New ESA50 form has arrived

I am seeing my therapist tomorrow and would like to ask her for some supporting evidence. I have found some sample letters on the Rethink (Mental Health) website, is this a good way to go about it to ensure that the evidence remains on topic?

I will have to ask my GP for something similar very soon.

I have a few concerns, mainly that I won't receive a reply on time, that they might not be willing to provide it, or will not give relevant/accurate information.

Also, there are specific details of how I am limited by my anxiety/avoidance that I haven't fully discussed with my therapist/GP but are brought to light by some of the questions on the form. They don't have the full picture, so wonder how they can support what they don't know.

I cannot gather evidence from people around me as I don't have any friends because of my mental health issues and I haven't "come out" to my family about what exactly my issues are, I am not ready to tell them (although they know my behaviour is unusual) they do not know that I am seeing a therapist.

Finally, both my GP and therapist are aware of urges I have to self-harm. I have never self-harmed but I have had urges for years now (since the anxiety disorder took hold) of varying intensity which my therapist constantly minimises as just "fleeting thoughts". I have explained to her that there are differences between thoughts and urges but she doesn't seem to take it seriously.

Since self-harm is not a descriptor (nor in the sample Rethink letter), and given that she has not seemed to grasp the severity of urges vs thoughts - should I indicate it's relevance in supporting my application?

How can I ensure my evidence is strong and not irrelevant given these limitations?

I appreciate any help, just trying to get my head around all of this!

Hi Onice,

What a conundrum for you! However, many claimants are having problems in obtaining evidence. This is partly due to the fact that more and more GPs, being generally fed up with all things DWP, are refusing to supply letters etc. Also problematical is the habit of the NHS 'parking' patients with long-terms conditions who have pretty much come to an end of available treatments .

You have the right to see your GP records and copy anything that might be useful, although there is a charge for this.

Requesting your medical records

Charging for medical records

I am afraid I cannot comment about the Rethink letter as I am not familiar with it.

Thanks Mrs Hurtyback,

I really don't like having to ask my GP for things of this nature but am going to have to bite the bullet. If nothing else a copy of my records will be helpful to my application, so at least I have that as an option and am grateful for that.

I am going to use the sample letters as a template for my request to my therapist deleting the descriptors that don't apply to me.

You can check them out here, I have found them quite helpful:

ESA - (pages 18-20) www.rethink.org/resources/w/work-capabil...assessment-factsheet

PIP - (pages 25-28) www.rethink.org/resources/p/personal-independence-payment-pip

Hello,

Questions 6 & 7 ask about ability to communicate (speaking, writing, typing, hearing and reading), this comes under Physical Capabilities.

Does this mean any impediments to my ability to communicate due to mental health issues (e.g. social anxiety) are not necessary to mention here? Anxiety does interfere with the ability to communicate and understand what is going on - however, should I just relegate these difficulties to the Mental Health section of the form?

I'm unsure on whether these questions are reserved for purely physical causes of limitations...

I suffer from social anxiety and can't answer phone calls unless I know who is calling (and it has to be immediate family, or a business matter)

The ESA form says that they need to phone to arrange a face-to-face assessment, but I won't be able to answer the phone unless I know it is them calling.

Can an appointment be arranged by mail/e-mail/text message/online? Or is there a phone number I can recognise as them when they call - that way I know it is them and will be able to answer.

What can I do?