Not too sure of what too do

I've submitted for my renewal for DLA (albeit it arrived with them two days late (it was to arrive with them on the 21st and was sent on the 22nd)) and was aided by someone at a local Dial house. They were a great help, although someone mentioned during the previous night that my claim would be cancelled within 24 hours of them not receiving it -- but the person informed me that they have heard of no such thing and that it may of been just "fear mongering". It's the 2nd of November now and I've received a letter which thanks me for my claim and informs me that they're looking at all the information they have been given to base a decision of whether to allow it. The letter also states that they received it on the 23rd -- I sent it next-day special delivery on the 22nd. I'm quite certain that just a little over 24 hours would of elapsed between it being sent and them receiving it.

I also received a letter from my local council informing me that my council tax benefit has been stopped - they stated that the DWP contacted them to inform them that I am no longer in receipt of DLA.

While this is concerning, it is not my greatest concern at present. Rather, it was my experience with a doctor's appointment yesterday evening (1st). I approached my doctor with what I believed to be the quintessential difficulty I experience and it was emphasized that the drain of my motivation during attacks of gender dysphoria are what I find to be most debilitating - this is something I've iterated previously. I also re-iterated the fact that nothing else has brought me closer to the edge -- that it was these emotional "attacks" that have brought me to my knees in agony. Her reply? She merely stated that this is something I'd need to learn to deal with. I'm not the only one with such condition and know of other's who endure these difficulties and the suicide rates pertaining to them are very high - so it is life-threatening. But that's my concern however: I don't feel that she takes me seriously enough. I suppose there's also my own difficulties with talking to her: a bad experience with key workers may have influenced me to believe that they'll try to rehabilitate me/fill me with anti-psychotics/depressants -- I had let every thought out during the first few sessions of counseling in 2009 and it was shortly thereafter that I was referred to an early intervention team. I still have the troubles I had then but my understanding of them has led me to believe that they will always remain in some form (e.g. I hear voices frequently and identify another part of my mind which feels to be separate from myself which also feels to function independent of my mental activity -- i.e. it feels like there are myself and another(s)) but merely intensified and negative if under stress -- I find myself weak and crawling when stressed.

I also needed her signature for a student finance application. She was impressed by these efforts "to get something done", albeit I'm finding difficulty in the institution I must attend and even finding myself tearful when under even the slightest pressure -- this isn't something I anticipated. I fear that this could potentially lead to me "dropping out" in future if I collapse under such pressure. While it's not explicit pressure, it's mostly anticipated pressure of "things to come". Not to mention, the stress of not receiving DLA too -- this certainly hasn't helped.

I suppose my point is: given my disadvantages and the recurrence of debilitating emotional attacks (for which I've become most fearful of -- I fear of what they may cause me to do (e.g. I can lose my rational mode of thought during some of these attacks and despite informing my doctor of this, I still feel that my difficulties aren't taking seriously)), that if pushed into the world of employment of whether I'd have a safety net to prevent these attacks from coercing a scenario of poverty.

I mean, sometimes I'm emotionally stable and capable of engaging on productive matters. However, when these attacks manifest my ability to engage with such matters are stalled and then eventually halted. I don't even have the motivation to engage in luxurious activities when these occur (e.g. reading, playing videogames, watching films, etc - it is a complete drain on my psyche). Interestingly, before these manifest I often hear voices of having a debilitating condition and find myself intensely anxious of the condition -- the voices continuously re-iterate this -- and then the emotional avalanche appears. It is after the avalanche finishes that I feel myself with a great slowness and lack of motivation.

Admittedly, my doctor has applied for funding to see a gender counselor and I have experienced an appointment of recent. However, my fears from that experience are whether there will be sufficient sessions available and of whether the counseling will resolve this matters. I don't necessarily want to undergo a "transition" either - this isn't something I decided to experience consciously. That too is a fear of counselling and I'm aware of the consequences of that "treatment" also and its relative costs. I've also tried to acquire access to other therapy for general emotional distress too -- as mentioned, a fear of myself is of my loss of rational mode of thought when under emotional attacks and thus I feel the need of recent that mobile access to some form of counselling is probably needed. It was from these efforts that my concerns were referred to a funding panel via my doctor -- the primary care trust discharged me, despite having admitted the general debilitating impact of these difficulties.

Lastly, of present I have no income and have been previously advised to apply for JSA -- however, the reason I didn't were due to fears of it having an impact on my DLA. Would applying still have an impact on my claim?

Any help/advice is most sincerely appreciated.

