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What does the Spending Review mean?
Posted Thursday 21 October 2010
While pundits pour over the details of what has been announced in yesterday's Comprehensive Spending Review and what it might mean for people, we've started to see how these public service cuts might impact on people experiencing mental distress.
To start with some good news, Mind welcomes the government's announcement to expand access to psychological therapies. This is something Mind has been campaigning hard for, for many years. Most recently, during the general election we called for increased access to psychological therapies and as part of the We Need to Talk coalition we published our latest findings last week which outlined the urgent need for improvements. We've asked for confirmation from the Department of Health that this is new money, rather than a re-commitment of existing spending. As soon as we hear, we'll let you know.
We're also pleased to see increased investment into social care. Mind's own research into this area has demonstrated that people with mental health problems are one of the groups most likely to benefit from using personal budgets, providing they are effectively supported when accessing and using the system. We are concerned that personal budgets are being used as a way to primarily reduce costs, rather than provide affordable, accessible social care services. Not everyone will want to use personal budgets so local councils will need to ensure that services are still provided for those who don't want to take them up.
However, we know from your feedback that for many of you your overriding concern is the cuts to the welfare budget. The Spending Review confirmed previous reductions in welfare and benefits including cuts to child benefits, council tax benefits and a reduction in Disability Living Allowance budget, as a way of reducing the welfare bill.
A new announcement was made around the Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and the introduction of a time limit of one year for people who are on the contributory ESA around work related activity. This benefit is specifically designed to help people get back to work and no doubt these changes will only add to the existing anxiety and fear that many people experiencing mental distress currently have. We are seeking clarification from the Department of Work and Pensions in terms of how many people might be affected by this change. We remain concerned about whether those existing changes will really protect the most vulnerable, as the government promises, when we know the systems and practices currently in operation are simply not fit for purpose as they currently stand.
We're also keeping a careful eye on what the potential impact of reductions in social housing, policing and local councils will have on people with mental health problems.
Mind's next steps
- Finding out what money is attached to the announcement around talking therapies. We'll be working closely to ensure that this commitment increases both availability and choice of talking therapy and reduces long waiting times for these services.
- Finding out further detail about the changes to the ESA benefit, including how many people are potentially affected by these changes, how it will work in practice, and how it fits into the broader welfare reform agenda.
- Speaking to our colleagues in organisations working in housing, policing and local government to understand the impact the cuts in spending are likely to have on people experiencing mental distress.
Vicki Nash, Head of Policy and Campaigns
45 Comments
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Are you people at MIND obsessed with CBT, start looking at reality, I am beginning to think service users overall are wasting their time saying anything.
Paul
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Just a brief comment,
The cuts are unfair and not necessary. Billions of unpaid and avoided tax could be collected. Progressive taxation could be put in place. A Robin Hood Tax could be put in place. This is all about ideology and destroying the "welfare state" please dont have any illusions about that. It will hit the poor and vulnerable to most. No question, and no the coalition government does not care about that.
Yes Individual budgets are seen by those at the "top" of as a way of saving money. Always have been. Despite that they are a very positive way forward, in the right circumstances, if people who need it have the right and enough support.
If you think about it you will realise that for councils to run "dual" systems, eg as it is now and Individual budgets is not practical or possible. It would mean different systems,(which would cost) and more people to operate (which would cost) so you can see why its not possible. However,
Its not necessary either as those who need more support should get it...with more choice, which is what Individual budgets represent comes more work and responsibility for those who get them.
For those who cant do that themselves and need support support needs to be there. Its clear, paid support will be thin on the ground, it can be quite a labour intensive process but the system depends on the labour being free. Thats fine for those who have people around them to help, others may struggle. -
It has been clear for sometime that ESA is badly designed. The two groups only accommodated those too ill to ever look for work and those who could tolerate an aggressive and coercive push back to work. Most people with serious mental illness fell between these two poles like many other severely disabled people and had no safe place to go under ESA. The WCA couldn't allocate them because there wasn't a safe long term place for them to try and work a little.
The one year time limit has made this flaw in ESA even more obvious. Where does someone with a long term serious mental illness go. The WRAG is not the right place for long term variable conditions but they don't want to be written off.
ESA has just crashed because of the bad initial design. It needs to be redesigned.
