Reaping the benefits of sickness? Long-term illness and the experience of welfare claims

[alex3619]

Alex, you are being too kind to them.

There are only Options 1 & 2.

Mistaken ideology drives most of the evils of mankind so far as I can see. When we are wrong, but so sure we are right, we can drive through with an agenda regardless of the harm it does.

Here is something about economics and the 2008 economic crisis, in which there is a parallel between what is claimed here, and what I see in psychogenic medicine:

Most mainstream macroeconomic theoretical innovations since the 1970s (the New Classical rational expectations revolution associated with such names as Robert E. Lucas Jr., Edward Prescott, Thomas Sargent, Robert Barro etc, and the New Keynesian theorizing of Michael Woodford and many others) have turned out to be self-referential, inward-looking distractions at best. Research tended to be motivated by the internal logic, intellectual sunk capital and esthetic puzzles of established research programmes rather than by a powerful desire to understand how the economy works – let alone how the economy works during times of stress and financial instability. So the economics profession was caught unprepared when the crisis struck.

(My bolding.)
http://blogs.ft.com/maverecon/2009/...state-of-the-art-academic-monetary-economics/

If their ideology says there is no need to worry about those making benefits claims and the system failing, then many will dismiss the problem. If the researchers are sure they understand what is going on, they will dismiss, trivialize or sideline counter-claims. They may create diversions such as claims of mavericks, extremists or people following other debunked ideology.

Freudian theory was full of this inward looking internal logic. Everything could be explained from within the system.

If someone has devoted decades of their lives to psychogenic or BPS theories, built their careers on it, then their mind will interpret things seen through BPS designed goggles. Being academics, they will seek to explain away any issues ... defending their ivory towers. As clinicians they could not easily accept they are wrong either - otherwise they spent decades doing the wrong things to patients. If an investigator asked the chicken farmer if something is wrong with the chickens, the investigator will probably hear "no", everything is under control. Criticism should come from elsewhere in medicine and academia, but this very rarely happens, and that's a problem for all of medicine, psychology and psychiatry. More should speak out than currently do. Their silence gives consent.

If someone has any doubts, then strong voices supporting them may quell those doubts. These voices, in the case of BPS, come from government, government institutions and the insurance industry. See my old blog: http://forums.phoenixrising.me/index.php?entries/the-doggy-treat-model-of-why-it-is-so.830/

Its worse within politics. They are used to operating in an environment of dissenting views, and supporting their own view in argument regardless of what the opposition is saying.

Evidence that can establish that these are false views of the world is good, and bit by bit it can alter the discussion. However so very much of this is political, and not based on sound reason. Whoever has the most persuasive voice is heard the most.

 

[MeSci]

After my children both reached adult age or left home, I lost the Single mothers Pension which had helped me to survive seeing I wasnt capable of doing much work. I actually didnt go right away trying to claim Disability when I stopped getting single mothers Pension even thou I couldnt work full time as I knew it would be a NIGHTMARE to get the Disability benefits I should of been on, so it was the last thing I wanted to do (I was near phobic about the whole Disability process due to the how bad Ive been treated by those who dont understand this illness and just how much sicker I used to get from stress and effort).

So I ended up working but at a level in which I could of also actually been claiming government dole benefits as well, so I forfeited getting over $400 a fortnight for a couple of years (forfeited getting a health care card etc) as I knew how much stress Centrelink would put onto me. (I was scared to even try to go and get the Dole as I was worried I'd be offered full time jobs I wouldnt be able to take up and that is what did happen when I finally had no choice but to apply).

I was working only 9-16 hrs per week, not claiming the gov benefits with the money I was getting in and going without basically everything (never buying clothes, never getting breakdowns in my appliances fixed, I even didnt have a TV in that time, tried not to use electricity etc), I lived off of rice, potatoes (which were very very cheap at that time) and noodles cause I couldnt afford to eat much else during that time. I started growing my own food to supplement my terrible diet and was living off of handouts of others.

I ended up in trouble with the tax dept as they wouldnt believe that I was only "trying to" live off of that. They couldnt understand why I hadnt gone for gov payments so assumed I must of been getting more money and ripping them off so they put me under pressure and under investigation. (so I ended up in a very stressful situation with them so my attempts to avoid stress to avoid crashing further, well didnt work). I was even filmed by someone sitting in a car on the other side of the street. This car ended up being left in that location for a couple of days with what appeared to be a camera pointing at my house affixed to its inside mirror. I can understand thou why my situation of me not claiming when working so little, didnt appear "logical" to them.
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Id like to add that I was correct and it was completely disasterous for my health having to go onto the dole while applying for disability and appealing over and over due to the knockbacks for a pension.

