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DLA
Mar 8, 2006 10:00:42 GMT
Post by bam02 on Mar 8, 2006 10:00:42 GMT
I have a form to look at claiming DLA (Disability Living Allowance) - for mental health issues. Its a non means tested - non taxable - non contributory allowance -(i.e not like incapacity benefit - where you have had to pay national insurance in your own right to get it)
I already have low rate care for physical health problems and will only go ahead with any claim if I think it will be worth the risk of not losing that?
But thought it would be interesting to see what advice I get from some welfare workers. I have some people in mind ! Any advice here or any thing i can tell you lot I will update? But as I say i may not risk losing the fight!
The forms are awful and intrusive and make you feel like you have to bear your soul just to justify your illness. So its not easy and someone has to back it? Not sure what backing I would get from my doctors???
So i shall see.
A-M
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DLA
Mar 8, 2006 10:03:02 GMT
Post by susanneb1984 on Mar 8, 2006 10:03:02 GMT
Good luck Bam,
Susanne xxx
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DLA
Mar 8, 2006 10:08:36 GMT
Post by bam02 on Mar 8, 2006 10:08:36 GMT
Thanx Susanne,
Its just another thing some people here might be able to get ( or already have) without having to meet tough means tested criteria etc. So thought I would share and see if I can pass on any tips if I succeed - you never know.
The DWP might find me a mean contender that they can't refuse and I will go on to work in Welfare rights and fight the good fight for all the deserving against the unequal system's out there!!LOL!
I think I sound socialist ( In t he old sense of the word).Should have been a suffragette???
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DLA
Mar 8, 2006 10:31:52 GMT
Post by susanneb1984 on Mar 8, 2006 10:31:52 GMT
I didn't even know you could claim anything! lol xxx
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DLA
Mar 8, 2006 10:44:41 GMT
Post by bam02 on Mar 8, 2006 10:44:41 GMT
They don't advertise - see we need this awareness campaign and you might be able to claim for physical problems too.
Nothings guaranteed but maybe its something to think about?
I try and find some links..
A-M
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DLA
Mar 10, 2006 21:20:20 GMT
Post by Veritee on Mar 10, 2006 21:20:20 GMT
I get it for my physical disability - I have had it for 3 years now - but I also get a bit of it for on metal health grounds as I am more phobic about using public transport since my physical disability. It is on my medical record that I have had issues with phobia - going on public transport especially since I was 17 but coped OK for many years - more than 20 - before I had my riding accident . However the accident has meant that while I am fine if I drive myself or Barry drives and you would never know I ever had any phobic issues and I forget it myself as long as I have a car - but I panic completely if I have to use public transport - or even hospital transport which I had to when really bad and could not drive ( a lovely nurse helped me out and drove me to the hospital appointment herself as I just could not get in the hospital ambulance. Anyway because of needing a car to be mobile because of both my physical disability as I can not walk to bus stops etc and because of the phobia that has come back after 20 years due to my physical disability ( not being able to walk far make me feel very trapped and vulnerable when I have to rely on public transport ) I get the higher rate mobility aspect of DLA because of a double physical and 'mental' problem with mobility. It is very welcome I really do need a car and an automatic and automatics cost more and my DLA covers most of my car running costs. I am sorry but really thought I had mentioned DLA several times before on here as something you can claim if you have PNI - especially long term PNI but also for short term. I have known women with PNI get DLA for both and I agree about the publicity about this as I have not even managed to publicize it well if you did not realize - I sort of assume that everyone knows about DLA as it is so part of my experience as even before I had it I knew several who did My friend also gets it for Bi -polar but unfortunately for her as bi -polar comes and goes and at times she is fine she often only gets it for a short time and then has to re - apply as if your disability is transitory they will set a time limit on it. It is however very important what you put on the form - if your disability is about mental health ( I think you could make the claim on physical and mental health as you have the blood disorder too) I have some guidelines I will email to you about claiming DLA - as some things you think would count and some that do you would not think would For instance I remember there is an funny anomaly that not being able to do food shopping does not always count but if you can not go out of an evening or do 'recreational' shopping it does Also you have to answer all questions as you are on your absolutely worse day - as this isn't untrue as you do need this help if on ANY day your mobility and ability to care for yourself is affected an anyway - as even if you have 3 good days and 2 bad - if you answer how it is on your best days and not your worse - you may not get DLA even though you do qualify. Anyway I will send the guidelines I have - Good luck with this - it can really be useful - I think it is worth the fight.. I know peoplewho have nti got it on original application but have argued it at a tribunal and got it then , and it is very common toi get it if you fight it and go to a tribunal VertieeXX
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DLA
Mar 10, 2006 21:25:05 GMT
Post by bam02 on Mar 10, 2006 21:25:05 GMT
Thanx Veritee
Very scared to rock boat about this! thanx any help appreciated ! You did mention it on the phone that time1 that made me think!
