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Avoiding another F2F TRIGGER WARNING

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7 years 6 months ago #170293 by benion
Avoiding another F2F TRIGGER WARNING was created by benion
I have marked the title trigger warning as I am aware there are many users here with MH issues and I do not want to make anyone unwell, however I need to be open in this post.

Basically my psych problems stem from severe abuse as a child. The suicide attempts started very young and have continued up until 2010. I have done well in the last 6 years and not made any attempts on my life. I have, however suffered from suicidal thoughts.

I do not want to discuss details but there were 3 near fatal incidents. Even the doctors were surprised I survived one of them, but I guess I must have a strong physical body.

I had a letter from a psychologist and my MP also wrote to them telling them a F2F was completely inappropriate. Nonetheless I was called to one and it caused me to become unwell and develop paranoid thoughts (I believed I was under covert surveillance). I also had suicidal thoughts, but managed to avoid a suicide attempt/self-harm.

I got an award and am over the moon about it as I thought the best I could hope for was standard care and I got a lot more than that. However my big fear is the fact it is a short award and in only one year, they will start dragging me through this hell again. Although I got a good award, it has made me ill and I am still recovering from the whole ordeal.

I do not want to be put through this again. I have spoken to ATOS and they suggested a formal complaint so it can be investigated as to who thought a F2F was a good idea, when all the evidence said it was not. However I am scared I will end up in their "bad books" and they may then just penalise me when I have to go for the renewal.

What should I do about this? I am not scared about putting written forms in, I can cope with that. It is just the threat of another degrading assessment that is really worrying me.

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7 years 6 months ago #170371 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic Avoiding another F2F TRIGGER WARNING
Benion

I'm sorry this was so distressing for you.

I'm afraid I don't have any good suggestions for avoiding a face to face assessment in the future, the decision is made by the Assessment Provider and is to some extent dependant on the claimants conditions and the level of detail provided in and with their claim form, the better this is then the more likely a paper assessment is to be done.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems

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