I went due to that from being able to work 9-16 hrs per week and was in a recovering mode (improving over time, , I believe I would of gone into a complete remission again had I not been pushed to work), to going into a major crash due to them forcing me to try to work more (under threat that I would be completely cut off of benefits which by that time after not getting much money for so long, I really really needed to have as I was very deep in debt by then).

It was this what Centrelink did to me, which lead to where I are today. not able to work AT ALL, not being able to care for myself so now having to have gov support services. Had I immediately got that Disability Pension which several doctors were supporting I needed or not been pushed under threats by them beyond what I should of been doing, I do think I'd be recovered again today. I hold them responsible for me being disabled today. Instead, Im now just a burden on the system and still in a worsening state due to the battles which are continuing (Im worsening again now cause I arent getting enough support hours throu DisabiilitySA, there is a good chance I may end up long term bedbound again).

I wish there was an alternative to 'like' for stories like this, as they are so awful. I so wish I could wave a magic wand and stop all this crap happening. I had the council tax benefits people asking me what I was living off too. I told them the truth, which was Working Tax Credit and my credit card and an overdraft! The council tax people are the worst in the UK in my experience. The Working Tax Credit is paid to supplement the income of people who can't earn much money, and if you are disabled you get a bit more, but if you can't work 30 hours a week you get less! But it's easy to get. That is likely to change when they change over to a new system and replace it with so-called 'Universal Credit', where even if you are working you will have to attend a Work Capability Assessment - the thing that is causing so much grief now to people trying to get disability benefits. And self-employed people will be expected to be paying themselves the official minimum wage within a year. For a high proportion of disabled self-employed people, including me, this is unachievable.

Back to Council Tax benefit. A council woman came to my door unexpectedly one day, stinking of artificial perfume which sent me reeling. Seeing this, she 'reassured' me, thinking that I was anxious, and said it was just a routine visit. BS! I don't think they do these. I was probably being suspected of fraud, perhaps being reported by a neighbour as a probable benefit cheat. She left my furniture permeated with her perfume, and I had to have the door open and the extractor fan on - in cold weather - and spend the next few days draping layers of blankets and curtains over the chair - which I was of course unable to use - and then washing them. I got exhausted and cold.

Every year if there has been a significant change in my earned income (which ranges from a loss to (rarely) about £2000 a year) I diligently contact the council in April before my busy plant season starts. And every year they reply two months later demanding lots of detail about income and expenditure in a form which is different from what I supply to the tax people and the Working Tax Credit people, within a very short time. So now I am in my busy work period and having to take time out of my work to do more accounts, thus losing money.

This year I haven't told them of any changes yet, as they were only very minor, as I just want to get on with my work and have had numerous spells of brain fog so that I have not been able to do any figure work. I only hope that I don't get penalised.

With my qualifications I should be earning about 100 times what I do. Thanks to ME, I can't. And no employer would hire me due to the condition being so unpredictable. I thought I was doing the sensible, responsible thing trying to make some money from self-employment.

 

[alex3619]

MeSci , if I were able to work I could replace my pension in an easy short afternoon a week. The system is about the rules, and most of the people who implement it don't understand what it is for, they only understand what the rules say.

I battle bureaucracy gone mad quite frequently here in Australia. I guess its the same everywhere. They get upset as well when I don't claim money that is owed to me. What, how can that happen? They expect me to be able to function, but there are few services designed to help. I am guessing that they never even suspect there are people who are owed money who don't claim for it, while at the same time presume that people who are claiming may be dishonest and need to be investigated. The checks and balances in the system do not work, and are weighted in favour of bureaucracy, not the sick.

Its not easy to deal with the benefits system when really sick. I think its harder to deal with sickness benefits here, than it is to deal with disability pension, as you have to provide forms very regularly, and doctors certificates (I was doing this in the 90s, so it might have changed, but I doubt it) and if are are too sick to do that ... penalties. Indeed when I was too sick to jump through the hoops, I had benefits denied to me for a bit. You can be sick, but you can't be very sick and unable to function, that's not in the rules.

I was very lucky to get my disability pension, I got it on the basis of severe problems that are recognized (e.g. apnoea), not the very severe problem that they do not recognize, ME.

 

[Sean]

Depending on the outcome of our looming election, it could easily get a lot worse for us Australian patients before long.