I'm sure this subject has been discussed to death, for that I can only apologise.
For a couple of years now, doing a little research on my own, I think that I may have what a Work Psychologist I saw 01/2012 called a neuro diverse condition. I thought it might be Aspergers, it might be ADD possibly Dyspraxia. I'm by no means an expert nor a diagonistician. I could be completely wrong and, as i suspect my GP thinks (but doesn't say), lazy!
When I first saw the Work Psychologist (a dwp person, i don't know much about the specific role as I'd never heard of them before) I was on JSA. Since then I started on the Work Programme which I am still on. She claimed she could test for Aspergers but relented to saying she could do some kind of test to see if I might have ADD. I realise that makes no sense, but it involved answering a load of puzzles like remembering number sequences backwards and spotting patterns and stuff. From what I could understand she said it was highly likely. I have yet to get an official diagnosis as such facilities are not local to me and I find travelling around cities rather scary. There is now a chance the local CMHT might do one.
However the Work Programme treated me badly. They ignored the information regarding my mental health (even though no formal diagnosis) and refused to accept even the possibility of such problems - of any kind. I was told that without a support worker present they wouldn't countenance any such possibility. I made a complaint and have since changed advisers. Though the replacement is better they still admit they can't do anything. Basically the WP is rubbish. I was told that the main problem was because I was on JSA and that I should claim ESA.
To cut a long and predictable story short that's what I did, six months later I have, unsurprisingly, failed the WCA. I've sent the GL24 form back to lodge an appeal. I'm not sure how that will work but I'm told that doing so reinstates my benefit until such time as they decide whether to change their mind (I doubt it, let's be honest). In the meantime I have to persuade my GP I need help.
I suppose my point in posting is just to hear what other people think. I haven't found my GP to be terribly helpful or sympathetic and the system certainly isn't. ESA should be employment support, but it seems to work on the basis that, in order to get into the WRAG (my stated goal, i don't claim to be deserving of the support group) you need to also qualify for the support group. This doesn't make much sense to me. As a result I feel guilty as if I'm swinging the lead. But on the other hand, I just can't cope with the DWP. I find life difficult and I find dealing with society at times very hard. All the stuff you've heard before no doubt.
I can't say for certain I'm an aspie/add/whatever, so I could be wrong. But just trying to get support and be taken seriously is horrendous. It's enough to make you ill even if you aren't. If anyone has any advice I'd be grateful, thanks.
Just had another GP appointment. I don't think I'm going to get from her what the CAB tell me is needed for my appeal. I can't keep asking. So it looks like pot luck as to whether i'll pass the tribunal. Without that specific evidence, according to the CAB, I don't stand a chance. I do wonder if they are being a bit too specific in what they ask. No GP is going to sign off on what they can't themselves verify. I did ask to be put in touch with someone that can verify, but that's not an option it seems.
It's a lost cause dealing with GP's, it seems. They just don't understand. In fact they tell me that I have a lot of 'wherewithall' - in other words, I know my own mind. That feels to me like being accused of being lazy. They don't understand the way things work in the benefit system nor how the politics of the day are bearing down on people. Instead it is put to me that I'm somehow being 'entitled', which is a word that has become very negative: it means that I see myself as deserving of things others can't have or can't afford without earning them. Yet I'm on the Work Programme which has done precisely nothing (i haven't even speoken to them since May). Support it seems is a dirty word.
I don't really know where else I can go. I'm being judged on the spot and not in the round. The doctor doesn't know my entire life history or how it really feels struggling to cope in a world where I feel completely out of place all the time. All they say is someone who can string a sentence togther, isn't flinging his poo at the walls, and knows his own mind. Instead I'm treated to blanket statements about work and its transformative qualities despite trying to explain the current mess the welfare system and the labour market are in.
I'm not even sure I care anymore. I'm sure I'll be back on the dole in short order and having to deal with yet more people with no real understanding and no capacity or even desire to do so.
Just had another GP appointment. I don't think I'm going to get from her what the CAB tell me is needed for my appeal. I can't keep asking. So it looks like pot luck as to whether i'll pass the tribunal. Without that specific evidence, according to the CAB, I don't stand a chance. I do wonder if they are being a bit too specific in what they ask. No GP is going to sign off on what they can't themselves verify. I did ask to be put in touch with someone that can verify, but that's not an option it seems.
It's a lost cause dealing with GP's, it seems. They just don't understand. In fact they tell me that I have a lot of 'wherewithall' - in other words, I know my own mind. That feels to me like being accused of being lazy. They don't understand the way things work in the benefit system nor how the politics of the day are bearing down on people. Instead it is put to me that I'm somehow being 'entitled', which is a word that has become very negative: it means that I see myself as deserving of things others can't have or can't afford without earning them. Yet I'm on the Work Programme which has done precisely nothing (i haven't even speoken to them since May). Support it seems is a dirty word.
I don't really know where else I can go. I'm being judged on the spot and not in the round. The doctor doesn't know my entire life history or how it really feels struggling to cope in a world where I feel completely out of place all the time. All they say is someone who can string a sentence togther, isn't flinging his poo at the walls, and knows his own mind. Instead I'm treated to blanket statements about work and its transformative qualities despite trying to explain the current mess the welfare system and the labour market are in.
I'm not even sure I care anymore. I'm sure I'll be back on the dole in short order and having to deal with yet more people with no real understanding and no capacity or even desire to do so.
