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We want to hear from you: please tell us about your experience of the online community.

I’m really struggling

sara477

Hi. I’m new to this. Apart from a small bubble of family. I’m frightened of falling back to being in crisis. I’m sure for a lot of people having to isolate was difficult but for me it was normal. I don’t socialise. Or even leave the house. I have severe mental health issues which has landed me in ICU and mental health units. I’m going through a pip review at the moment. I’m currently receiving enhanced Activities of daily living and mobility. I’ve not hit rock bottom yet but with all the stress of waiting to see if I’m worthy of pip is effectively killing me. I know I’m not the only one going through this and I’m praying a paper based assessment is what there going to do. I’m sat here at 14:10 drinking which I haven’t done since my last admission. I’m breaking promises to people I love. I’m not an alcoholic but when I’m anxious not even the promazine will help me so I turn to alcohol.

I hope tomorrow will be better. Ps whoever reads this this is the second time I’ve spoken to someone other than close family or health professionals in 12 years.

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Comments

Ross_Alumni

Hello @sara477

Thank you for speaking so openly about what you are going through, I understand it must be hard to speak about so you've done very well to relay those things.

I hope your PIP renewal goes well, have you requested a paper based assessment? I hope you do get one as you wish but there are always options of support for if it ends up being a telephone assessment, such as having someone there with you throughout.

Have you spoken to your family about how you feel at the minute? Hopefully they will be able to support you. Also, what support are you currently receiving to manage your mental health? You can find useful advice from places such as Mind and if you want a chat with anybody you could always give Samaritans a call on 116 123 or our helpline, but it would also be worth while to speak with your GP to see what support they could provide for you.

You mentioned not having a problem with drinking, but if you did ever want to seek advice on it if you ever felt it was becoming a problem then you should speak with your GP.

sara477

Thanks thanks Ross -Scope I’ve just spoken to the Samaritans. Should I contact pip even though I only received the text to say they received my review on Friday. The evidence I sent was discharge papers and admissions saying I don’t cope well with stress. They probably don’t care.

sara477

Hi. Just want to thank Ross-Scope again. I reached out to someone and I’m feeling better. I knew going through a pip review would be stressful but I have to have faith

janer1967

Hi and welcome to the community and well done for being able to tell us about your situation

Pip is a stressful process for most people unfortunately

Just take each step at a time and try to put it to the back of your mind easier said than done I know

Glad you have support and your family and we are here to support you too

It may take a while before you hear anything from pip due to the huge delays

Cher_Alumni

Hi @sara477 I don't think our paths have crossed before so hello from me

I'm glad to hear speaking with the Samaritans helped and I really thank you for opening up to us too. It's not easy to share our inner fears, particularly when it's something we have dealt with privately for such a long time and I hope by speaking to us some of your stress has been alleviated. Our online community is open 24/7 so whenever you want to vent, rant or air your thoughts with someone different, one of us should always be about!

In relation to your drinking and it being a coping mechanism, this is something I'd encourage you to speak with your GP about as Ross suggested. I know it's not easy but they would be able to offer a different perspective and there might be services you could be referred to as a means of helping you through.

Wishing you lots of luck with your PIP claim, do please let us know how you get on and if you have any questions along the way give us a shout.

Tori_Scope

Hi @sara477

We just wanted to see how you were getting on now? How have things been?

sara477

I’m I’m really worried about my pip review I sent the form back two months ago. When I first applied

I received enhanced on both my daily living and mobility. I wasn’t able to attend a face to face HCP assessment due to my mental health. So they sent a HCP to my home. I don’t remember the assessment as I was unwell with my mental health. I was awarded for four years.

I’m just starting to become unwell with worry about the assessment. I was just wondering if HCP look at my previous application for pip and if the look at how the HCP Assessment went
I’m not sleeping

Cher_Alumni

Hi @sara477

I hope you don't mind but I've merged this new post with your existing thread so we can keep everything all together in one spot.

I'm sorry you haven't heard anything back yet, other members have described experiencing similar delays but hopefully you should hear something soon. This government 'PIP assessment guide 1' webpage advises that:

The key elements of the HP’s role in PIP are to:
consider information in the claimant questionnaire and any supporting evidence provided along with it
determine whether a claim can be assessed on the basis of a paper review and provide appropriate advice
determine whether any additional evidence needs to be gathered from health or other professionals supporting the claimant
carry out face-to-face consultations as required
having considered all the information and evidence of the case, produce a report for DWP containing information on the claimant’s circumstances and recommendations on the assessment criteria.

Therefore, unfortunately it's not clear if your past assessment would be taken into consideration. To get more specialised, free independent welfare advice, please visit Advice Local where you can find a nearby organisation to help you

Have you spoke to your GP about how you're feeling and the insomnia you're experiencing? We're here to support you if you need us so don't hesitate to give us a shout.

sara477

Thanks. I’ll just have to wait for my assessment (not sure when that will be) I’m under my Gp for my insomnia. Thanks to everyone

sara477

I also just wanted to say a huge thank you to the scope community regarding my original post. I’ve never rang the Samaritans before and they really helped me I was in a full blown crisis. I haven’t drank since (you think you need to self medicate but alcohol is an awful depressant) so again thank you

Caz_Alumni

@sara477 That's so great to hear that you were able to get support when you needed it most. And also that the Scope community played a big part of helping you through recent days.

So, thank YOU for your thank you post! Plus, much more importantly, really good news for you that you haven't had a drink since. I'm so pleased for you that you've managed to turn things around for yourself. Keep that up and keep talking to us, and the Samaritans, if you ever feel that you need a bit of extra moral support going forward from here.