Feel my Anxiety has got worse!
Sorry for the long below but I don’t know if this is the right place for it. Mods can move the thread if needed.
Hi everyone, I feel my anxiety is gotten worse. I’ve always had anxiety but feel recently over the last 6 months or so it’s out of control now and it won’t get any better. This started when i read about claim review. Which I first learned when I was reading about migration and found a link to it. I never had one on ESA even from 15 years ago to even before I moved over. I searched and found a old DWP link from around 2019 which stated they used data and analytics to check means tested benefit claims. Which confirmed I didn’t fit the criteria they were looking for in all those years which made sense why I was left alone.
However recently in the last week. My anxiety has gotten worse over it again. I have this paranoid fear they are gonna question every transaction I make and criticise everything. I spent every day searching and have done for the past 6 months about it from reading government website to even spending nights look documents about it like if they were targeted etc. I was told even by the woman who done my COC call on ESA a month ago that the only thing I have to do is to tell UC and New Style ESA of any changes like it was before and that’s it and I’d be left alone.
On Reddit I look at two subs called DWPhelp and benefitsadvice a lot every day. This is where I feel my anxiety started 6 months ago. I was reading about so many different different answers to these claim reviews from “those” who say they work on them or work for DWP in some other capacity. Some say the reviews are targeted, some say everyone is getting one, some say everyone is getting one every 6 months, some say not everyone gets them etc. Even people’s stories on there about them who had them done is making me ill. I looked at a website called whatdotheyknow which is a freedom of information official website. There is a few requests about bank statements this year. DWP have to reply to every single request. DWP admitted they used data and analytics to look at claims that could be potienally incorrect on one of the requests this year. There’s also plenty of official reports that the reviews are targeted. I never had one on ESA income related even 10 years ago to before I migrated over. I searched about this a lot as mods on Reddit on these subs were suggesting everyone was asked to show bank statements every 12 months on means tested benefits and one mod even said everyone was asked on legacy benefits to show them every 6 months even before Covid. Which I know isn’t true. Examples like that gives me anxiety over different answers to this and the whole thing has taken over my life. Even the lovely woman from the local job centre who phoned me a month ago for me to agree my COC for new style ESA said to ignore everything you see on Social Media like Facebook, Reddit, Twitter about benefits as a lot of people on those sites like to scare mongering or make up stuff.
Anyone got any tips on how to ignore all this and get out of my system so I can enjoy my life again. I spend all day crying worrying about this.
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I do have some mental health issues, mainly depression but alongside depression comes anxiety (at least for me).
My method to help with this is quite extreme, but I don't watch or read the news. None at all. The world could explode tomorrow and I would be the last to know.
Problem with modern day news is that it's 24/7 on the television and a massive load of clickbait and fearmongering in text form.
It was tricky at first, but now it's just a part of who I am.
My philosophy now is to only worry about the things I CAN change and not to worry about anything I can't.
Same with online forums such as Reddit. I don't read anything to do with the stuff you mention because there's no way to verify the people (and their information) are really who they say they are.
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Hi @SM9346 bless you, I have anxiety too so can completely sympathise with what you've been going through. Like @Wheeled_Weapon has eluded to, sometimes too much research can be a bad thing for us. Often, what we see posted is only the negative experiences because we don't tend to write about things that we experience without issue so it often feels like it's all negative, but it's not. And as you've mentioned about the reddit post, you knew that what was being said wasn't right so there is a lot of dangerous and harmful false information shared on some of these forums unfortunately, which doesn't help with our mental health and concerns.
Have you got some mental health support in place which you could reach out to as things have worsened over the past 6 months? If not, it might be worth contacting your GP as they might be able to assist with some support.
I also find trying to get myself out of cycles that are harmful for my mental wellbeing (which isn't easy sometimes) but if you can replace or reduce the things that impact you negatively with things that make you feel good about yourself, it does help. I hope you're feeling a bit better today.
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That’s what the woman on the phone to me who done my COC for new style ESA a month ago said. Ignore social media and the news about it all due to people on them like to fearnongoring people. I was even told by the woman on the phone the only thing I’d have to do is tell them of any changes and I’ll be left alone. Nothing about these bank statement reviews.
On Reddit one mod said on every award letter you get for means tested benefits. it mentions something about bank statements reviews. I have a few of the old ESA little booklets and have kept all my letters since I was on ESA. On any of them it doesn’t say anything about bank statement reviews on any of them. I generally believe those two subs should be shut down. They accuse other people of spending misinformation but they do it theirselves. I’ve had to comment a few times to some of those who say they work or whatever about a few wrong things they’ve said and you get ignored.
Hi @Holly_ScopeI read something on the national audit report last night think it’s around 2 years ago now but I’ll need to check. Can send you link if you want to it. It did mention something you can pick be picked for a review after 6 months and most claims will be selected on the risk of being incorrect instead of being targeted and only around 2 million or so will have them. Not everyone. Maybe I need to find a update version of this. Only a over a million have had these review in the past 3 years and some had them at least twice or theee times. So I don’t think everyone will get a review due to the numbers on UC and the staff available.
On those Reddit subs. They are the reason I signed up here and asked numerous. I ended up buying Kalms from Boots due to those subs as I couldn’t handle the so much different information misinformation etc on there. My girlfriend mum who migrated over reverently was even told by someone on the phone just to report any changes and that’s it. Nothing about these reviews. This is t affecting my relationship with my girlfriend as all I talk about is all this. We’re away for a few days in 3 weeks time and I can’t even enjoy that worrying whatever I spend they will question it if I get a review.I feel my anxiety with this is taking control of my life. Even today I woke up sweating and worrying about it. First thing I did was search about it. I feel there’s so much different things I don’t know about UC and I’m seriously thinking of cancelling UC but keeping ESA if it’s possible.
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I'm so sorry this is all having such an impact on you @SM9346, but please know you're not alone, a lot of people have shared the same concerns about the UC bank reviews. A colleague of mine created this discussion Universal Credit Bank Reviews: Frequently Asked Questions where members have shared their experience. I've seen a lot of posts from people who have been through the process where they've confirmed it's not as scary as they initially worried, which has been reassuring.
You'll see some links on that post to the Government website if you did want to look into this further, but please try to allocate some time to doing something else if you feel overwhelmed. If the sun is shining where you are, it might be nice to spend some time in the garden as a little distraction if you're feeling up to it.
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Thanks @Holly_Scope
I went out for a walk today and feel a bit better. My girlfriend mentioned to me about blocking Reddit so I don’t have to look at it anymore. Even today. I seen a post on there about someone getting a Ehanced review with screenshots of what it said and a lot of those advisors who say they work for them etc said it was a standard review like the link you posted when it was enhanced review. That today confirms to me those experts on there don’t have a clue at all.
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That's good to hear @SM9346, did you feel better for getting out? I sometimes have to give myself a kick to have a walk, but always feel so much better after. That's not a bad idea. I'm sure it has it's good features, but when there's a lot of misinformation swirling about (and not all of it's intentional I don't think, we all get things wrong at times including myself), but it's best to take a step back and look after your own wellbeing. ☺️
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Hi @Holly_Scope I just feel there’s different information all over the web and the whole thing is making me ill. I just don’t know what to do. I keep trying to forget about it but it keeps coming back.
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