Medical assessment

busyMum16
busyMum16 Online Community Member Posts: 64 Connected
edited August 2022 in Universal Credit (UC)
Hi all any advice would be great
sorry it’s a long one but thought I’d give all the details to avoid any confusion 

im currently on uc been sending in fit notes since end of June, 

i got deemed fit for work a few months back even though I have anxiety.
anyway my anxiety has escalated into agoraphobia with panic attack’s (hence the fit notes now) I have a medical assessment via telephone in 2 weeks and I’m **** it! 

Little run down how my condition affects me now. The thought of leaving my home to even go the shop has me being sick, shaking like a leaf, difficultly breathing, feeling faint, loosing control of bladder (even though i don’t need to wee) yes it’s embarrassing I pee myself at 32 years of age. 

Im dreading when my children return to school because I’m going to after to leave the house. 
Im scared to tell the assessor this in case they think I’m lying by going into too much detail. Not everyday is the same like if my children or myself have an appointment I can go out but it’s like I’m on auto pilot I can’t remember how I got there. This has been my life for the passed few months! 
Has anyone had any similar experience? If I can’t even go to the shop how am I supposed to hold down a job, I’d love to feel normal and do the day to day living be able to go out work etc but at the moment I can’t see that happening not even medication and grounding techniques are helping. 
Im still waiting for a referral to cbt and mental health team.
sorry for the long post 

Comments

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    edited August 2022
    During the assessment you need to tell them exactly how your conditions affect you. They will ask you questions based on a typical day for you. Yes, it's very difficult talking about how our conditions affect us but you have to do this for them to assess you correctly.
    Once the decision is made if you're not happy then i'd advise you to challenge that decision by first requesting the Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) then Tribunal if that decision doesn't change. It's always better to challenge the decision rather than keep going through this process with a change of circumstances or a worsening of condition.
    If you haven't had a look at the descriptors for LCWRA then you can see them here. https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/universal-credit-uc/uc-faq/limited-capability-for-work-related-activity
    Edit to add.. I'm a little confused here because in April you posted that you had been found to have LCWRA, thread here. https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/90641/hi-my-name-is-busymum16-im-after-some-uc-advice#latest Now, you're saying you were found fit for work, is that correct?



  • busyMum16
    busyMum16 Online Community Member Posts: 64 Connected
    poppy123456 said:
    During the assessment you need to tell them exactly how your conditions affect you. They will ask you questions based on a typical day for you. Yes, it's very difficult talking about how our conditions affect us but you have to do this for them to assess you correctly.
    Once the decision is made if you're not happy then i'd advise you to challenge that decision by first requesting the Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) then Tribunal if that decision doesn't change. It's always better to challenge the decision rather than keep going through this process with a change of circumstances or a worsening of condition.
    If you haven't had a look at the descriptors for LCWRA then you can see them here. https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/universal-credit-uc/uc-faq/limited-capability-for-work-related-activity
    Edit to add.. I'm a little confused here because in April you posted that you had been found to have LCWRA, thread here. https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/90641/hi-my-name-is-busymum16-im-after-some-uc-advice#latest Now, you're saying you were found fit for work, is that correct?



    I see your confusion sorry in April I shoul of mentioned that post was for a friend not me sorry I should of stated that, thank you for your help I will be honest with the assessor 
  • Tori_Scope
    Tori_Scope Scope Posts: 12,464 Championing
    It sounds like you're going through a lot at the moment @busyMum16. There's no need to apologise for the length of your post :) 

    Will you have to leave the house when your children return to school because you'll need to do drop-offs and pick-ups? 

    Did anyone tell you how long the CBT and mental health team referrals might take? They can take a while, unfortunately, but hopefully it won't take too long for you. 

