I would like some advice please

dlawton

I am currently due a review of my last pip award.I suffer with chronic Depression but I still work. When my depression is extremely bad it can take me out of work for 3-4 months at a time having a huge impact on my earnings.I qualified for pip last time for the daily living allowance, barely reaching the criteria with 8 points .I am so worried that I will lose this award,which has become part of my income and allows for me to pay for therapy 
Please can you advise how I can explain best my fluctuating condition.

Albus_Scope

Hi there @dlawton and welcome to the community.

I can totally empathise with the fluctuating depression, it's often very difficult to describe and I hope you're doing ok. 

With PIP, it's about how your illness affects you over 50% of the time, so if you make sure you answer the descriptors with real life examples and try to use actual numbers of days rather than saying "sometimes" or "often" this will go a long way to helping you with your review. Also please remember if you can't do something repeatedly, in a reasonable time or safely, then you're classed as being unable to do that thing. I hope this helps.  

dlawton

I am struggling quite a lot atm,I am just worried because when I am in work I have to go 5 days a week,so that is obviously less than 50% but when I am off I am off for 3-4 months and this is still not 50% of the year but I feel really debilitated during these times and I lose a lot of money financially. 
How can I answer this question as honestly as possible without it making me not meet the criteria? 

Albus_Scope

I can only say to fill it in as honestly as possible. If you can show how much it does affect your life, that'll go a long way. 

dlawton

Thankyou