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i found your reponse to the spending review so low patronising to say the least.
how may will be affected? who cares, if one person is affected by the dreconion measures to time limit esa, its one to many.
do something to stop this policy. NOW.
stop the talking, start the protesting.
protect the vunerable from the oncoming poverty and isolation this will cause.
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The one-year rule is the most ludicrous thing I've heard in a while.
Can I just point out something that isn't mentioned often? If a disabled person is forced to rely solely on their partner's income after a year, which is what this change will mean, it leaves them completely exposed to domestic abuse, as they will have few options for leaving the relationship. It's a change that is fairly likely to result in people staying to be psychologically tortured/beaten/raped/whatever as they're just too scared of ending up on the streets (because there's no way of changes in circumstances registering overnight). It's nice to think of refuges picking up the slack, but what if there isn't one nearby, and let's not forget, what about the male victims?
Now, I realise that the Government probably thinks that a) abuse victims bring it on themselves and b) a few deaths is a reasonable price to pay for scaling back the welfare state, but they are WRONG. One injury, one assault, one death is too many. There is NO acceptable level of collateral damage. And we all know there have already been suicides over this.
One death is too many. Tell them that, Mind.
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These cuts signal awful times. Anyone who lived through the recession caused by Thatcher will understand that Cameron is about to cause a whole new round of misery. Increased CBT etc., will be a drop in the ocean compared to the massive inc...rease in mental health issues caused by insecurity, benefit withdrawal, poverty, mass unemployment etc. A few directors are rubbing their hands with glee, for everyone else this is bad news. We need to look after each other more than ever now - and have a voice. The deficit wasn't caused by the vulnerable, but by high flying city types who dealt in virtual cash and were too greedy to stop. By picking on vulnerable and marginalised groups they think they will get away with it - this wouldn't fly in France - why should we let it in the UK?
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The government are TOTALLY out of touch with the reality that faces mentally ill people - often because our conditions can not been "seen".
There is no way someone with severe social phobia will be able to pass an interview or maintain a job - trust me I have tried... it is so unfair that we shall be picked on in this way. there are SO many options to reduce this debt - the robin hood tax/targeting tax evaders. Im to young to remember the last Tory government, but I never knew it could be this bad.I hope no one commits suicide over this, it would break my heart.
We do all need to pull together now, more than other - mind has a voice that can speak for us on our behalf, many of us due to our conditions can not do so. But please dont let anyone take their lives.
It would break the hearts of their family and so many others.And mentally ill people or people with drug/alcohol dependencies being forced to share accommodation because they are under 25!??
Do they not realise what a torrent of misery and danger this will cause!!??- this is ridiculous.
Some people after the 12 months are up, dont have a partner who's income they can rely on. Many mentally ill people are totally isolated.
Just remember, this government will be out come the next election! Thank goodness.
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@Paul
Absolutely not Paul. The responses we had from our survey on psychological therapies earlier this year made clear the need for people having access to a wide range of evience based psychological therapies (and much broader than simply CBT) and we made this clear in our We need to talk report which came out last week. We're calling for commissioners of services to make sure they commission and offer a wide range of talking treatments. See: http://www.mind.org.uk/campaigns_and_issues/we_need_to_talk
@Joe
Sorry to hear that. Obviously we take these cuts very seriously and any impact of people with mental health problems is distressing. However, it's important that we continue to talk and try to work with government as this has resulted in changes and safeguards, not just in welfare but across all the different areas we work on. We're busy working out our campaigning activities on welfare reform ahead of the welfare reform bill and it may well be that alongside talking to government we may decide to take more direct action but this decision has to be based on what we think will have the most impact on getting a positive outcome for people experiencing mental distress. -
l kept wondering, if every household is rich and plenty of money in their pocket, who is going to serve who. who is going to vote for who to come to power. will there be any politicians.
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http://www.libdemgroup.lga.gov.uk/lga/aio/14461571
Lib dem document shows ESA contribution based work related group 12 months time limited starts 2012. If you have had ESA contribution based work related group for 12 months already in 2012 you lose it straight away at that point.
