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Dwp and their healthcare professionals in the dark about mental illness.

lolaboots

I have lived with severe depression/anxiety for over 20 years but reading my recent hp's report,i was astounded.
I lost points for being 'well kempt','neatly dressed',being able to 'sit still during the interview',not 'sweating excessively',not 'rocking back and forth..the list goes on.
I know people deal with things differently but i was so offended by some of the notes,it felt like i should have acted like a cartoon version of a mentally ill person,muttering to myself whilst wearing clothes my local charity shop would put out for recycling.
The outright lies were something else.The biggest one was 'shows no visible evidence of scarring on either arm' in relation to self harming.
Maybe i should bottle whatever powers the HP has and sell them because i'm stumped as to how she came to this conclusion.
I was wearing a long sleeved top at the assessment,same as i do every day as i am conscious of my cuts/scarring.
Has anyone else come across any of these or similar ludicrous points?

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Comments

Misscleo

Yes both at face to face and at hospital.
Like you say we cover our arms and legs cos we dont want people to see scares.
You'd have to be a strange person if you wanted to advertise our self harm wouldnt we. But it all goes against us when we do the NORMAL thing and try to blend in

debbiedo49

Often I do the “fake it till you make it” thing where you pretend to be okay in order to function in society. In my case it becomes such that I do not trust myself to show my feelings in front of strangers doctors health professionals etc and appear as a fully functioning human being who speaks “eloquently” at own tribunal for pip! Aargh

lolaboots

debbiedo49 said:

Often I do the “fake it till you make it” thing where you pretend to be okay in order to function in society.

Yep,my best friend used to be a receptionist at a gp surgery(she has depression and anxiety too)and she once told me that i could spend a year trying to 'pick out' people in our very small village who had depression and i would fall short.
We become experts and putting on another face almost,don't we?
I was a bit under the weather last week and the man in my local shop said i wasn't my usual 'ebullient' self that day.
If i were to tell him i had tried to take my own life a matter of weeks ago,i am almost certain his reply would be along the lines of 'Do you think i'm bloody soppy mun?You're the last person around here who would do that'.
Like i said,one face for some,another face for others xx

Waylay

Yup. I didn't seem depressed or anxious, apparently. Also, "showed no evidence of pain". Huh.

debbiedo49

It’s a sad world when we get too good at hiding how we really feel or is it just people getting better at not looking?

whistles

I think those closest to you, see you.
Why would I want to share my issues with the world and strangers?

The thing is if you covered up, they will write showed no evidence of scarring. You chose not to show anything, when that would have backed up your claim.

lolaboots

That is so true @whistles,there is no hope at all of me hiding my frame of mind from the people i am the closest to,my Dad especially is particularly good at spotting when my mood is even slightly low,which for an old army git,is very modern man(old,sorry Dad!)
Don't get me wrong,i'm not ashamed of having depression or anxiety but i'm not the sort of person who tells just anyone i happen to bump into what's going on with me,why would i?The same way i wouldn't go to the supermarket and tell the cashier i'd had a row with my other half that morning for instance.

I don't think it's a case of people not looking.There can be the most subtle of shifts in expression,body language eg that can be a beacon for your closest friend but someone who barely knows you wouldn't catch it even if they happened to be looking.
Also,i have to go about my day no matter what mood i'm in and you never know how someone else is feeling,i'm sure nobody wants to be confronted by my miserable face when they already feel ****

Maybe it's because i have 20 odd years in it though.I try to make someone smile every day,even if it's a stranger or maybe especially if they are.Most nights i can think,if i made someone smile.it can't have been too bad a day.I know i sound like a hippy but for the last couple of years i've been going by the 'pay it forward' rule and RAOK after i first heard of such a thing and believe me.it can make you feel incredible! x

whistles

I try to strike up a conversation with someone everyday- besides the Postman.
Requires me to set foot outside and that's not going too bad. I can't employ anyone anymore- no funds.

What is this pay it forward?

debbiedo49

What I meant was people like ATos chose not to see. Yes as someone recovering from agorophobia and periods of being socially isolated, I do try to smile at people and make an effort because I know I might be the only person who smiled at them that day, or said hello or chatted. Depending on the situation. As I walk to and from my job through a public park I come across all sorts of friendly folk with pets or kids who generally smile or say hello .

[Deleted User]

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lolaboots

whistles said:

What is this pay it forward?

What it boils down to is doing something nice for someone and hoping the person who you did something nice for will pay it forward by doing something nice for someone else and so on.There is even a pay it forward day now!

I see what you mean @debbiedo49.I was telling the bloke in the corner shop how me and my friend sing show tunes to her dog if she looks a bit fed up and he said 'You've made my morning Sam'.Ok,he is easily pleased but i had him laughing which made me feel good too.
I'm not sure a lot of these professionals even know what they are looking for or what to do with it if they found it

[Deleted User]

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whistles

Thanks.
I've probably called it karma. You do something nice for someone and someone else does something nice for you.

debbiedo49

Karma
Hinduism, Buddhism. action, seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation: in Hinduism one of the means of reaching Brahman.(

debbiedo49

Random Act Of Kindness.

Usually used in a forum, when a user does something spontaneous and unnecessarily nice for other users. Sometimes used if someone is offeringsomething free of charge.

whistles

I've been on forums for ten years never heard of it before.

[Deleted User]

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Bipolargirl

I was told my scars were superficial and not requiring medical attention so they didn't count. Oh and I'm intelligent and have a levels therefore I struggle with nothing I'm appealing

Topkitten

There was a film made called "Pay it forward", if I remember correctly. The term has been around for a long time but is seldom used now.

I always used to be very outgoing and would talk to anyone and everyone, even strangers in the street. I have found this more difficult since suffering from severe depression, agoraphobia and anxiety but I would still talk to strangers at times and smile and appear completely normal in the decade I have suffered them. It is very odd why we all act normally when we are, in fact, very ill.

TK