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PIP refused a home visit
kipepeo
Member Posts: 2 Listener
I explained in my form how my agoraphobia, anxiety and IBS means I find it difficult to leave the house at all, even on 'good' days. I politely requested a home visit.
I received a letter today with an appointment for an assessment in a centre (or wherever they do the assessments). My dad called to ask for a home visit and they refused. Their reasoning is because I can attend an ESA appointment in my local Job Centre Plus building, I can attend their assessment. But the JCP is a five-minute car journey from my home, and the PIP place is over an hour. At the ESA appointments I always have a panic attack and get upset, which is humiliating, but now I have them over the phone.
My mental health has become worse lately, due to several things including two bereavements, and even a home visit would be extremely difficult for me.
My GP has helped with this kind of thing in the past, but more recently when I asked for support he said, and I quote, that I have to "get over this". I try not to see him now and more recently I was seeing a mental health nurse at the surgery but she has since left the practice.
I feel a bit stuck and scared. I was hoping to use the PIP money (if I received it) for private therapy as free therapy has worked in the past but only has a limited number of sessions.
I received a letter today with an appointment for an assessment in a centre (or wherever they do the assessments). My dad called to ask for a home visit and they refused. Their reasoning is because I can attend an ESA appointment in my local Job Centre Plus building, I can attend their assessment. But the JCP is a five-minute car journey from my home, and the PIP place is over an hour. At the ESA appointments I always have a panic attack and get upset, which is humiliating, but now I have them over the phone.
My mental health has become worse lately, due to several things including two bereavements, and even a home visit would be extremely difficult for me.
My GP has helped with this kind of thing in the past, but more recently when I asked for support he said, and I quote, that I have to "get over this". I try not to see him now and more recently I was seeing a mental health nurse at the surgery but she has since left the practice.
I feel a bit stuck and scared. I was hoping to use the PIP money (if I received it) for private therapy as free therapy has worked in the past but only has a limited number of sessions.
Replies
TK
The exposure therapy was carried out at the state of the art mental health day service unit attached to the hospital. I spent hours with my psychologist out in the grounds of the hospital being told to walk around where some people were fishing at a lake, others (nurses, doctors etc) were sitting in the gardens and in the summer tennis was being played on the courts by the hospital staff. In all of that time he shadowed me around until it became too much for me and took me back inside for a cup of tea. Year on year my fear of being near people subsided.
All in all I spent 7 years in that place sometimes going there 5/6 days a week. I was never more than 10 yards from help if I needed it. Then at times spent time under section. You never had the need to worry about claiming benefits, it was all done for you via your CPN, OT and designated Social Worker.
Now the place that was once my only place of safety is a walk in minor injuries unit.
Ironically and despite the DLA award I was given for all of those years (High Care & Mobility Indefinitely) since PIP came out the DWP have never accepted that I have ever had any mental health issues and none exist now.
In fact I quoted what I wrote on my PIP2 forms - resulting in no acceptance of mental health difficulties by the assessor.