Paul
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In no way can this be construed as good news - the budget is going down and benefits are being slashed - voluntary's should not help in this cost cutting exercise - it is anti-service user and anti-worker. There should be a broad based campaign exposing the likely impact of this governments choice in attacking the poor and services, rather than the rich and banking system. It is not an opportunity, it is a disgrace. I worked/lived in a homeless shelter when the upside of the community care model saw people getting out of institutions I met those who slipped through the cracks. Those cracks are about to turn into chasms. We need to fight as never before, and beware opportunists who want to carve out an extension of work for themselves while wages go down, unemployment goes up and people are driven to dispair by a system that allows the most vulnerable to be struck of what are pitiful subsistance benefits as it is.
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We all need to pull together and look after each other. i fear there could be suicides due to the anxiety of all this we all need to get together and demand they look at this again, also the government needs to realise that not everyone with a mental illness can cope with returning to work i know in my situation i could not return to work and doing so could cause my condition to deterioate i can do a couple of hours voulantary work a week but anymore then i would become ill and overwhelmed and unable to cope and i for one would end up costing the economy more, as i have severe brittle asthma a severe non verbal learning disability which includes dyspraxia and a personality disorder and diabetes so what employer would possibly employ me as i would end being off sick more indeed since leaving school due to my disability i have been unable to hold down a job i am now 43 i am very anxious about the future and have contemplated sucidide.
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@Jackie
Thanks for commenting. We understand that, especially with the news yesterday, this is an extremely stressful time for people. If you are concerned that you may injure yourself, please do reach out for support - either to friends and family, the Mindinfoline or a crisis service like Samaritans.
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I find Mind's response very laid back.
It is difficult for people with mental health problems to get disability benefit. I assume that most people with mental health issues that prevent them from working get Incapacity/ESA.
I have been in receipt of IB for ten years and I will never be able to take up employment.
The idea of cutting ESA off after a year is to spend less on claims. They haven't even tried to pretend it's for any other reason.
In short, then, this is taking money out of the pockets of the mentally ill. Mind seems oblivious to this. Mind says "well, let's just see what happens."
People with mental health problems will have to look somewhere else if they want to be saved.
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There is no question that the 12 month limit on Contributory ESA will cause suicides. My partner and my self have already felt suicidal at this news and i very much fear for the future. Please Mind try and stop this cruel and nasty attack on claimants who have worked and paid NI tax etc and are now mentally ill. These politicians will have blood on their hands.
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IDS is on Channel 4 News as I write (21st October), interviewed by Jon Snow. They are actually talking about ATOS and the need for them to find enough people fit for work, so that they can keep the contract for assessing claimants.
They have reported on two women, one with breast cancer, who was declared fit for work just two weeks after a mastectomy and a second, with recurring MS who will be unable to afford some of the treatment that helps her condition, if, as she expects, she loses a large part of her benefit.
IDS has just suggested that there are people on IB who have never(?!) been assessed over the course of the last Labour administration (13 years)! He also says that ATOS are there to do "what we want" and that the system of assessments will be monitored during the trials that are taking place now. There is no indication that IDS accepts the premise that the way ATOS operates is questionable at the very least.
Apparently (and worryingly), he says, disability groups have made it clear that getting sick people back to work is very important and, as such, those of us who cannot work through illness will have a "work programme" "wrapped around us" because we are "special".
Now that ATOS has hit the mainstream media (for the first time as far as I know) is there any chance that MIND can take this further with Channel 4 News to prompt a full investigation of their operation and the way it affects those who fall foul of them? If so it would be an opportunity for our side of the story to be presented to the general public without the usual smears and vilification.
Welfare cuts - £18bn. Bank Tax - £2bn. Foreign Aid - increased. EU Membership - increased.
I don't know whether to laugh, cry, or throw up.
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This is what Parliament is to us
The country can no longer afford the luxury of carrying Tax Evasion cheats - the Fat Cats who hide behind Front-Bench coat-tails in the echelons of the Tory Party with Havens and life-styles incongruous with residency in this, Cameroon's banana republic. Persecutory measures victimising claimants is a smoke-screen that protects these miscreant Toffs, Wide-boys and Brigands and a drain on scarce resources for the disadvantaged and vulnerable in this squalid scape-goating of defenceless citizens. The Effrontery of Cameron and Osborne in humouring Establishment criminality wears thin as the country is held to ransom by this cow-boy coalition of turn-coats [ - Vince Cable of Mr. Bean fame], riddled with Malignant Mercenaries with no mandate to do a single thing, yet arrogate for themselves the right to decimate our economy and plunge us into a mire of misery and squalor. Time for some clear thinking and a sense of justice before we are all dragged down by this morally bank-rupt charade of bogus patriotism.