    I can imagine it might feel distressing or embarrassing to lose bladder control when out and about. That being said, it's obviously not your fault, and I'm sure more people deal with this than you'd think! Have you tried using any incontinence pads to help you feel more secure? I realise that doesn't deal with the root issue, but sometimes having some strategies in place to mitigate the effects of the anxiety can help to reduce the anxiety itself a little bit. I hope that makes sense. 
  • busyMum16
    busyMum16 Online Community Member Posts: 64 Connected
    Tori_Scope said:
    It sounds like you're going through a lot at the moment @busyMum16. There's no need to apologise for the length of your post :) 

    Will you have to leave the house when your children return to school because you'll need to do drop-offs and pick-ups? 

    Did anyone tell you how long the CBT and mental health team referrals might take? They can take a while, unfortunately, but hopefully it won't take too long for you. 

    I can imagine it might feel distressing or embarrassing to lose bladder control when out and about. That being said, it's obviously not your fault, and I'm sure more people deal with this than you'd think! Have you tried using any incontinence pads to help you feel more secure? I realise that doesn't deal with the root issue, but sometimes having some strategies in place to mitigate the effects of the anxiety can help to reduce the anxiety itself a little bit. I hope that makes sense. 
    Yes I will have to leave the house to do school drop offs and pick up, I’m using tenna lady at the moment 🤣 I was supposed to have heard from the mental health in June but o didn’t I know they are super busy at the moment so it’s just a waiting game. It’s just so frustrating not being able to the normal day to day stuff the more I try to push myself the more I struggle. It’s like one step forward and 2 steps. I know I’m not the one to struggle with mental health but I find it more stressful waiting for the WC assessment like the questions they will ask are they going to believe me! I know it’s based on points scored but how can you score points with mental health when no two days are the same and it effects people differently my head hurts just thinking about it 🤣 thank you for your response you have eased my mind so thank you so much 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    busyMum16 said:
    Tori_Scope said:
    It sounds like you're going through a lot at the moment @busyMum16. There's no need to apologise for the length of your post :) 

    Will you have to leave the house when your children return to school because you'll need to do drop-offs and pick-ups? 

    Did anyone tell you how long the CBT and mental health team referrals might take? They can take a while, unfortunately, but hopefully it won't take too long for you. 

    I can imagine it might feel distressing or embarrassing to lose bladder control when out and about. That being said, it's obviously not your fault, and I'm sure more people deal with this than you'd think! Have you tried using any incontinence pads to help you feel more secure? I realise that doesn't deal with the root issue, but sometimes having some strategies in place to mitigate the effects of the anxiety can help to reduce the anxiety itself a little bit. I hope that makes sense. 
      I know it’s based on points scored but how can you score points with mental health when no two days are the same and it effects people differently
    That's not correct for LCWRA. You need to meet at least one of the descriptors the majority of the time. Link above explains it.
    Points are only for LCW but if you're found to have this, there's no extra money each month.
    Lots of people with mental health are found to have LCWRA. I think every condition is different and even with physical conditions, you never get 2 days the same.
  • busyMum16
    busyMum16 Online Community Member Posts: 64 Connected
    poppy123456 said:
    busyMum16 said:
    Tori_Scope said:
    It sounds like you're going through a lot at the moment @busyMum16. There's no need to apologise for the length of your post :) 

    Will you have to leave the house when your children return to school because you'll need to do drop-offs and pick-ups? 

    Did anyone tell you how long the CBT and mental health team referrals might take? They can take a while, unfortunately, but hopefully it won't take too long for you. 

