At the time of writing I have been referred for diagnosis and am in the process of making an appeal regarding ESA. My benefits have been stopped and as I am not well enough to sign on for Jobseeker's Allowance, I have no income at all at this point.
There seems to be lots of very sad accounts online of people who are (in common with myself) clearly very severely affected by ADHD (and in some cases also additional health problems), struggling to make appeals to Tribunal and being unsuccessful although they are unfit to be in the workplace.
The process for assessment of work capability by ATOS/Maximus is completely inappropriate for ADHD and I was interested to find the following information online. This is a response from DWP Freedom of Information Team to an individual's questions about how WCA assessors are trained to enable them to assess mental health conditions and in particular, ADHD - how much training they receive, whether this is accredited, etc. The answers make shocking (or perhaps not - it's probably what we all suspected) reading.
www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/142368/response/358421/attach/2/FoI%204982%20IR61%20and%20IR%20106%2008.02.13.pdfThe response to Question 1a is particularly revealing:
Q1a How long is the training about mental
health conditions (in hours) for ESA Decision
Makers?
ESA Decision Makers do not need in-depth medical knowledge as they do not assess health
conditions. Their role requires an understanding
of the Work Capability Assessment (WCA)
descriptors that indicate how a customer’s health condition affects their day-to-day
functionality. This includes the Mental Health de
scriptors. This element of their learning was
developed by and is delivered with support from Atos Healthcare who carry out the ESA
WCAs. They attend a three hour learning event,
Introduction to Working with People with a
Mental Health Condition.
I cannot understand how an individual can accurately assess a person's capability for work if they have no understanding of how particular mental health/behavioural conditions affect people in the workplace. How can they say that they do not need in-depth medical knowledge? Surely this should underpin any assessment of an individual's fitness for work and medical knowledge needs to be applied when making such a consideration. I can think of no similar situations where someone so poorly qualified is given the responsibility to decide a person's fate in a way that dramatically affects their future wellbeing. They have 'assessors' who have completed a 'three hour learning event' making life or death decisions (which is evidenced by the hundreds of people who have been pushed to take their own lives as a direct result of losing the benefits they depend upon for survival) about unwell people whose conditions they have no understanding of. As the process for claiming and appealing decisions is so complicated, it is also highly likely that some of the people undergoing assessment have difficulty in communicating accurately the impact of their condition. This puts them at an even greater disadvantage in a system that is already unfairly weighted against the claimant. This is a scandal.
In support of my own appeal, I requested a letter from the Mental Health Lead at my local GP practice. I do understand that I cannot at this point have a letter saying that I definitely have ADHD, as I am awaiting diagnosis. However, what I had hoped I would get was a letter saying that I experience severe problems in the workplace due to uncontrollable impulsivity, anxiety and emotional lability (which in my case, means that I have difficulty regulating my emotions and become upset and tearful in situations where most people would not). I hoped it might also say that being in the workplace would put my mental health at further risk. The letter I received made me feel that the doctor had not read my letters, looked at my notes or discussed my case with GPs or CPN who have met me. It said that I was affected
"quite significantly and the mood swings and irritability she experiences have resulted in the loss of jobs."
That sentence comes nowhere near describing the devastation this condition has wrought on my life and anyone reading that description might think that I am suffering from a little bit of PMS!! The impulsive behaviour was not even mentioned. I do have mood swings (worse since menopause too) and irritability (worse since reading this letter that I paid £15 for that I can ill afford) but even allowing for the fact that I am awaiting diagnosis, I would have thought it would be possible to get a more accurate supporting letter that clearly describes the ways the condition severely interferes with my ability to work.
Researching online, I found a disability rights site called Black Triangle. I wish I had found this sooner, as it has excellent advice about how to ask you GP to write a letter supporting your appeal regarding ESA. There are downloadable documents clearly explained. Here is a link:
blacktrianglecampaign.org/2012/11/21/important-black-triangle-dpac-regs-29-35-campaign-failed-your-dwpatos-wca-intend-to-appeal-download-these-documents-for-your-gp/I hope that these may be useful to other people on here who may be in the same situation as I currently am. I have found that it is difficult to get help or advice from mental health charities in relation to ADHD and benefits. I called MIND, but got through to a voicemail message. I left my number last week, but nobody called me back.
I hate having to claim benefits, but I need a bit of help until I can get support in managing my condition. My aim is to get back into some sort of employment (self-employment?) once my condition is under control. Living with the stress and worry is very hard on top of everything else and I am now insomniac too. My husband is retired and on state pension, so I was the main earner until my condition became too severe to hold my job down.
I have written to my MP - not only about my own difficulties, but also because I wanted to ask her to help raise awareness about ADHD and about the difficulties faced by thousands of people who are affected by mental health conditions and who have to negotiate this unfair and cruel system set up by DWP and managed by greedy, profit-hungry private companies that are cashing in whilst ill people go without the basic necessities of life. I have also written to Jeremy Corbyn to ask him to raise a question at PMQs about the discriminatory and unfair treatment of people affected by mental health conditions under the current DWP benefits system.