"Sickness handouts to be cut for mentally ill" under Labour proposal- The Telegraph

If labour did take away Lcwra could they do it straight away or would it have to pass some sort of bill? All this about mild mental health spin will only get people more anxious and more depressed.And how would they class mild mental health? It's not a one size fits all when it comes to mental health.

Thankyou for your informative message.Its a worrying time for alot of people.

I am currently under a mental health nurse for my depression and anxiety.

Also on the waiting list for autism assessment. Take medication also.

Would this class me in the bracket of being confirmed by a clinical professional.

Many thanks

Thankyou for your message.

"Handouts" gets my back up right right away. Making us sound like beggars.

But I think we need to sit tight and wait, the media has a way of stirring it ,putting the "Able bodied " against us and making us squirm. And believe me I squirm.

Makes me wish I was never born tbh.

Here’s the big question I have - what do labour class as a ‘mild mental health condition’?

I’m going to play devils advocate here:

We all know that applications for pip are going at a huge rate (there was a stat a few months back saying there was quarter of a million new pip applications over the summer months - that’s approx 0.36% of the total uk population which is a huge increase rate when you break things down) and the cost of living crisis is putting more ppl into desperate positions money wise.

I don’t know where it’s like where the rest of live but ppl have openly been talking applying for pip by saying they have anxiety/depression (by reading the guides on how to successfully claim pip) to get extra funds

I’m going to say something terrible here - mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety (which are life destroying/ending at its worse) are hard to officially diagnose but ‘easy’ (well perhaps not easy but more than possible) to fake some types of mental health condition.

The bottom line is that getting the sickness elements of welfare down wouldn’t be such a focus priority of Tory of labour govs if claimant numbers hadn’t risen so rapidly since the pandemic (some of that explain by things like long covid but the large % of covid deceased being disabled would of balanced that a bit) - it is understandable why welfare reform is a focus for this gov as it is financially unsustainable

However many on the scope forum feel all ppl that identify as having a health condition should get any sickness benefit they apply for, no questions asked and then left alone by the dwp (as lovely as that would be for dwp related anxiety reasons it’s just not a financial option and open to abuse by the true ‘scroungers’ of society)

If things like pip are meant to be a safety net for disabled ppl (or a life raft) then there is no longer the space for all claimants so you need to figure out who loses a seat or doesn’t get on the boat altogether (and that’s a cold, brutal thing to say and I’m sorry for reaching that conclusion)

Many have slammed me for saying the following before - but currently dwp assessment applications that are most successful in getting an award uses a certain ‘language’ (a specific way to present written information grammar wise - it’s hard to explain…….on a person note my past few reviews have been much more success since we found a charity to help fill in these forms that help fill in 100’s so have gotten very knowledgeable) - because of this some ppl learn how to con the system but other very vulnerable ppl with no access to support often fails in getting some help as they find it harder to process & utilise all the advice out there (I was talking to my psychiatrist about this last month and they agreed that this as a current flaw to the current welfare system)

Another thing is that because of the sheer number of new pip applications and reviews this past 2 years prehaps the initial forms haven’t been under as much scrutiny as they were 5+ years back…..there does seem to be more paper based and shorter phone based decisions whilst the backlog is being cleared.

if the ‘mild mental health conditions’ means that the dwp are going to be looking more closely on those getting a sickness benefit like pip solely based on things like depression & anxiety (and no other diagnosed conditions) where there’s no official diagnose (although I’d class those with mental health committed to hospital under the mental health act or similar as having equivalent to a diagnosis) then I honestly agree with the dwp - I do believe official diagnosis needs to play more of a role in getting awarded things like pip (especially considering that with many physical and behavioural disabilities anxiety/stress/depression are often a knock on condition triggered by the primary disability(s))

what concerns me is that both labour and the dwp will have difficulty drawing that fine line between mental health conditions that are more ‘minor’ and more time limited/possible to treat compared more serious types of mental health that it’s more learning to live with and manage rather than ‘cure’ (some mental health issues can never be cured sad to say)

It also worries me that more ‘common’ disabilities (that many public view as not a real condition) such as those with adhd and those on the autistic spectrum (which can be just a debilitating for ppl when compared to some more physical based disabilities) will be roped into this ‘mild’ definition - they are not mental health condition but complex disablities (often predispositioned to have mental health conditions on top of everything else) and axing these types of disabilities from eligibility would be a disaster (and cruel)

I know the above will be an unpopular viewpoint but I understand some compromise will be needed in balancing any possible reform and strategy

And right now neither labour nor the dwp are being realistic with their goals (but I also don’t think many disabled ppl are being 100% realistic when they claim there is zero they can contribute to society because of their health or disablity) - both disabled and dwp need to work together (though ball is currently in labours court as they have kind of ‘ghosted’ disabled ppl from the process of creating workable reforms)

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/oct/12/pressure-mounts-on-rachel-reeves-to-drop-dangerous-13bn-cut-to-benefits-for-disabled

Anxiety and Depression are considered 'mild', however it can spiral into 'severe' MH conditions. It's a gateway into severity, when you get so low to the point where life isn't worth living anymore I would say that is severe.

Graham Thorpe's passing should serve as a lesson that you can be successful at life, with wife and children and still you're depressed to the point you don't want to live anymore.

Some people still don't seem to understand or comprehend the complexities and intricacies of mental illness, palming the depressed off will make things worse, it will put their wellbeing in peril.

I understand how people can become insular, when the purse strings tighten you have to think about yourself and your predicament but at the end of the day we wouldn't be on this site if we didn't have our own crosses to bare and sometimes I feel that some tact is needed.