John Doe wrote:

I've submitted for my renewal for DLA (albeit it arrived with them two days late (it was to arrive with them on the 21st and was sent on the 22nd)) and was aided by someone at a local Dial house. They were a great help, although someone mentioned during the previous night that my claim would be cancelled within 24 hours of them not receiving it -- but the person informed me that they have heard of no such thing and that it may of been just "fear mongering". It's the 2nd of November now and I've received a letter which thanks me for my claim and informs me that they're looking at all the information they have been given to base a decision of whether to allow it. The letter also states that they received it on the 23rd -- I sent it next-day special delivery on the 22nd. I'm quite certain that just a little over 24 hours would of elapsed between it being sent and them receiving it.

I also received a letter from my local council informing me that my council tax benefit has been stopped - they stated that the DWP contacted them to inform them that I am no longer in receipt of DLA.

While this is concerning, it is not my greatest concern at present. Rather, it was my experience with a doctor's appointment yesterday evening (1st). I approached my doctor with what I believed to be the quintessential difficulty I experience and it was emphasized that the drain of my motivation during attacks of gender dysphoria are what I find to be most debilitating - this is something I've iterated previously. I also re-iterated the fact that nothing else has brought me closer to the edge -- that it was these emotional "attacks" that have brought me to my knees in agony. Her reply? She merely stated that this is something I'd need to learn to deal with. I'm not the only one with such condition and know of other's who endure these difficulties and the suicide rates pertaining to them are very high - so it is life-threatening. But that's my concern however: I don't feel that she takes me seriously enough. I suppose there's also my own difficulties with talking to her: a bad experience with key workers may have influenced me to believe that they'll try to rehabilitate me/fill me with anti-psychotics/depressants -- I had let every thought out during the first few sessions of counseling in 2009 and it was shortly thereafter that I was referred to an early intervention team. I still have the troubles I had then but my understanding of them has led me to believe that they will always remain in some form (e.g. I hear voices frequently and identify another part of my mind which feels to be separate from myself which also feels to function independent of my mental activity -- i.e. it feels like there are myself and another(s)) but merely intensified and negative if under stress -- I find myself weak and crawling when stressed.

I also needed her signature for a student finance application. She was impressed by these efforts "to get something done", albeit I'm finding difficulty in the institution I must attend and even finding myself tearful when under even the slightest pressure -- this isn't something I anticipated. I fear that this could potentially lead to me "dropping out" in future if I collapse under such pressure. While it's not explicit pressure, it's mostly anticipated pressure of "things to come". Not to mention, the stress of not receiving DLA too -- this certainly hasn't helped.

I suppose my point is: given my disadvantages and the recurrence of debilitating emotional attacks (for which I've become most fearful of -- I fear of what they may cause me to do (e.g. I can lose my rational mode of thought during some of these attacks and despite informing my doctor of this, I still feel that my difficulties aren't taking seriously)), that if pushed into the world of employment of whether I'd have a safety net to prevent these attacks from coercing a scenario of poverty.

I mean, sometimes I'm emotionally stable and capable of engaging on productive matters. However, when these attacks manifest my ability to engage with such matters are stalled and then eventually halted. I don't even have the motivation to engage in luxurious activities when these occur (e.g. reading, playing videogames, watching films, etc - it is a complete drain on my psyche). Interestingly, before these manifest I often hear voices of having a debilitating condition and find myself intensely anxious of the condition -- the voices continuously re-iterate this -- and then the emotional avalanche appears. It is after the avalanche finishes that I feel myself with a great slowness and lack of motivation.

Admittedly, my doctor has applied for funding to see a gender counselor and I have experienced an appointment of recent. However, my fears from that experience are whether there will be sufficient sessions available and of whether the counseling will resolve this matters. I don't necessarily want to undergo a "transition" either - this isn't something I decided to experience consciously. That too is a fear of counselling and I'm aware of the consequences of that "treatment" also and its relative costs. I've also tried to acquire access to other therapy for general emotional distress too -- as mentioned, a fear of myself is of my loss of rational mode of thought when under emotional attacks and thus I feel the need of recent that mobile access to some form of counselling is probably needed. It was from these efforts that my concerns were referred to a funding panel via my doctor -- the primary care trust discharged me, despite having admitted the general debilitating impact of these difficulties.

Lastly, of present I have no income and have been previously advised to apply for JSA -- however, the reason I didn't were due to fears of it having an impact on my DLA. Would applying still have an impact on my claim?

Any help/advice is most sincerely appreciated.

Hi JD,

Although you have my sympathy, I "only just" approved your post.

Extremly long posts such as this can be deleted without giving notice, as all posts appear as one solid block of text in the pre-moderation area.

Therefore, as you should understand this makes it most difficult to check the post for inappropiate content, it also makes it very difficult to sift out the actual query.

Your query seems to be would claiming JSA endanger your DLA award ?

We do not advise on JSA, however if you wish to claim JSA, you will be required to sign a contract stating that you can actively seek work.

DLA is an "In Work" benefit, in that you can work and still receive DLA. In saying that, obviously there could be problems if anything involved in the work was in direct conflict with your award of DLA.

