Hi, my name is nicodemus! Terrified of PIP review.

nicodemus

I don't really know what to say or if this is the kind of thing to say but here goes.....I have spinal stenosis in my lower lumber and degenerative disk disease and so, mobility issues. As a child I was in a special school re autism but all my Ed Psych records are lost. And for the whole of my life I've had MH problems and was diagnosed with DTD/cPTSD anxiety and depression etc. And now as my physical issues increase so do my MH ones and issues related to my autism. I came here to get info and ideas as my PIP renewel phone call is scheduled for March, after almost a two year wait and I'm terrified. I have problems regulating my feelings especially negative ones. And since I completed my renewal form my conditions have got substantially worse, and I'm now awaiting an 'urgent MRI' which wasn't listed on the form. In addition to this, as I've just "got on with my conditions", I haven't had much medical intervention or engagement with my GP after the pain clinic was no longer able to offer me effective treatment, and therefore I have very little medical history for the last 5yrs to offer in support of my upcoming PIP reassessment. I feel very alone and scared because I couldn't live even a half decent life without my PIP and the idea of a phone assessment scares me just as much as a f2f one. 

So as of today that's where I'm at.  

chiarieds

Hi @nicodemus - & welcome to the community.

Please remember that PIP isn't about any diagnoses rather how your disabilities affect you looking at the following activities/descriptors. Please see: https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/asset-library/personal-independence-payment-descriptors-and-scores-april-2022.pdf

Altho medical evidence is far less needed than you stating exactly how your disbility affects you, there would be no harm in mentioning that you have worsened if this is relevant to the activities/descriptors that are looked at. Many people are awarded PIP with little, or no medical evidence, so try not to worry about that.

What you should do, if you didn't do this with your review, is mention a couple of recent, detailed examples as to the difficulty you face for each applicable descriptor, i.e. when did it happen, where, what happened, did anyone see this, & were there any consequences to attempting/doing an activity?
Say if you can't do an activity 'reliably,' i.e. safely, to an acceptable standard, repeat as often as one would reasonably expect, or if it takes you much longer than someone without a disability. See this mentioned at the end of the link above.

Cher_Alumni

Hello @nicodemus and a warm welcome from me, how's your Thursday going?

I'm sorry the prospect of your PIP review is causing some anxiety. We hear this a lot and from having first-hand experience of the process, I get it. 

The good news is, as @chiarieds has advised, that anecdotal evidence - your own words - speak louder than any medical evidence about how your conditions impact you in relation to the PIP activities and descriptors. Do you feel comfortable putting together some examples as suggested?

Whilst, in terms of the phone assessment - do you have anyone who could sit with you for support, maybe a friend or family member? You can also find a welfare representative for free on the Advice Local website who can go into your claim and give you professional input, if that might help?

If you feel comfortable, what aspects of the phone assessment are causing you most concern? If we know, we might be able to help allay any fears 

Take care and just to let you know, I've slightly changed the title of your thread and moved it to our PIP, DLA and AA category to help others find and respond your thread more easily.