PIP: the disability benefit that almost killed my wife | Adam Jacques

If the personal independence payment experts had bothered to read Bea’s notes, a process that triggered two overdoses might never have started

My wife tried to kill herself in March. She took an overdose – while I was watching TV in the next room. Cue, in short succession: 30 minutes of heart-stopping panic, a nerve-jangling ambulance trip to A&E, an admission to a secure mental health unit, and a longer stay recovering in a crisis house.

Acute episodes such as this can be a recurring reality for someone with a longstanding mental health condition. From her battles with depression and struggles to get out of bed in the mornings, to anxiety so overpowering that a trip on a bus triggers a blind panic, for my wife (let’s call her Bea) life is a titanic battle to stay afloat. She experiences overwhelming feelings of worthlessness, guilt and impulsive urges to self-harm that can flood her mind and distort her thinking. Socialising with friends is hard, while work in the past year has been out of the question. But she’s also incredibly smart, funny, kind and brave.

Related: PIP is a disaster for disabled people. At last the full horror is emerging | Frances Ryan

Related: This is a disability assessment: intrusive, humiliating and completely pointless | Rob Crossan

Continue reading... November 10, 2017 at 11:30AM