MEMPHASIS
http://hypoconcer.ning.com -
I agree with Jan's comment above.
I have been severely depressed and on Incapacity benefit for 10 years. Under the review I would lose this as my husband earns a reasonable salary.
My husband does not understand my condition at all, despite my previous hospitalisation, continuing dependence on antidepressants and major tranquillisers, and regular visits to my psychiatrist. He thinks I just dont try hard enough.
Whilst I am unlikely to starve, he will not be giving me any "pocket money" which means no new clothes/shoes/underwear, personal items, gifts for family/friends, travel or any activity which I may have undertaken independantly.
In the event of my condition remaining the same, my existance will become completely intolerable with no escape except suicide.
I am devestated that a previously productive and contributing member of society should be thrown onto the scrapheap like this.
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I understand that Mind has more than just the welfare reforms to campaign on, but I believe that if we got out there in public and campaigned, we could get some of these changes amended. Where is Mind in all this? Why aren't we seeing quotes from Mind in the media? Why aren't we seeing Mind placards at demonstrations? Why aren't we seeing stronger statements in support of us on this website?
The only group I've seen out there putting its name to a public campaign is Mad Pride (seen on the Birmingham conference demonstration). With all due respect to Mad Pride, they're a small group without the clout of Mind. Where was the Mind placard/banner?
I've just had my Mindlink newsletter asking me to pay to join Mind. If I join, will I be joining an organisation that's out there getting our voices heard and our needs addressed?
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I have suffered from a sever mental health illness for the past 25 years, I have been sectioned 12 times in the course of these years. In the past 10 years I have worked hard to try and get my life back on track, to the point where I’m now only dealing with my G.P for support but I am only just managing to keep my head above the water, and yes I do slip under but with help from family and friends I just manage to pull my head free. People with mental heath illness feel inadequate enough without now been persecuted because of their illness. After watching news reports of people with all sorts of illness and some with mental illness been turned down for benefits it's made me wonder why I tried so hard to get some sort of normality in my life and for what noting !! as its all going to be taken away, I know my mental state will deteriorate as this situation is playing havoc with my mind and all sorts of thoughts are running around my head. With my illness I feel persecuted already without them adding to it, I'm picturing going to another back to work test and it scares the life out of me, I have nothing to offer apart from been locked up in mental institutions and still on heavy antipsychotic meds. And when they ask what I have been diagnosed with you see it in their eyes ooooo we got a right one here. I have decided to day that I intend to hand in my keys for my council home before all this comes into action, and look for a single room, why ? I don't want to beg for my benefits, isn’t it bad enough that I feel a burden on society already, I fear that I won't be able to afford where I live and pay my bills. I didn't choose to be ill, but yet again I'm been kicked in the teeth because of it. And with the added insult of the government taken away the job’s from the very people I rely on, this situation is a ticking time bomb for people with mental illness, I think the very large mental hospitals they knocked down a few years back will need rebuilding or like my self who would never ever want to go back down that road will end up saying “ night, night thank you but no thank you”
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sorry but mind you are useless,
as we stand on the scafold with the noose around our necks i guess mind would say "it's not all bad news , you get a lovely view from up there !drop
my wife faces losing her national insurance contributions based incapacity benefit , when these rules become law
a drop in income of £4700 a year
We can hardly cope as it is now , talk about stress
how do you expect those with severe and enduring mental illness to survive these stupid changes
Dialogue with this government is useless , how many deaths of the people your supposed represent will it take before you do the right thing -
i write this from a personal point of view, on top of the chronic depression,mild tourettes, and aspergers, i have constant chronic pain from fibromialgia and i am unable to walk without crutch's and even then its only a few metres. i was told by a jobcenter disability adviser that it was very unlikely that i would ever be able to get another job because, mobility wise i would be a health and safety problem. i would not even be able to work in an upstairs office in case of fire, this hasn't stopped me trying but i just cannot find anything that i can physically and mentally do. these cuts are making me very ill, i already shake badly due to the tourettes and i pray each night that i will die in my sleep, but i am also a carer for my son who has apergers and learning problems and i hate to think what will happen to him. i don't think i can go on much longer.
