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Does anyone else feel that the new PIP form excludes those with a mental illness?
claire624
Member Posts: 1 Listener
Does anyone else feel that the new PIP form excludes those with a mental illness from getting help? It focuses on the physical capabilities and not the psychological issues wrought by such an illness and ignores the emotional support network that is required by users. It also fails to recognize the detrimental effects that medication can have.
Replies
Warmest best wishes to you,
Richard
I have just googled pip to find the answers.
Pip has two components.
1. Daily Living.
2. Mobility.
So you’re answer looks like “no” I feel.
Please please let me know if I can help you further ????
Senior online community officer
They ask if you can walk and presume that all you need to be able to manage in life is to be able to walk short distances and voila you are not disabled at all. I suspect whoever made these criteria up has no clue about disability or how it affects people.
It's about if you need help with those descriptors in whatever way you need that help.
Your disability so they say isn't relevant, though they do have pre formed ideas on whether you should cope or not.
On first glance it might look aimed at physical issues. But it does ask if you need support or promoting.
My issues were they decided I didn't although I said I did and do.
The other thing I hear a lot is its not split into night and day. Sorry I disagree.
One of the reasons I got DLA was because I had a nighttime carer come in. It's not on my pip form because it didn't fit a descriptor. You do not get asked if you need help in or out of bed anymore. You were before. You are only asked if you need help getting dressed. What happens after is not included.
Steps are 'outside the scope of pip' It's just flat level ground.
PIP is awarded based on how those conditions affect you. If you need prompting to do daily things aimed at those descriptors then it's possible to score those points. You will of course need evidence to support your claim and to prove that you have the difficulties.
Now, I'm not a very pendantic person who goes round correcting these things.... (in fact... That's a pet peeve of mine) but it's written very badly .. So I deal with it like I've dealt with badly written papers in the past
- Communicate with the writers and those assessing as much as possible... Partly to keep me right and partly so they get that as feed back.
- Use the question as a spring board to talk about what I want them to know about me.
So, in terms of your original post, yes, the form does feel to be written with only physical disability in mind. BUT! As my fellow Scopies and Scopettes above have mentioned it is possible to get in what you need to about mental health.
I find that typing the form really helps as you can come back to it gather your thoughts and write more than the boxes allow.
E. G. I have a generalised anxiety disorder and various physical probs going on. So when asked about food I wrote ahout how:
Anxiety and the medication I take to improve my mental health effects my appetite, my ability to plan ahead to grocery shop and plan food, makes my hands shake when chopping food etc...
Also like exam papers they won't take marks off for extra info... But unlike exams you have much more time. You can fall and ask for more time if you need it. Put on everything you feel is **** in life and give them the best picture of your worst day taking into account your whole daily experiences.
"I'm trying to live like a random poem I read that ended 'to bloom where we are planted"