A-M
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DLA
Mar 10, 2006 21:50:18 GMT
Post by Veritee on Mar 10, 2006 21:50:18 GMT
I am glad I mentioned it before - it can be useful
I think you stand a good chance of getting it
My doctor was not overly helpful but they only ask them for a letter stating the facts and in your case as well as mine the facts will be there
as you do have a blood disorder which causes you difficulties, you do get phobic. you have seen a psychiatrist for anxiety and other symptoms that affect the quality of your life
Your doctor will confirm this and that is all that is needed - the rest ids dowm to you to fill in the form and explain how it implicates on your life and how it can stop you doing things
I will send you the guidelines I have on filling in the form. It’s a horrible intrusive form but as its not means tested the help really is useful to me as I am sure it will be to you.
Vee XXX
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DLA
Mar 10, 2006 22:17:52 GMT
Post by Veritee on Mar 10, 2006 22:17:52 GMT
I am a suffragette I spent half the day explaining woman and gender issues to a friend who has never before known this existed or understood how this implicated in her life yet she had to cover it as a module on her Cert ED It was very hard work, quite funny at times as my husband was interpreting some of the points I was making to her as she understood how he was putting it better than when I tried to explain- and I was cracking up at the both of them ( Barry has lived with me so long he is a closet feminist if a man can possibly be this - but he defiantly understands the points I was trying to make) But it was very rewarding to see it make a connection for her that the difficulties she experiences as a single parent and a woman teaching young men in a sports class is actually not just her own imagination but is real and can even be related to educational theory.. Today we even covered Jean-Jacques Rousseau who said women are psychologically and psychologically inferior to men and can not understand concepts that men can ( well something like this very simplified: feminism.eserver.org/theory/papers/womens-education.txt)Rousseau even today has such an influence on educational theory - but for him it only applies to men as we women apparently are not capable of understanding more than the mechanics of being a wife and mother ................. Heather - the person I am tutoring through her Cert Ed course - said he ( Rousseau) had the same attitude to wards women as her 17 year old football lads that she now teaches!! So nothing much has changed since Rousseau's time - if this is true as he was born in 1712 So I will join you as a suffragette as in my mind it has not changed that much # We got the vote but how much else did we really get?? Sorry I am seeped in feminist theory today - I'll be normal in the morning.............................. and I am an old style socialist
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gail
Senior Member
have 1 daughter and have had this since 30 weeks of pregnancy :( my daughter is 27 months.
Posts: 373
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DLA
Mar 14, 2006 17:40:01 GMT
Post by gail on Mar 14, 2006 17:40:01 GMT
hi ladies
- i too did not know you could claim this. i would like to try (I have just applied for incapacity benefit) how do i go about it and what do i tell them?
can you get it for agoraphobia/panic anxiety associated with pni?
any feedback would be great gail xxxx
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DLA
Mar 14, 2006 18:49:23 GMT
Post by cheshire on Mar 14, 2006 18:49:23 GMT
Hi Gail
I am sorry to sound silly, but what is DLA?
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DLA
Mar 15, 2006 0:13:59 GMT
Post by bam02 on Mar 15, 2006 0:13:59 GMT
Disability living Allowance, Hopeful!
Its is possible to get but as all illness related and any benefits really -it gets tougher all the time. You need to have to prove you need help from another person from time to time or all the time either with psychical care or to watch over you! You need to have needed it for about 3 to 6 months already at claim and prove you need it for at least 6 months more. there are different rates low , middle and high.
There is more to it than that - but its basically it. Its not means tested(I got low rate care when I was working about £15 a week ) also its doesn't affect other benefits. But its very hard to get and the forms are very intrusive. I got the care for needing help with physiotherapy every day and my blood products every week. But you can get it for mental health issues - but you don't just have to say (I have depression for example). you have to prove you need another person to look after you and not the house just you.
Having said all that some people I know with the same condition as me - have been refused time and time again. So just because one person gets it another may not with apparently the same condition. It seems to be subjective as to the person assessing it Also you might be called to a medical.
I know i sound negative but I am being realistic - however, as Veritee says nothing ventured nothing gained it could be worth people struggling badly with mental health problems attempting to get it. if nothing else it pays for some taxi fairs if you can't get a bus or drive, due to panic attacks for example.
Glad i am not the only Suffragette here!!!
A-M
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DLA
Mar 15, 2006 8:08:36 GMT
Post by cheshire on Mar 15, 2006 8:08:36 GMT
Thanks! ..I kept reading posts about it, but didn't know what it was!!
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DLA
Mar 15, 2006 12:01:11 GMT
Post by newwie on Mar 15, 2006 12:01:11 GMT
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DLA
Apr 7, 2006 8:32:29 GMT
Post by yorkslass on Apr 7, 2006 8:32:29 GMT
I to get DLA and hav done for about 6 months wish I new about it when I was very very ill. I still get it as i still have issuses travelling and stuff.
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