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The comments are heart-breaking. What can Mind and its supporters do to turn all this round? People with enduring mental health conditions need financial stability and unconditional support.
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Like everyone who has commented, I am so scared about what will happen. I was told years ago that I would not be able to hold down a job, but I ignored that, got a part time job I really wanted a year ago and even though every day is a huge struggle to even want to get up and dressed, I have been pushing myself to do it. I have no energy for anything other than the 18 hour job, no social life at all, I come home exhausted and go back to bed. I can't manage shopping or cooking, I am afraid to go out of the door most days, but I have really tried. I can't make ends meet now, but it seems my tax credits and DLA will be cut, leaving me unable to pay my bills and spiralling into further debt.
I wonder why I have even tried. I had no future as it was other than a constant struggle to hold down a job way that is below my true capabilities because my mental health illness has ruined any chances I had. Now even that job is effectively being taken away from me. When the debt gets bad enough I won't be able to cope, end up back in hospital and trying to claim ESA. I can say this with convinction because it has happened before. I have no future.
MIND's reaction seems very dismissive. We count on NGOs to speak up for us. There doesn't seem to be much realisation of what this is really doing to people, so there's not much speaking up for us or action happening.
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I understand that everyone is upset and very angry about what might happen to us folk receiving benefits due to our mental health probs.
But why are people taking it out on MIND? In case you have all forgotten, the cuts have to be made and this being a right wing govt, they will of course go after the weakest and the poorest.
At times like this it is even more important to keep united and support the only organisations which are concerned about our welfare. Don't all start blaming MIND, otherwise we really will be forgotten. Who would we have if we didn't have MIND?
We should be getting together and making our voices heard, not accusing those who are helping of being 'useless.'
I urge everyone to please wait and let's see what MIND comes up with in the next few weeks. It's too early to understand what these cuts mean.
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Could Mind co-ordinate some kind of high profile event involving its network of local Mind associations?
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@ Cathy: I for one do not intend to 'blame' MIND, but I would like to see much more immediate action and protest, not an article using statements such as 'good news' and 'pleased to see' within the first 3 paragraphs. Extra access to psychological therapies is not good news to those of us about to lose everything because of these cuts. I think the focus of MIND's article was wrong.
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Mind we need protest not words. !! @ Patsy And & Chris, I totally agree we need protest and on a large scale, as 1 in every 4 persons has a mental health illness and with most needing help from carers and local support groups, I think it would only be right to march on parliament and for once in our lives make our self’s heard, we are fed up of been treated like second class humans, it's as if we have never counted and nor will. I have lost many friends to suicide and I not want to loose any more, nor do I want to be added to that list. I want to be heard, I want them to know what they are doing to us and what the outcome could be if this is not changed. I'm sick to the teeth feeling like a no body, and I know most with mental health illness feel this way, as its the illness that no one wants to talk about , apart from the people in the mental health circle.
So I'm asking mind are you going to set up a peaceful protest ? I want to be part of it as I know many others will, and if for nothing do it for those who can't leave their homes as they need to be heard.
People with mental health illness suffer enough, and have suffered enough, and for once I'm not going to stand by and watch, I can't I'll end up back in hospital or worse. I have to do something, and I hope Mind been the voice for people with mental illness comes good on this.
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"This benefit is specifically designed to help people get back to work"
how Vicki? Please could explain what support comes with it? -
Sorry Cathy, I have to agree with Chris and I have commented on this before. I came to these blogs when the changes were first announced because I knew that I would be unable to cope when they come. I thought that MIND would be proactive in its opposition to anything that worsens the mental health of the population of this country. I needed to know that someone was going to fight on my behalf and help to protect me from the disgusting rhetoric used by the coalition to justify their actions.
The thing is, we are united in our views and support but we are unable to speak out on our own. While I have no doubt that MIND exists to represent us and certainly does good work, it just seems that right now, when there are people here in fear of the future (some planning their exit), whatever they are doing is not enough.
I do acknowledge that MIND has spoken in the media recently but not exactly in the mainstream.
I have just seen Chris Grayling being interviewed and it's quite clear that he does not now and never will accept the devastating effects the coalition's policies are having. This man justifies the welfare cuts (bad) by balancing them against the Pupil Premium (good). He believes that providing a "service" elsewhere in the community compensates for the lack of income and support for the vulnerable.
