what is substantial risk of harm?

Carl

When looking at the Descriptors for a benefit such as PIP, you cannot take isolated words or phrases and attempt to apply them to your situation, you always need to look at the whole Descriptor;

d. Cannot engage with other people due to such engagement causing either –
(i) overwhelming psychological distress to the claimant; or
(ii) the claimant to exhibit behaviour which would result in a substantial risk of harm to the
claimant or another person.

So to discuss 9(d)(ii)

First of all you must be the person exhibiting the behaviour, it's unclear whether your not doing something (making friends), would count as "exhibiting behaviour", I think you would need to argue strongly that this is the case.

Where legislation does not define the meaning of words you can use the standard English definition.

substantial
Of considerable importance, size, or worth

So substantial means much more than most or the majority of the time, but does not mean all of the time.

Lastly there must be risk of harm, you would need to clearly identify what harm you suffer by not making friends, so for example; does social isolation increase your symptoms and if it does what harm to you would result from this happening. The harm may be physical, for example; self-harming, or mental; for example increasing you level of depression.

It will only be if you can show that all of these points (your behaviour, substantial risk, harm), apply to you that you will have any chance of scoring points.

Gordon