Hi, my name is Jamie999! New style ESA appointment worries. What should I expect?

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Jamie999
Jamie999 Online Community Member Posts: 3 Listener
edited June 25 in Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

I joined today as I value any help I am given. Especially as I get anxiety problems with certain things. I have stage 4 severe COPD and, as you can imagine, if I get too worked up it has a serious impact on my breathing as I can't catch my breath which makes the anxiety and breathing worse . It can be a scary and serious cycle thats hard to get out of. So knowing there are people I can get all sorts of advice about certain things helps me prepare myself sometimes without getting too worked up about them, if that makes sense.

Anyway today I was sent a text for a DWP telephone appointment regarding new style ESA. This has already set my anxiety issues off to a degree and the appointment is over a week away ! So any help or advice or info as to what I should expect would be wonderful. Sorry for the long first time message and thank you.

Comments

  • Wheeled_Weapon
    Wheeled_Weapon Online Community Member Posts: 556 Pioneering

    I don't know if you've heard of the '5-4-3-2-1' technique for dealing with anxiety attacks, but I'll leave this link in case you find it useful.

    https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/behavioral-health-partners/bhp-blog/april-2018/5-4-3-2-1-coping-technique-for-anxiety
  • Albus_Scope
    Albus_Scope Posts: 10,513 Scope Online Community Coordinator

    Heya @Jamie999 and a big welcome to the community.

    Worrying about the unknown is totally ok, so please don't beat yourself up over it. I'm afraid I've not been through the ESA interview, but if it's anything like other DWP calls, it'll be fairly straightforward and they'll just be asking you some questions to clarify things. Id say have some notes ready by the phone, as I know how blank your mind can go when the anxiety is peaking. And the breathing exercise above is a really good idea to help with focus. 😊

  • Jamie999
    Jamie999 Online Community Member Posts: 3 Listener

    Thank you kindly, Wheeled_Weapon and Albus_Scope, your input means a lot. Yes I use similar techniques to try to calm myself. It is really hard to suddenly try the calming methods when an unexpected anxiety attack grabs you as you are gasping for air and really scared you may pass out or worse, but the calming methods do help if you can almost predict getting worked up and use them before getting stuck in the panic mode. Thanks again.

  • Overwhelmed1
    Overwhelmed1 Online Community Member Posts: 38 Contributor

    Hi @Jamie999 I have just been through a telephone assessment for New Style ESA and was really nervous as have not been through anything like this before. I was really surprised and relieved because it was a Doctor who conducted the assessment (don’t know if this is always the case) but I felt this helped him understand what I was going through. I’ve also recently had a PIP assessment which was for 2 hours and I found it much harder to have to answer all of their questions. The Doctor told me he had enough information from me about an hour in and so it was a lot less stressful.

    Like others have said it’s worth having all your notes and ideally your ESA application form in front of you.

    I’d expected it to feel more like a test, with the assessor trying to ensure I didn’t get the benefit, but I didn’t feel that was the case at all when I spoke with this Doctor it was more like a conversation.

    I did ask for it to be recorded as I have difficulty making notes due to my own health condition. I am not sure but I think that maybe helps as well as I did the same for PIP.

    I haven’t had a decision yet but I’m glad the experience was no where near as bad as I’d worried.


    I hope it goes well

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