I have concerns with my PIP Form

VillageRepeat

Hello everybody! Thank you for taking the time to view my post. I am currently filling out the PIP2 form which is causing me immense distress even though i have been filling in the answers for the PIP2 form since December 2022 with the help of Citizens Advice, and i am most worried about how my GP situation will look.

I struggle immensely with being able to think, remember, and ontop of that i have no motivation to care from my depression and high levels of anxiety, to the point where i can rarely look at anyone, for this reason it has been very hard to communicate with my doctors. I tried writing down what i wanted to tell them but they tell me they have no time to read it, so i have been in a deadlock, with no way to communicate to them and get the help i need.

This comes to bite me on the 2nd Section of the PIP2 form, about supporting health professionals. I understand you do not need a diagnosis, as the focus is how you are affected and not what affects you, but quite frankly i don't know what diagnosis' i have because appointments have been incredibly slow, and i now have no means of getting to the places. Even though i haven't been able to communicate with doctors, i have had all of my symptoms for over 5 years, i have ruled out a lot of stuff with doctors, and i've since self-diagnosed myself with conditions because i completely mirror everything about them. I feel that this is easier than presenting a symptom list since there is not 1 outlier (Besides the variations that can occur in some conditions) in how i feel vs how you would feel with that condition, but i am now worried that PIP will ask for more information from my GP about conditions they will say i don't have, even though i truly believe that if i was able to communicate with my GPs, get the referrals, i would be diagnosed with them. The biggest point is that what i am sending to the DWP is my health bible, and because they will actually read what i wrote, they will know more than anybody i've seen about my health. I am then thinking that i should write what i have said here, that whilst i haven't been officially diagnosed with all of the conditions i've said i have, i mirror their exact symptoms, but i feel like this will decredit me with the assessor, that i need to actually have these diagnosis' to be validated, and so there is the beginning of the infinite loop, because i can't communicate with doctors to get the help i need.

Does anybody have any advice on how i should proceed here? My mental health is incredibly fragile right now. PIP is my only chance at a way forward in my condition but even though i did the hard part over months, i'm 2 seconds away from burning the form. Thank you

poppy123456

You don't need a diagnosis to successfully be awarded PIP. They look at how your conditions affect you against the 12 PIP activities. If you don't have a diagnosis, you shouldn't put a diagnosis down on the form.

They very rarely contact anyone for any evidence, so please don't rely on them doing that.

When you fill out the form you should put as much relevant information as possible, without telling your life story. You should also include a couple of real world examples of exactly what happened the last time you attempted each descriptor that you think applies to you. Include detailed information such as where you were, what exactly happened, did anyone see it and what the consequences were. You should aim for at least half an A4 side of paper per descriptor that applies.

Some people also find it helpful to write a diary. I never wrote a diary and choose to just use the real world examples.

If you've had the review form since December 2022 this is likely going to mean that you're outside of the timescale given to return the form. Have you contact PIP to ask for some extra time to return it?

You can also get some expert advice from an agency near you. https://advicelocal.uk/welfare-benefits

VillageRepeat

poppy123456 said:

You don't need a diagnosis to successfully be awarded PIP. They look at how your conditions affect you against the 12 PIP activities. If you don't have a diagnosis, you should put a diagnosis down on the form.

They very rarely contact anyone for any evidence, so please don't rely on them doing that.

When you fill out the form you should put as much relevant information as possible, without telling your life story. You should also include a couple of real world examples of exactly what happened the last time you attempted each descriptor that you think applies to you. Include detailed information such as where you were, what exactly happened, did anyone see it and what the consequences were. You should aim for at least half an A4 side of paper per descriptor that applies.

Some people also find it helpful to write a diary. I never wrote a diary and choose to just use the real world examples.

If you've had the review form since December 2022 this is likely going to mean that you're outside of the timescale given to return the form. Have you contact PIP to ask for some extra time to return it?

