Hi, my name is Mand457!

Mand457

Hi 👋🏽 I’ve been an unpaid carer for over 25 years, I happy gave up working in 1996 when my son got an early ( before 3 autism diagnosis) I already had an 9 year old daughter who at the time was great but was later diagnosed with schizophrenia in her late teens/20’s . I had never had any mental health issues however I had a breakdown in 1999 and became severely depressed unable to get out of bed etc . I was misdiagnosed with bipolar and everything ( except psychosis) for 17 long years while trying to do my best at this time a single parent until about only 6 or 7 years I asked to try an ADHD drug called concerta ( off label) for depression and not only did it instantly cure the worst symptoms of that and anxiety but I did actually have adult ADHD, the combined type after having tests ( this explained a lot, especially my childhood!) I have a younger daughter too who was diagnosed with memory and auditory processing disorders but not until she was 14 , she’d been struggling at school her whole life, we had to pay for a private ADHD test when she was 20 as she’d been on a waiting list for nearly 2 years (we’re in Scotland where the devolved NHS and social care system is a disgrace) , in England after waiting for a year the NHS pay for a private assessment but here they get away with saying ‘we’re not diagnosing neurodevelopmental disorders for years . No surprise her diagnosis was ADHD, the inattentive type with autistic traits, she’d never even been able to get to see a psychiatrist as an adult as you have to be suicidal, anorexic or self harming so she’d just been put on endless antidepressants like I had by the doctor. I’m new here so I wanted to talk about benefits so I guess this a short version of my story and that’s what the tags are for . I’m sure I’ll find out

Lauren29

Are you or your any of your children receiving any benefits at the moment? If so what are these? How many children do you have? How old are they and do they live at home? Are you currently a single parent?