You may wish to review : DLA Guides

DLA FAQ’s

Appeals FAQ’s

My best advice would be to seek professional face to face advice, where the professional will have access to all your personal details, see :

Where to get advice?

Or you could put Welfare Rights/Advice into Google, with the name of your town or postcode.

bro58

I appreciate your inputs sincerely.

My query however primarily focused on the troubles with my doctor and the potential impact of this. She's acknowledged that my difficulties are nonetheless debilitating but doesn't seem to appreciate them. Thus, my concern is of whethether - when - the DWP contact her if she will inadvertently counter my claim, thus potentially voiding it. I know I can appeal and acquire support to do this, but even then the concern of validating it prevails. I feel that she merely perceives my difficulties from a surface rather than of the persistent causal roots (i.e. psychological properties -- I don't necessarily believe in treating symptoms and fundamentally believe that such efforts should be adopted in the worst possible case scenario (i.e. I would take them and would of several times already on fringe of my emotional attacks) and that the efforts of treatment should be focused on "curing" the difficulties by whatever means appropriate mediated by the patient). However, I don't believe this indicates that I'm rejecting support (else I wouldn't request if I was to do so).

John Doe wrote:

I appreciate your inputs sincerely.

My query however primarily focused on the troubles with my doctor and the potential impact of this. She's acknowledged that my difficulties are nonetheless debilitating but doesn't seem to appreciate them. Thus, my concern is of whethether - when - the DWP contact her if she will inadvertently counter my claim, thus potentially voiding it. I know I can appeal and acquire support to do this, but even then the concern of validating it prevails. I feel that she merely perceives my difficulties from a surface rather than of the persistent causal roots (i.e. psychological properties -- I don't necessarily believe in treating symptoms and fundamentally believe that such efforts should be adopted in the worst possible case scenario (i.e. I would take them and would of several times already on fringe of my emotional attacks) and that the efforts of treatment should be focused on "curing" the difficulties by whatever means appropriate mediated by the patient). However, I don't believe this indicates that I'm rejecting support (else I wouldn't request if I was to do so).

Hi JD,

You have just proved my point Re : excessively long posts.

The DWP may contact your G.P. to request that they fill in a factual report, see : www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/medical-reports-completion.pdf

It can be detrimental if you do not have a supportive G.P.

You have the option of requesting copy of your G.P. and/or Hospital records, however there will be a charge :

Charging for medical records

Requesting your medical records

If you could glean any relevant evidence that you can use from this, it may help.

You could try seeing another G.P. in the practice, or even consider changing your G.P. to a more supportive one. The best way to find this out is to ask friends or relatives for personal recommendations.

bro58

I think I'll make an effort to switch to a new GP, however the emphasis of what I feels to be them not appreciating the impact of my difficulties is the result of asking them of whether I would be eligible for DLA. She responded suggesting that one must be "really and severely disabled" and the discussion then attempted to derive of whether I would be fit for work or if work is a sustainable permanence.

She re-iterated quite a few times, stating "I don't see how that would affect your ability to work" -- this was all with regards to the impact of my emotional attacks.

I do apologize for my lengthy posts and will try to shorten them/split them into paragraphs from now on.

Oh, I also have a copy of my medical records and admittedly, they do state that I did find myself discharged from a mental health team last year after they asked me of whether I consider myself to be mentally ill to which I responded with a decline. At the time I did consider myself to be quite well and productive -- this was at the time of a peak. I felt great and focused on what I wanted to do. However, it was shortly thereafter that an emotional attack occurred with the precedence of malignant voices. This was when I started trying to get help again.

John Doe wrote:

I think I'll make an effort to switch to a new GP, however the emphasis of what I feels to be them not appreciating the impact of my difficulties is the result of asking them of whether I would be eligible for DLA. She responded suggesting that one must be "really and severely disabled" and the discussion then attempted to derive of whether I would be fit for work or if work is a sustainable permanence.

She re-iterated quite a few times, stating "I don't see how that would affect your ability to work" -- this was all with regards to the impact of my emotional attacks.

I do apologize for my lengthy posts and will try to shorten them/split them into paragraphs from now on.

Oh, I also have a copy of my medical records and admittedly, they do state that I did find myself discharged from a mental health team last year after they asked me of whether I consider myself to be mentally ill to which I responded with a decline. At the time I did consider myself to be quite well and productive -- this was at the time of a peak. I felt great and focused on what I wanted to do. However, it was shortly thereafter that an emotional attack occurred with the precedence of malignant voices. This was when I started trying to get help again.

Hi JD,

I do not know why your G.P. is referencing "Work" with respect to DLA.

As you will see from our DLA Guides, DLA is awarded for "Mobility" limitations, and/or "Care Needs", as I have previously advised, DLA is an "In Work" benefit, as long as the work does not involve anything contradictory to the DLA Award, many people work and still receive DLA.

bro58