They are not listening and the chats and "behind the scenes" work make no difference as the coalition plough ahead. They will shake your hand and smile and tell you how they understand but behind your back will laugh and carry on. See how Grayling responded to our questions and concerns as put to him by Paul Farmer.
http://www.mind.org.uk/blog/4050_weve_only_just_begun
Public opinion has been deliberately shifted against us. We are now the under-class and the campaign of mis-information must be challenged - publicly. As much as I/we would like to be able to march or shout to protest, I suspect most of us just cannot contemplate doing it - besides if you can raise your voice, you're "fit for work".
This is where we need MIND to do it for us. Newspapers, TV, banners - anything to inform the public and cause the coaltion to rethink their flawed policy.
Mental illness can affect anyone. The public need to be made to realise that it could happen to them.
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We have got to fight and pull together i would like to see these government ministers come out from behind their desks and meet us as they have no idea what it is like to be in our shoes and the struggle we face on a daily basis
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hi invalidity benefit and incapacity benefits even under mrs t were made harder to get with the pca,now new labour and this con dem gov want to take it a step further,when new labour first introduced esa it said that existing claiments would be protected,then they changed there mind and said everyone will be transfered to this new untested and harsh benefit and most of the charities did nothing in fact some thought it would help the disabled get into work,how wrong and naive they were as incapacity benefit pca was one of the toughest in europe.
I have always said that if it is to help sick and disabled it should always be on a voluntary basis not forced into mind bending psyco treatment we will not acceipt that way of being treated,some charities have also been making money for so called helping people back to work? where are all the jobs anyway there are 2.5 million ablebodied people unemployed who wants to take on people with personality disorders like me? one word if they want us to end up back in care it will cost them a lot more. -
Chris and Tinytim, I do not accept your dismissal of psychological therapies as small achievement.
Like many commenting on this blog, I’ve been on the brink, sectioned, a benefits claimant, medicated long-term, and so on: I understand the expressions of fear and anger in this thread. I now live a relatively ‘normal’ life, and without a doubt know this to be thanks to counselling, far and above any other support mechanism. I was and am (just) able to afford private counselling/therapy. The fact that the Government are offering this sort of lifeline to those who can’t currently afford it should neither be seen as an inevitable decision nor a waste of money.
There are so many elements of current social support strands for those with mental health problems that are currently at risk, which is worrying and not to be downplayed. However, please do not overlook or dismiss the life-saving quality of talking therapies.
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My view is MIND are being naive if they think they can influence this awful Government. Instead they are simply legitimising institutionalised prejudice and discrediting the charity.
The best thing they can do is make a public statement that the Government has lied in its commitment to the most vulnerable and also respond appropriately to the many statements made by minister that are prejudicial.
It seems bizarre that all that lottery cash went into Time To Change to fight discrimination and prejudice, when this Government has pushed back civil rights for people with mental distress by decades. It seems a waste of money!
What is the point in succeeding in educating thousands of people to understand and empathise with mental distress sufferers only for George Osborne to consider us all jobless due to "lifestyle".
It is time MIND openly challenges the prejudice of George Osborne.
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I have been helped through counselling, mindfulness, and other therapeutic activities including writing. A few years ago I attended a 12 session course of CBT and did appreciate some input on positive thinking etc. However, my therapist had to be very flexible in his approach because I was going through an extremely difficult period in my life and not able to respond to any kind of prescriptive structure. I have never found completing questionaires easy or particularly helpful, largely due to the fluctuating nature of my condition and not sure they should feature quite so highly.
Mind is right to continue its campaign for a full range of therapeutic interventions, but questions have to be asked about the whole ethos of CBT or any other IAPT scheme that is funded and driven by the 'back to work' government agenda. I have left countless jobs due to bouts of illness triggered by work related stress and unable to cope with any kind of pressure where work is concerned.
For many people employment is not a realistic option - impossible to find or sustain.
I am sick of one's self esteem or 'value in society' being constantly linked to the job you do. It is unfair and deeply upsetting for people who contribute in all sorts of ways whilst coping the best they can with debilitating mental/physical illness
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kate it may work for you but not everybody as some of us just want to be left alone with no hassle i have had thses so called talking therapies and they did not help me only made my condition worse,also as said they should be voluntary as i have had in the past,its the being forced or lose benefits that is the most worrying.
