for laughs over this, it's because they're starving, desparate and in some cases very unwell people victimised by the system.

I do hope you're a journalist from a national looking for a story.
 
I am not a journalist, no. Just thought it has a good political point, plus I am kind of angry that people are glossing over the suicides that you mentioned. I would also point out whilst I agree with the above, another cause of PTSD is with the media (given I understand your hope for a journalist) is the brushing under the carpet of the denial of vulnerable people to say no to 'benefit bashing', and even when communities expect people on benefits to 'put up' with said abuse, even covering up 'disability hate crimes' (there is no specific legal definition but the CPS outlines how they can be prosecuted under either the Equalities Act 2000, or the Protection from Harassment Act 1997).

On a different note, with the I spoke about this privately with someone from DPAC, but with the move to Universal Credit, given Tax Credits being mentioned here, whilst the move has been an excuse to cut and do damage to a lot of vulnerable people, and 'should' have had more protest (big up those who have, mind) from all sections of the population, now that there has been a shift, given the 'benefit' Universal Credit covers what was JSA, ESA and Tax Credits for low-waged essential workers who are numerous, there is a major issue for the Tory propaganda phrase (and even its acceptance in Social work and CMHTs where it should have been shunned) 'benefit dependency'.

If people in full time work are 'benefit dependent', then the issue goes back to 'work dependency' and therefore how exploitative capitalism is. Even if we say a lot of shit stuff due to austerity shouldn't have happened (and I personally think 2010 austerity is just as much Caeserism as Gramsci said it was in 1931), UC may be the Tories shooting themselves in the foot in the future for convincing those old 'working class' Tories at the very least, as if Brexit was a last gasp before it gets chronically unequal and even the biggest idiot can see voting for them is not in their interest.

Unfortunately though it won't bring back those who took their lives.
 
My claim for PIP is currently at the renewal stage. They've had the form since late August and....nothing. I keep ringing them to see whats up and despite me explaining that i get incredibly anxious, the the point it's making me physically unwell not just mentally so but all i get told is that your claim runs out in March. It's fucking nearly December and i don't know if they'll just renew at same level without seeing me or call me in for an assessment. If it's the latter I need to corral someone to come along with me as a support worker like and even then it feels like I need to beg for the money that i get. I'm grateful for it, it allows to live a near normal life but fucking hell, it's degrading. I need to tell them intimate details about how fucked up I am, details that I've barely acknowledged myself.

Claiming PIP causes untold anguish. Universal Credit too. But all the time it's hurting and killing off the poor and disabled, no one is going to give a flying fuck really.
 
tonysingh said:
My claim for PIP is currently at the renewal stage. They've had the form since late August and....nothing. I keep ringing them to see whats up and despite me explaining that i get incredibly anxious, the the point it's making me physically unwell not just mentally so but all i get told is that your claim runs out in March. It's fucking nearly December and i don't know if they'll just renew at same level without seeing me or call me in for an assessment. If it's the latter I need to corral someone to come along with me as a support worker like and even then it feels like I need to beg for the money that i get. I'm grateful for it, it allows to live a near normal life but fucking hell, it's degrading. I need to tell them intimate details about how fucked up I am, details that I've barely acknowledged myself.

Claiming PIP causes untold anguish. Universal Credit too. But all the time it's hurting and killing off the poor and disabled, no one is going to give a flying fuck really.
Click to expand...
i helped a friend apply for pip. when he hadn't heard anything for two months after submission i phoned the pip people. they advised that the claim was with capita and offered other useful suggestions - for my friend to say how he was on his worst day when asked how he got on with anything, to record the phone conversation because capita have been known to be economical with the truth and to have a friend with him during the phone interview.

it's now been three months and he still hasn't heard anything.
 
