Support group success - Mental illness

Hi,

I have been in the WRAG group for one year after a medical last August, and today I got the brown envelope telling me I have been moved to the support group. Obviously I am absolutely ecstatic, relieved, feel slightly sick and almost in shock, but I am not going to gloat because I know exactly what it feels like waiting, and I have been through the process myself.

I thought I would take some time to give some advice. My condition is just as bad as it was last year, so I can only assume that it was the information I included with my recent ESA50 (deadline 28th September) claim. Last year, my welfare rights officer completed the form for me, but I did not provide any other information, and I had a ghastly medical and was placed in WRAG. This time I included the following:

Hospital discharge letters from January 2011 to August 2011, supporting letters from staff at the therapeutic community for personality disorders that I attend every Monday (over 2 years), a letter my therapeutic community sent to my GP, letters from my psychiatrist referring me to a support worker due to my social phobia, and a letter from my psychiatrist explaining that attending a medical would be detrimental to my health.

My welfare rights officer had to get my form off two weeks before the deadline because she was going on holiday for 5 weeks. I saw my psychiatrist after she sent the form off, and following the advice on this site, I copied the psychiatrist letter from my appointment, and sent two copies by recorded delivery to the Atos office address that was on the top of my ESA50, and I also sent by recorded delivery a copy to my local benefits office who deal with my payments. I followed the advice on this site and did a covering letter for both copies, and insisted that this additional information be put before the decision maker. Of course I had to get the psychiatrist letter off before the deadline.

If you have a mental illness and fear you will be put in WRAG or not even get that far, please include as much information as you can. It is stressful, but it could be the difference between success or failure. Even though I read on this site that some Atos staff are only looking at information from the last six months, if you have a mental illness, even information before this date is relevant. The welfare rights officer included information from two years ago because she wanted to get the point across that mental illness fluctuates.

I just wanted to give some advice from my own experience. I am just so relieved. The last few months have just been a blur. I know they are reviewing the support group claimants regularly, but for now, I am just so grateful.

Good luck everyone.

xx

Hi Mel, hope the 'shock' feelings lessen soon. So pleased for you, congratulations! Hope you get some respite from the system

Hi Mel,

Great news of your entry into the SG.

Well done for persevering with this stressful issue.

cheers

bro58

may i ask when you sent information about your illness did you go into huge detail of how it affected you on a daily basis, with thanks.

mel

congratulations!
i also have personality disorder, unfortunately there is no therapeutic community for personality disorders up here in scotland & i have little help from my psychiatrist or gp. i have appealed my wrag decision & am seeing a welfare rights person next week to see if they will represent me at tribunal. im not holding my breath they will change the decision tho with such little input from psychiatric services. i had a cpn come to the house once but they said they could not help me as i was not motivated to leave my house due to my panic attacks/anxiety. i feel abandoned with no help & just wish i could be left alone & didnt need esa to pay my bills.

well done again

martin

LLiegez, I covered everything in the form, difficulties cooking, getting up, due to depression and lack of motivation, inability to shop , use the phone, open the front door or leave the house unattended due to social phobia, I I included incidents of self harm, suicidal thinking (and hospital admissions due to three suicide attempts). I told the welfare rights officer at length about every aspect of my day. I did not say this was on my worst day, I said this is how it is every day. I was exhausted after seeing the welfare rights officer who completed the form because I was determined to get across how my illness effecting my functioning in every aspect of daily living.

Martin - you have my sympathy. All my life personality disorders have carried a stigma and been seen as manipulative, attention seeking. I am 46 and I only got help when I moved to North Wales in 2009. There were no services whatsoever for personality disorders in the south east where I lived all my life. Even the therapeutic community I attend is threatened constantly due to lack of funding or because certain managers in psychological therapies still think a personality disorder is just a form of depression.

I knew that I would get to the SG eventually and was prepared to take it as far as tribunal. Still in shock that I made it so quickly - still keep reading the letter to check it real! I wish you all the best Martin, with your claim, but also your illness. It really does feel like a postcode lottery when it comes to mental illness. Any help I can give you, let me know.