    I can imagine it might feel distressing or embarrassing to lose bladder control when out and about. That being said, it's obviously not your fault, and I'm sure more people deal with this than you'd think! Have you tried using any incontinence pads to help you feel more secure? I realise that doesn't deal with the root issue, but sometimes having some strategies in place to mitigate the effects of the anxiety can help to reduce the anxiety itself a little bit. I hope that makes sense. 
      I know it’s based on points scored but how can you score points with mental health when no two days are the same and it effects people differently
    That's not correct for LCWRA. You need to meet at least one of the descriptors the majority of the time. Link above explains it.
    Points are only for LCW but if you're found to have this, there's no extra money each month.
    Lots of people with mental health are found to have LCWRA. I think every condition is different and even with physical conditions, you never get 2 days the same.
    Thank you for that information I thought LCWRA was based on scores like WCA. Does anyone know the likelihood of getting LCWRA for mental health illnesses, seems very people with invisible illnesses are actually getting the help they need these days 
  • busyMum16
    busyMum16 Online Community Member Posts: 64 Connected
    Very few people I meant 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    busyMum16 said:
    poppy123456 said:
    That's not correct for LCWRA. You need to meet at least one of the descriptors the majority of the time. Link above explains it.
    Points are only for LCW but if you're found to have this, there's no extra money each month.
    Lots of people with mental health are found to have LCWRA. I think every condition is different and even with physical conditions, you never get 2 days the same.
    Thank you for that information I thought LCWRA was based on scores like WCA.
    Not sure what you mean by that. Scoring points only applies to LCW.
    busyMum16 said:
    poppy123456 said:
    That's not correct for LCWRA. You need to meet at least one of the descriptors the majority of the time. Link above explains it.
    Points are only for LCW but if you're found to have this, there's no extra money each month.
    Lots of people with mental health are found to have LCWRA. I think every condition is different and even with physical conditions, you never get 2 days the same.
    Does anyone know the likelihood of getting LCWRA for mental health illnesses, seems very people with invisible illnesses are actually getting the help they need these days 

    Lots of people are found to have LCWRA because of mental health issues. I can't tell you whether this will apply to you because i don't know anything about how your health conditions affect you.
  • calcotti
    calcotti Online Community Member Posts: 10,001 Championing
    As explained by poppy, you need to meet any one of the LCWRA descriptors or be at risk if not found to have LCWRA. Poppy provided a link to the descriptors.
  • Tori_Scope
    Tori_Scope Scope Posts: 12,464 Championing
    The Mental Health and Money Advice website has some information about LCWRA and mental health conditions, which you might find helpful to read @busyMum16 :) 

    Some people do of course struggle to receive the award to which they're entitled, but many people with mental health conditions do manage to successfully claim LCWRA, thankfully. 
    Thank you for that information I thought LCWRA was based on scores like WCA
    Did you mean PIP, rather than WCA here?
  • busyMum16
    busyMum16 Online Community Member Posts: 64 Connected
    poppy123456 said:
    busyMum16 said:
    Tori_Scope said:
    It sounds like you're going through a lot at the moment @busyMum16. There's no need to apologise for the length of your post :) 

    Will you have to leave the house when your children return to school because you'll need to do drop-offs and pick-ups? 

    Did anyone tell you how long the CBT and mental health team referrals might take? They can take a while, unfortunately, but hopefully it won't take too long for you. 

    I can imagine it might feel distressing or embarrassing to lose bladder control when out and about. That being said, it's obviously not your fault, and I'm sure more people deal with this than you'd think! Have you tried using any incontinence pads to help you feel more secure? I realise that doesn't deal with the root issue, but sometimes having some strategies in place to mitigate the effects of the anxiety can help to reduce the anxiety itself a little bit. I hope that makes sense. 
      I know it’s based on points scored but how can you score points with mental health when no two days are the same and it effects people differently
    That's not correct for LCWRA. You need to meet at least one of the descriptors the majority of the time. Link above explains it.
    Points are only for LCW but if you're found to have this, there's no extra money each month.
    Lots of people with mental health are found to have LCWRA. I think every condition is different and even with physical conditions, you never get 2 days the same.
    Thank you for that information I thought LCWRA was based on scores like WCA. Does anyone know the likelihood of getting LCWRA for mental health illnesses, seems very people with invisible illnesses are actually getting the help they need these days 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing

    busyMum16 said:
    Thank you for that information I thought LCWRA was based on scores like WCA.
    Sorry but i don't know what you mean by that. Do you mean you thought it was based on scores like PIP? If so then no not for LCWRA.
    busyMum16 said:
      Does anyone know the likelihood of getting LCWRA for mental health illnesses

    As i advised, lots of people here have been found to have LCWRA for mental health reasons.

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