Advice with Depression/Carers allowance issues.

[Captain Wesker]

Hi there,

 

My Other half has severe depression, she has been signed off work since January, and if steadily falling further and further behind at college.

 

She is not getting any better, and all I see is her getting worse with no help from doctors. She seems almost unable to function without me being around.

 

Today for example she goes to college and I have to come pick her up from the bus stop down the road as she is sitting there crying and shaking(and its not the first time).

 

I need advice on how to get her better help, and if I can claim any kind of carers allowance to look after her full time, as I am probably going to lose my Job if I have to keep taking time off to look after her.

 

Thanks in advance, and please feel free to move this to a more appropriate area if there is one.

[ErikaPNP]

In order for you to receive Carers Allowance for caring for her, you would need to be providing 35 hours or more of care per week to her and she would need to be receiving either the middle rate or higher rate care component of Disability Living Allowance. If you earnt more than £100.00 per week, Carers Allowance would not be paid in those weeks.

 

There is more on Carers Allowance here

If she requires assistance with caring for herself - sounds like she does if she is unable to function without you there - she should apply for disability living allowance. This is unaffected by any household income.

 

Has your other half been referred to anyone by her GP for treatment, such as a counsellor, psychologist or psychiatrist? If not, it may be worthwhile requesting a referral or going to another GP for referral if her family doctor is unhelpful.

[loan_ranger]

Hi Captain,

sometimes it pays to be insistent with the Doctor regarding access to a consultant psychiatrist, your OH's depression sounds like she's experiencing a "living hell". Medication such as fluoxetine hydrochloride (i.e. "Prozac") help to alleviate the "clinical depression" after the couple of weeks it takes for the benefit to "Kick-in", however this needs to be supported with either a "talking therapy", a good self-help book, or both.

I'd like to recommend to you a couple of books which helped me: "Families and How to Survive Them" co-authored by the psychiatrist and psychotherapist Robin Skynner and the comedian John Cleese. My NHS 'shrink' told me of this book and I was able to get it from the public library. There's also the sequel "Life, and How to Survive it".

 

Best regards and good luck,

Paul.

 

[Captain Wesker]

Well, she has an appointment with a healthcare Mental Worker person(I forget the exact name).

 

However, I have not been to work in a week and a half as I am providing 24/7 care to her(she can't be left alone). We have applied for DLA, and once she has it I will apply for CA, however what can i do for money in the meantime. I am going to ask work for an extended leave of abscence so I don't lose my Job, but what benefit is applicable in this situation? The jobcentre itself was quite unhelpful.

[ErikaPNP]

It is difficult to say whether there is anything you could get benefit wise at the moment. As a student it's possible she could claim contributory based ESA if she has paid in enough class 1 NI contributions in the qualifying years. She would not get income related ESA unless she was a part time student or receiving DLA, and may also be turned down for income related because of your income from employment or savings/capital - it's a minefield.

 

It's possible you could claim Income Support as a carer (for up to 6 months) whilst awaiting the DLA decision, but I don't know how they would decide entitlement as you are in employment, and she is a student, possibly with a student income. If your leave of absence would be unpaid then it may be possible.

 

There are two benefit calculators here and here which may or may not be helpful. Enter your figures and situations and it will do a calculation for you. I'm going to ask an Income Support expert to look in on this thread for you, but he might need some more information from you to give a comprehensive answer.

[MIKEY DABODEE]

Hi Captain,

 

 

In your opening post you stated that your partner is off sick from work, is she in receipt of Statutory Sick Pay, or is she not entitled to receive it because maybe she works part time.

 

If she is in receipt of it then she can claim Income Support for herself and you, if you decided to take unpaid leave from your job to care for your wife and you can get a letter from your employer to confirm this.

 

If she has finished work with her employer then the above option is not available to you but there is another option.

 

Has Erika has stated you can Claim Income Support yourself, your condition of entitlement would be as a carer, I.S can be paid on these grounds untill Carers Allowance has been awarded, Of course your claim would be for yourself and your partner

Again you would need the letter from your employer stating you are taking unpaid leave.

Even though you can work and claim Carers Allowance, I.S is a means tested benefit and if you returned to work even part time it would effect your claim.

 

To claim Income Support as well depends of course on what income you may having coming into your house, as Erika mentioned if she has a student loan this will effect your claim, and if you receive working tax credits, this will as well.

 

If your claim is successful and DLA is awarded this will give you extra benefit in the form of premiums, also DLA is not counted as an Income for I.S, C.A is but you get an extra premium as well for that.

 

So sorry things are hard for you at the moment but it may be worth trying to claim Income Support if you dont have capital over sixteen thousand.

 

Sorry the jobcentre was unhelpful,

[ErikaPNP]

Thank you Mikey.

[john 333]

we were in a very similar position, i had to give up work immediately to look after her, we claimed income related esa (joint) and was granted, claimed housing and council tax benefit which was granted, got DLA middle rate care and low rate mobility (eventually)

I was told that if ESA claim failed we could just jump straight onto income support, but can't vouch for that as didn't need to.

so whilst all is now sorted, it did take months of phone calls, evidence gathering and heart ache, so the very best of luck to you

[ghostylad]

I would definately demand a psychiatric evaluation, if your partner feels she can do it.

you'll be able to go in with your partner, but is best to just sit quiet and let your partner get it all out, by all means if your partner looks for your input do help.

Your partner should also ask to be put on list for therapy corresponding to illness involved.

As far as medication goes be wary and ask as many question about it as possible, like, what type, how it works, side effects ect, some Dr's are to quick hand meds out, though there is an element of trial and error involved.

Any questions, please do ask.

best regards.