When The System Lies And Fails People

Many of the readers here know that I have struggled with mental health for many years, but I have now been given a clean bill of mental health.

However, I still have some traits that will remain with me for a while, such as panic in crowds and mild anxiety.

Recently, I had my PIP review.

Whilst many do need to stay on it. I felt that I didn't meet the criteria for it anymore, and I was desperate to come off it.

PIP can be useful for those who may need it, but despite a few setbacks, I feel that I don't need it anymore, and this was backed up by the fact that I haven't needed to see the doctor about any major problems for a long time. I don't need medication anymore, even when a traumatic event occurs, and I can do a lot of things for myself now that I couldn't do back then, such as being able to take a shower by myself instead of using the bath that can trigger me.

However, here is something that has raised a red flag with me.

I have heard many stories about PIP assessors trying to put people off from claiming, but I have discovered that they still tell inaccurate information when a person decides they don't need it.

In my review letter, there is a list of things they said that were untrue:

I can use a bus, and I can plan and follow a route.

It is true, I can plan and follow a route when I am not panicking. I can do this in a cab, but not on a bus, because I panic when I'm with a group of strangers, and I fear being attacked due to having been attacked in the past.

They claimed to have no evidence of this. However, it was brought up with my therapist back in the early 2000s when I undertook DBT.

I had also discussed this with my doctor in the past, and interestingly, it should have been in my doctor's notes.

However, because I now use cabs as a safe form of transport, according to them, this no longer happens simply because I do not need to see my doctor, as my safe form of transport works for me, unless the cab is a red one, then it triggers me, as was written in my psychiatric notes after admission to a ward in 1998.

They claimed I said that I was incontinent.

I did not say this; they assumed it themselves.

They asked me whether I was able to control my bladder. I explained that the only problem I had was that I couldn't hold it for very long, and that I hadn't been able to since my last C-Section, which was very traumatic because the doctors caused an allergic reaction by giving me Augmentin, which is something I'm severely allergic to. That drug lowered my blood pressure and almost cost me my life.

My pelvis also fractured during pregnancy, which weakened my bladder, hence the weak bladder problems today.

Again, if this had been recorded or they had bothered checking the information, it would have been in my notes.

They accused me of lying about my past eating disorders.

I do not know if any of my mental health files from the hospital I was admitted to in 1998 still exist.

The hospital was knocked down shortly after I left with the man I met there, who is now my husband.

I had a terrible time on that ward due to the horrible events that led to my admission, and I also felt uncomfortable with my body, and my relationship with food was not good.

I would eat, then as soon as I had eaten, I would purposefully make myself sick before it had even had a chance to reach my stomach.

I made up any excuse I could to get to the toilet, and I did not have enough weight on me to start with.

I was diagnosed with an eating disorder on that ward by a consultant.

I was not referred to a dietitian because the hospital staff felt that my problems at that stage would become riskier. Instead, I was put on Ensure (of which I still threw up because I thought it would make me fat).

The hospital I was in was quite neglectful of mental health, and this was their way of trying to build me back up, even though I refused it.

Maybe they treated me wrong, though they did make the diagnosis, and my husband, who was also an RMN at the time (though he was temporarily inactive due to illness), was with me when that diagnosis was given.

This is not happening now, but the assessor did ask about it, though he couldn't find the evidence to prove it.

He did not once stop to consider that this was the 1990s, or ask which hospital I was in at that time.

He did not think that the doctor might not have this information on file, because it may have been archived, as it was a long time ago, and the hospital no longer exists.

He asked about my Knee problems, then, during my PIP review, told me there was no evidence because the doctor did not document my call or offer me a face-to- face appointment.

This problem has been going on since 2021.

I called the doctor because my knees had started clicking so badly that I could feel the bones when I placed my hand on them while moving them.

I can also hear the clicking and feel my bones moving when moving around.

They both blow up and become really painful when standing, lying down and bending them, especially when I have been on them or sitting in one position all day.

This call took place during the pandemic.

The doctor offered me no medication and no appointment to have it physically checked out. She simply told me that it was Arthritis, and referred me to Versus Arthritis.

She offered me no review either, and I have not been offered one since.

I only mentioned it because the assessor asked about it, and because that doctor did not add any notes about this call to my file, they made me out to be a liar.

Had PIP arranged a face-to-face assessment for me, they could have physically checked this out for themselves, leaving them with proof that I do infact, have problems with my knees.

Conclusion and Opinion.

I feel good because I have been deemed as being well enough to manage mentally without my PIP.

I have waited for this for a long time, because being on PIP was just keeping me stuck in trauma mode, because it reminded me of my very haunting past.

I told them on the phone that I had been waiting for my review, so that I could double-check that I was okay to do so.

I have a doctor's appointment coming up. I did book this before my review, but I was unable to get an appointment until afterwards. However, despite some minor problems, I knew I was now well enough to get through life without it, and I was completely honest about that.

I had been on PIP for a long time with medical evidence to back that claim. However, some of that evidence has been historical and will have been filed away.

PIP asked me about my history as well as my present.

My history dates all the way to the early 1990s, which means some information may not exist anymore.

This does not mean that claimants are telling lies.

It means that the historical records are now outdated.

PIP Assessments are supposed to be about the present, and if the issues have been going on for a very long time, not all of this information will be available.

Why make an honest person feel bad? Why not ask them to access to their records via a Subject Access Request, which will show some of that evidence?

• There is no need to be ruder than you are on the phone when writing to someone about PIP reviews.

• There is no reason to make someone who is not a fraudster feel guilty for claiming PIP without evidence to prove it.
• There is no reason in the world to be rude to someone who wants to come off it. This is a reason to be supportive and make sure the person is now in a position where they can do without it.

If assessors want politeness, honesty and respect. They need to learn that it works both ways.