Waiting for Appeal date - Depression and anxiety worsening - advice please

[Donald King]

I'm waiting for an appeal date and am already experiencing a worsening of my anxiety and depression - loss of appetite, tearfulness etc. What will happen if I should lose the appeal? I know I can't go on JSA - I've been suffering with A & D since 1997, and told the Atos assessor (a nurse of about 30) that if I were forced to look for work my mental health would soon deteriorate. To prove the point that he completely ignored, I'm in that position ALREADY! I feel like I'm going crazy. I wonder if the Atos nurse will come and visit me if I have to go into a psychiatric unit again. A friend of mine is worrying about the same thing - and he hasn't even had to be switched from IB / IS to ESA yet.

 

The second decision maker simply accepted what the Atos guy had written. (He wrote, for example, that I take an anti-depressant 'infrequently' AND 'once a day'!) What's the point of spending hours filling out the ESA450 , trying to be honest and not exaggerating, but describing bad days as well as good days, if no one's going to believe a word you write anyway. I suggested to my GP that he might write a letter, but he told me to wait until I went to appeal, because 'if it hasn't gone to appeal no-one will look at it anyway.' I tend to believe him. Ditto my CPN's advice about the Atos assessment: 'Don't send them a doctor's letter - no one will read it.'

 

You can reapply for ESA after your appeal fails - especially if your condition has worsened (as I mentioned, this 'worsening' in mental health cases can be caused directly by... DWP and Atos!) If I were to lose my appeal and then turn up at Jobcentre to claim JSA, I think I'd be crawling back to bed in tears in next to no time. The people I really feel sorry for (or rather angry about) are the mentally ill people who can't cope with form-filling and complex bureaucratic systems. I can't wait for my schizophrenic friend to be declared 'fit for work' just because he can clean his teeth, watch TV, and read a book! I think the Atos 'nurse' looked at me: 51 years of age, reasonably well-kempt, able to express myself, and sober (although I do have an alcohol problem) - and decided I could 'work.' His understanding of depression (or mental illness in general) was about nil. I felt like a slave on an auction block in Pompeii - or a horse at an auction. I'm surprised he didn't look at my teeth to gauge my level of depression.

 

FINAL REMINDER TO ALL CLAIMANTS: You are ENTITLED to be looked after BY RIGHT AND UNDER LAW. You obey the rules, tell the truth, and IN THEORY you should get what you deserve. You are not a beggar or a scrounger - you should get what LAW says you should.

[Donald King]

PS I think there are already cases of people committing suicide after being rejected by DWP/Atos. Before long, the families of the deceased will be getting together to take class actions, in particular against Atos Deathcare.

[honeybee13]

Hello there and welcome to CAG.

 

I know how Atos make you feel, having been there, been wrongly assessed and won at appeal.

 

Do you have someone like Welfare Rights to help with the appeal? If not, we can. I have a sticky at the top of this forum's title page that talks you through the process and has a template letter based on the one I used.

 

The second decision maker simply accepted what the Atos guy had written. (He wrote, for example, that I take an anti-depressant 'infrequently' AND 'once a day'!)

 

This is exactly the sort of thing you need to highlight to the appeals panel. You seem to have a copy of the Atos assessment, so go through it with a fine tooth comb and find all the discrepancies you can. That will form the basis of your argument.

 

I hope you don't end up in a psychiatric unit, but if your Community Mental Health team are anything like mine, they will help you. Someone else may know whether the DWP will back off if told to by the team, but only the team can tell if you're to being assessed by Atos.

 

Does that help any? I'm sure you'll have other replies later.

 

HB x

[citizenB]

Own thread started as requested.

[janny40]

hi honeybee newbie here im trying to find where this "sticky" thing is lol about esa tribunal?.im due mine january sometime and worrying doesnt cover what im feeling how do i find your thread on it please?

[janny40]

its ok i found it lol

[honeybee13]

its ok i found it lol

 

Well done . I hope it helps you. If you have any questions for us once you've had a look, it would be better to start your own thread btw. There's a New Thread [start thread?] button on the left around the top of the stickies, from memory. On that page, anyway.

 

My best, HB

[doktorjohn]

When you are ready to appeal get your doctor to back you up specifically on the descriptors you should have won points on.

 

I gave my doctor the form they had sent me with the results on it, ie. how many points I didn't win for each descriptor.

 

My doctor said that it helped immensely and a short letter was enough to win me the appeal.

 

Good luck.

 

- dj

[janny40]

thanx honey bee ive started a thread..that is if ive put it in the right place lol

[janny40]

i got a letter off my doctor well 4 or 5 lines but it did point out the main things so fingers crossed

[honeybee13]

thanx honey bee ive started a thread..that is if ive put it in the right place lol

 

Right, we'll talk there. Best not to hijack Donald's thread any longer.

 

Donald, how are you getting on?

 

My best, HB

[Nystagmite]

Regarding the stuff about medication - I would be tempted to send the white repeat part, which should state the dosage and how often.