I was given prozac and ended up with schizophrenia

phil100 wrote: In 2002 my sonwas given prozac for depression because his dad was dying at that time. 6 weeks later he was hearing voices, the floor and walls were moving and people had conversations in front of him that could not possibly have happened.

The prozac gave him schizophrenia. He has told his care worker, doctor and psychiatrist this many times since.

Now he has an ESA50 to fill out and looking through for him I notice that there is a section on page 23 of the mental health guide for ESA50 that it states about having a mental health condition as a result of direct treatment by a registered medical practitioner for such a condition.

My question is: Does this mean an exemption is possible here and he would score the maximum 15 points because his condition was caused by the doctor giving him the prozac?

No, I am afraid this is not what it means.

Changes to the ESA Descriptors and Regulations implemented in January, means that a claimant can only score points in the Mental Health section if they have a mental health issue, this means the difficulties a claimant has are caused by;

- a mental health condition.
- a learning difficulty,
- or are a direct result of treatment by a registered medical practitioner for such a condition

In regard the last phrase, any symptoms or side effects that a claimant might be suffering from, must be the result of treatment or medicines prescribed in connection with a mental health issue.

So if a claimant has a physical problem for which they are taking prescribed medicines, perhaps a strong pain killer, and are experiencing symptoms that potentially would score them points in the mental health section, they will not score those points, because there is no underlying mental health issue, the reverse is also the case, you cannot score points in the physical section if you only have a mental health issue.

I hope this explains it better.

Gordon