You can also get some expert advice from an agency near you. https://advicelocal.uk/welfare-benefits

Hello Poppy, i hope you are well. Am i reading that correctly? If i don't have a diagnosis, i should still put one down that is relevant? The problem i have is that, as another example, i have a binge eating disorder. Nobody knows about that, so do i infact not have it just because a doctor, who i have immense communication troubles with, didn't certify it? The same could be said about my depression, anxiety, everything. Perhaps i am reading too much into this. My form answers don't once refer to a condition i have diagnosed myself with, but my symptoms, but no doubt whatever this is stems from the fact that my health problems have always been belittled and misunderstood even by family.

I have to assume that they will reach out for evidence, just as i had to assume when i first applied that this will end up going to trial, otherwise i would have quit if it got to that

My life story is kept off the form, and i think i did well with the examples. I have no idea what i've written, but i would like to think that having trusted citizens advice information on this, that i have matched your advice. I am too stressed to be revising the entire form, especially because doing so will involve re-reading a huge amount of text, then somehow remembering it and thinking what to include or change at the same time.

I haven't had the review form since December. I used citizens advice website version of the review form to fill in the answers as i could without time pressure. I have recently recieved the PIP2 form so in theory i was/am just supposed to print that in sections and send it off.

I can't get that expert advice because of how my health affects me. Thank you for your time Poppy

poppy123456

No, if you don't have a diagnosis, you shouldn't put that down, sorry that was a typo which i've now edited my comment to correct it. As i advised, it's not about a diagnosis anyway.

Edit to add, just took a quick look at the PIP2 form because it's a long time since i filled one out. It doesn't specifically ask for a diagnosis, it asks what your health conditions are, so that's different. You can include all your health conditions on the list.

Please don't assume they will contact anyone because they often don't do this. If they do then it's rare.

Have you previously applied for PIP before? Were you refused? Did you challenge that decision by taking it all the way to Tribunal? Were you refused? sorry for all the questions.

VillageRepeat

poppy123456 said:

No, if you don't have a diagnosis, you shouldn't put that down, sorry that was a typo which i've now edited my comment to correct it. As i advised, it's not about a diagnosis anyway.

Please don't assume they will contact anyone because they often don't do this. If they do then it's rare.

Have you previously applied for PIP before? Were you refused? Did you challenge that decision by taking it all the way to Tribunal? Were you refused? sorry for all the questions.

Okay. I'll just find a way to remove everything i've put for that. I'm already getting uncomfortable at the fact that this has not gone as i expected. Very glad i was smart enough to decide to "fill in the form" before i recieved it.

I applied for PIP before in a place when i was stressed up to my eyeballs and couldn't explain anything at all. I got denied because i put on a brave face and explained nothing. I know this because i saved the forms i sent. There is more than x10 more information in this form. I would have been incapable of challenging the decision, maybe i still am but i'll automatically do it anyway just because me applying for this was conditional in my head that i see it through to its most extreme potential end.

EDIT: This is what i mean. When i first started this form i probably put the conditions down that i did because i understood what you've just said then in your above edit. I now completely forgot about that and i've completely re-interpretted Section 1 and had gone so far as to order tip-ex to remove it tomorrow..

Also, using the NHS as the source. e.g Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a health condition that i haven't been diagnosed with. Writing it helps explain my difficulties since if i could communicate with doctors i would be diagnosed with it. Does it mean i can keep it there? Interestingly i was once referred to a CFS place but then denied due to my anxiety (Side rant: As if you can't have anxiety and chronic fatigue?)

2oldcodgers

Even with a diagnosis and copies of letters from the many consultants I saw they still came back with 0 points! 
So heart failure and fibrosis of the lungs didn't work for me. 

JBS2022

Doctors letters are not really useful because they don't explain how your condition affects you,  Putting on a brave face at assessment is a common reason for refusal, you need to explain your difficulties in depth without downplaying.

2oldcodgers said:

Even with a diagnosis and copies of letters from the many consultants I saw they still came back with 0 points! 
So heart failure and fibrosis of the lungs didn't work for me. 

PIP is not awarded based on a diagnosis nor Drs letter.