The DWP spying on claimants doesn't help :

www.anarchistcommunism.org

DWP to target claimants over Christmas and New Year - Anarchist Communist Group

The rich and powerful are often all too busy with their creative accountants, tax avoidance and tax evasion, their dodgy deals and contracts for their chums, their pub landlords and those who pump massive bribes into the ruling Conservative Party coffers. In short, wholesale fraud. So this...
www.anarchistcommunism.org www.anarchistcommunism.org
 
Pickman's model said:
i helped a friend apply for pip.

it's now been three months and he still hasn't heard anything.
Click to expand...
Not PIP, just renewing my ESA claim, Welfare Rights did the forms for me, sent them back, never heard diddly squat for a few yrs so please don't expect a quick assessment :(

As for PTSD, yes the DWP ARE responsible for causing this with many people. I know lots of folk who pretty much freak when a brown envelope arrives :(
 
geminisnake said:
Not PIP, just renewing my ESA claim, Welfare Rights did the forms for me, sent them back, never heard diddly squat for a few yrs so please don't expect a quick assessment :(

As for PTSD, yes the DWP ARE responsible for causing this with many people. I know lots of folk who pretty much freak when a brown envelope arrives :(
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four months and still nothing now. so he'll hear something in 2022. or '23
 
We need Social Security back. It was their job to see to it that everyone outwith private employment had money. It was like the Water Board for money. They didn't do money being an optional accessory.
 
Cado said:
We need Social Security back. It was their job to see to it that everyone outwith private employment had money. It was like the Water Board for money. They didn't do money being an optional accessory.
Click to expand...
Rose-tinted glasses. Many people who recall the auld dhss knows about the political use of social security during the miners strike etc. It wasn't like the dole was a great sum of money back then either or supplementary benefit
 
Don't deny it is getting before my time but the title DHSS (Department Health and Social Security) means the they understood at least why you needed welfare. The thing is (I assume) the UK was based on a Regional Council model then, therefore each Regional Council had it own Social Security office/department with Central Gov in London sat on top to try and get 60 Regional Councils all singing off the same hymn-sheet.

Don't really know much details around the miners strike but I wouldn't have thought striking people would be entitled to anything until they formally quit/be fired and become unemployed. Don't know what the rates were then or different benefit payments but then Thatcher had started her demolition job of things quite early to be the time 1984 came many of the 1970s welfare may have been away.
 
Pickman's model said:
Rose-tinted glasses. Many people who recall the auld dhss knows about the political use of social security during the miners strike etc. It wasn't like the dole was a great sum of money back then either or supplementary benefit
Click to expand...
Someone I know who worked in welfare rights advice told me that the government changed the law back in the eighties, because back then the DHSS/DSS or whatever it was had a legal obligation to tell people what they were entitled to, but now they don't, they just process whatever claims people submit (if they even so that properly and in a timely fashion), so they no longer tell people what other benefits they might be entitled to. That's why so much money goes unclaimed.
 
I remember the change to them not volunteering information about other things / benefits to which you might be entitled.
For quite a long time the better staff would do more than just hint about what else was available.
But gradually all that stopped.
It was converted into another form of "hostile environment" with a presumption that all claimants were "on the fiddle" - reinforced with the press pushing idea of "benefit scroungers" ...
 
l'Otters said:
Share this as often as possible.
Enter the potential claimant’s circumstances and get an indication of what benefits they should be able to claim & how much.

Turn2us Benefits Calculator

Use the Turn2us Benefits Calculator to find out which welfare benefits you may be entitled to.
benefits-calculator-2.turn2us.org.uk benefits-calculator-2.turn2us.org.uk
Click to expand...
Have just tried this, as I'm not well and unsure if I can continue working due to poor mental health /anxiety.

I'm on a temp contract that will end in a couple months anyway. I had hoped to soldier on while I still have wfh and sympathetic employers but I dont think I can. I have just requested another 'fit note' from my GP, but need to talk about retirement / ending contract on ill health grounds but I don't know how this works.

The calculator says under old system I could claim contributary based ESA (I wouldn't be eligible for any income related benefits due to savings, etc) but cant calculate under UC system and to enquire with DWP.