Can you talk about becoming able again i do not think so,its them problems due to work that some of us are disabled mental and physical.
Some clever dicks out there think its helpful to take benefits away if you do not co-operate as in compulsion which has the opposite reaction in me. -
Thanks everyone for joining the debate this week. We have temporarily closed the comments on this post as we will not be able to moderate them over the weekend. Commenting will reopen on Monday morning.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/oct/23/benefits-trap-government-reform-welfare
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/new-scheme-a-drop-in-the-ocean-for-disabled-people-2114967.html
There is no support -
CBT and talking therapies are a complete waste of time, and are tantamount to patronising drivel.
The thing that is making people depressed more than anything I would imagine, is the proposed cuts in benefits which in their current form could make thousands of people homeless, including many with mental health problems. What is the use of talking therapies and CBT in this situation? Is it going to make the individual feel any better about their own particular circumstances? Is it going to make people feel better about being thrown out of their home as a result to the savage and draconian cuts in welfare? I think not!
So come on Mind get into the real world, because unless society changes for the better which isn't going to happen, no amount of talking therapy is going to make the slightest bit difference to most people suffering mental health problems.
By the way, this is from someone who has suffered mental health problems for almost fifty years, and has tried all the available therapies that you could mention with only limited success..
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I agree most therepy's sadly are just not a miracle cure - they can help but often cant cure.
I also think we need mind's help at the moment so shouldn't be taking it all out on them.
i always thought everyone's criticism of their advertising campaign was ungrateful - if that advert was still running now, think how helpful it would be.
What should be highlighted, similar to age UK's campaign, is that mental illness can happen to anyone (As everyone gets old)
Not just depression, but post traumatic stress for example.
we need to highlight that one in four people suffer mental health problems in their life, it could be anyone in anyone's family/friends.
people with mental health problems can not work if they are very ill.
I just hope that no one does commit suicide - we have to fight this, and this is a good fight and an honest one - we have nothing to be ashamed about and we wont let them forget it.
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I have long-term mental health problems and have taken the trouble to keep myself well informed about the welfare reforms, starting with those brought in by Labour, and continuing with those being brought in by the Coalition.
The original version of the WCA for ESA was a nightmare for people with mental illness, and the new version, which has been agreed upon by all parties, but not yet brought in, will make it virtually impossible to get ESA for mental illness.
Where has Mind been whilst these reforms have been going through the system? Why aren't you out there publicly speaking out against these changes?
I have little hope that not having spoken out on ESA and the WCA, Mind will speak out over the cuts in contributory ESA, housing benefit and council tax benefit.
When I log on, I want to read quotes by Mind on all the major news sites. When I turn the radio on, I want to hear quotes by Mind. I want you out there issuing press release after press release, telling it how it is for mentally ill people.
Grassroots disability campaigns are growing, but we also need the big players to speak out for us. Come on, Mind, stand up for us.
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I am not an authority on Human Rights law, however it would seem that limiting ESA entitlement to one year could be challenged through the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) under article (8) - Right to respect for private and family life, and article (4.2) No one shall be required to perform forced or compulsory labour, with particular attention to the matter of avoidable hardship.
It would be very useful if someone could explore this more, perhaps talk with a Human Rights Lawyer.
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No means testing for pensions so millionaires could get a state pension whilst people on JSA lose 10% of their housing benefit after 12 months, and Vodaphone owes 6 billion in unpaid taxes.
How is this remotely fair?
They don't want anyone who's not working living in 'affluent' areas in social housing so presumably this is because anyone who's unemployed or disabled is so dispicable for ever having gained social housing in a nice area they need to be reminded of what undeserving scum they are. I am ashamed of this country. -
where is the RCP and RCN on all this? Their members will be dealing with the fall out more than anyone else, where are they?
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The Welfare Cuts will bring despair and misery to thousands. There will be suicides. People will be made destitute There will be thousands of personal tragedies. We are on the brink of a Social Disaster, a level of Social Injustice not seen in this Country since the before last World War. But the Government does not care. If you cannot work, for any reason whatsoever, you are of no use and cannot expect any support or to be paid any benefits. You will be vilified as a scrounger. You have no defence. The Media Machine has made sure that no one is on your side. Shame on the Government for this disgrace and God help us all.
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