Does anyone know are all new claims (I live in Lambeth) under the the UC system now? Does the old system still exist?
 
found this onhttps://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators

  • Policy in Practice - for information on income-related benefits, tax credits, contribution-based benefits, Council Tax Reduction, Carer’s Allowance, Universal Credit, how these are calculated and how your benefits will be affected if you start work or change your working hours
  • entitledto - for information on income-related benefits, tax credits, contribution-based benefits, Council Tax Reduction, Carer’s Allowance, Universal Credit and how your benefits will be affected if you start work
  • Turn2us - for information on income-related benefits, tax credits, Council Tax Reduction, Carer’s Allowance, Universal Credit and how your benefits will be affected if you start work or change your working hours
Click to expand...
 
friendofdorothy said:
Have just tried this, as I'm not well and unsure if I can continue working due to poor mental health /anxiety.

I'm on a temp contract that will end in a couple months anyway. I had hoped to soldier on while I still have wfh and sympathetic employers but I dont think I can. I have just requested another 'fit note' from my GP, but need to talk about retirement / ending contract on ill health grounds but I don't know how this works.

The calculator says under old system I could claim contributary based ESA (I wouldn't be eligible for any income related benefits due to savings, etc) but cant calculate under UC system and to enquire with DWP.

Does anyone know are all new claims (I live in Lambeth) under the the UC system now? Does the old system still exist?
Click to expand...

It does still exist. I think entitledto ignores the continued existence of contributory ESA and JSA in their calculators even though they have pages about them on their site.

You don't apply via the universal credit site, but via a .gov page - it's this one: Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

You're paid at the JSA rate while you wait to be assessed, and that's not a lot of money, but it's also not zero money, and you can claim a council tax reduction.

I'm not certain of your circumstances, but if your partner's on PIP you'd be able to get carers' allowance once your income is under £120pw.
 
StoneRoad said:
another form of "hostile environment" with a presumption that all claimants were "on the fiddle" - reinforced with the press pushing idea of "benefit scroungers" ...
Click to expand...
I'm anxious anyway and can't bear the thought of putting myself through even more stress. I only want to claim if I can be sure I am entitled to do so.
I suppose I am scared of even asking or claiming - but that's obviously what they want.
 
scifisam said:
It does still exist. I think entitledto ignores the continued existence of contributory ESA and JSA in their calculators even though they have pages about them on their site.

You don't apply via the universal credit site, but via a .gov page - it's this one: Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

You're paid at the JSA rate while you wait to be assessed, and that's not a lot of money, but it's also not zero money, and you can claim a council tax reduction.

I'm not certain of your circumstances, but if your partner's on PIP you'd be able to get carers' allowance once your income is under £120pw.
Click to expand...
thank you! That is very reassuring.

Don't mind getting the JSA rate, but just can't jump through hoops trying to apply for jobs. Presume my employer will pay ssp for a while, but I just want to be ready to know what I can do afterwards.
 
friendofdorothy said:
thank you! That is very reassuring.

Don't mind getting the JSA rate, but just can't jump through hoops trying to apply for jobs. Presume my employer will pay ssp for a while, but I just want to be ready to know what I can do afterwards.
Click to expand...

You can also get contributions-based JSA for six months even if you end up not being eligible for ESA, though I'd guess that six months isn't going to be long enough.
 
friendofdorothy said:
I'm anxious anyway and can't bear the thought of putting myself through even more stress. I only want to claim if I can be sure I am entitled to do so.
Click to expand...
If you're in Lambeth do they not have a CAB or a council Welfare rights dept/office? Might be worth checking if they do. The local WR team are great here
 
An employer will pay SSP for up to 28 weeks. The rate is £96.35 per week.

The eligibility rules are here. Please feel free to ask me any questions you have SSP - I can’t help with the benefit side of things though :)

www.gov.uk

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)

Your Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) - how much you get, eligibility, how to claim SSP, fit notes, disputes.
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk

When you have used up all 28 weeks, or are close to having used them up, your employer should send you an SSP1 form - this can be used to claim various benefits from the DWP. I know that many of my employees have used this in the past successfully. If you don’t get one, demand it!
 
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