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Been signed off sick for two months. Being on benefits isn't always wrong
Laura P
Posts: 1,253 Forum Member
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(This got a bit long, sorry. Please skip if tl:dr, I just had to vent)
Some might remember me posting about getting a job in Sainsbury's over Christmas and being let go after four days because I couldn't cope with the pressure. I've always had mental health issues but things have taken a really bad turn again and I've been signed off sick for two months. I know people like to benefit bash here but I think it's important to remember that the system is there for people who actually NEED it. Yes, there are cheats, but there are also people like me who simply can't function within the social norms for whatever reason and for us these benefits are a vital safety net.
Today, I was diagnosed with phobic anxiety. You can bet I'd rather have a "normal" life with a 9 - 5 job and a place of my own, but it's a fact that I'm currently very unwell. Do you know what it's like to be 28 and ill enough that you aren't able to live a proper quality of life and then to be demonised all the time in the media and by the goverment? It's rubbish. Really, really rubbish.
This post is kind of an open letter to those who want benefits to be scrapped because of a portion of people who abuse the system. Please rethink your beliefs, and think before you have a go at everyone who is on benefits. Every claimant has a story and while there are the liars and the fraudsters who are an utter embarrassment, why judge every claimant by the bad apples? Why not look at the good things benefits do for people instead? It's sad that as a society we always race to the bottom when it comes to how we judge people and their situations.
Some might remember me posting about getting a job in Sainsbury's over Christmas and being let go after four days because I couldn't cope with the pressure. I've always had mental health issues but things have taken a really bad turn again and I've been signed off sick for two months. I know people like to benefit bash here but I think it's important to remember that the system is there for people who actually NEED it. Yes, there are cheats, but there are also people like me who simply can't function within the social norms for whatever reason and for us these benefits are a vital safety net.
Today, I was diagnosed with phobic anxiety. You can bet I'd rather have a "normal" life with a 9 - 5 job and a place of my own, but it's a fact that I'm currently very unwell. Do you know what it's like to be 28 and ill enough that you aren't able to live a proper quality of life and then to be demonised all the time in the media and by the goverment? It's rubbish. Really, really rubbish.
This post is kind of an open letter to those who want benefits to be scrapped because of a portion of people who abuse the system. Please rethink your beliefs, and think before you have a go at everyone who is on benefits. Every claimant has a story and while there are the liars and the fraudsters who are an utter embarrassment, why judge every claimant by the bad apples? Why not look at the good things benefits do for people instead? It's sad that as a society we always race to the bottom when it comes to how we judge people and their situations.
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These people, the "libertarians" alike, are a selfish wealthy bunch who never knows what real sufferings are like.
You are not taking the piss, so what would your story show to these people?
It's still an attitude that can put the genuine on edge, just 'cause that's what anxiety can do to your mind.
I mainly just wanted to vent, which I have done, but maybe even those who start the troll type bashing threads might think twice. I can dream.
Exactly - that is after all, why they exist, to help people in genuine need.
I don't think people should not have the right to take issue with benefit fakers because it might upset genuine people such as yourself.
Oh, I'm not trying to censor people - sorry if it comes across that way. I'm just simply asking people to think a bit more before they post on this issue...I don't see the harm in that.
Well no, sort of, not sure. I'm not thinking you are a bad person or anything like that, I just....I think you are taking it personally when there is no need. People mostly have a problem the people who are undeserving, not people who are genuine.
I guess what I am trying to explain (badly) is there is no reason to identify yourself as being in the group referred to in such threads.
Its like if someone said "I hate old men" and I said "I'm a man and I'm not old, why don't you like me?". I'm nothing to do with the group they were moaning about.
Anyway, I don't think I am explaining this well and I also know anxiety is not at all logical.
Rather then learning to deal with "pressure" :rolleyes:, going on the "social" becomes the easy alternative. As with most easy solutions there is a down side. The very LAST thing someone who is mentally ill wants is to be stuck at home dependent on others. It makes the situation worse, and contributes to the problem. It breaks my heart to see what the welfare state has done.
Of course I am not suggesting that people should starve, which is why rather than "free money", we bring back working for benefit {not minimum wage, simply for benefit} for the long term unemployed.
Yes only people who have been on benefits have ever experienced 'real suffering.'....
"Bring back"? It was never there. Having long-term unemployed is just as natural part of having millionaires within our economic system.
I was waiting for someone like you to crop up. Surprised it took this long, to be honest! Hope you feel better about yourself now you've got what bothers you off your chest.
Can I ask, have you ever been mentally ill or been close to anyone who is mentally ill?
Work can make mental illnesses worse.For some people it can be a way to escape your depression for 8 hours a day but not for everyone.
You try working in a job when you're struggling to cope with the pressure on top of the depression, and idiot employers who make out there is nothing wrong with you. You slowly go downhill until you're at the point of a nervous breakdown.
Long term benefits might not help in the long run, but for the short term while you're getting help they're a godsend.
Exactly. For some people, being at home would be the worst thing possible to help them get well but for others it could be the one thing stopping them from spiralling to the point of no return.
I certainly don't want a life on benefits (but I'm not about to judge anyone who is a long term claimant apart from the obvious fakers) but if I'd continued with my current routine I don't like to think of what might have happened.
Mental illness and what is the best treatment can't be generalised. It can be wildly different from person to person. People who make sweeping statements about "sitting around at home" are simply ignorant, I'm afraid.
I welcome different opinions and debates or I wouldn't have started the thread at all because obviously you are going to get disagreement whatever you post on the internet. But to act like you know what is best for every mentally ill person out there is going to lead to you being accused of ignorance, which I've done.
The last thing someone with Mentaly ill would want is the fear of "is this going to be my life from now on?". So as long as things are clear that "free money" is only short term, then that short time on benefits will be better for them.
I think the trouble is there is so much emphasis on the unworthy benefit scrounger that a stigma has been attached to anyone who needs to access welfare from the State in order to survive.
I think the worst idea in the world is to scrap benefits altogether, but there needs to be something put into place to ensure the people claiming are not trying to cheat the system!
I do know what is best for the country, and handing out free money is NOT it. The proof can be seen up and down the country. At the same time of giving money, we are also taking dignity, this is the last thing mentally ill people need.
It is not free money,if you pay taxes before you claim.
Have you ever been mentally ill or suffered from depression?
That's a mighty big claim.
Seems to me that there are very few pople who do not get some sort of free money from the government. Is all of it wrong, every last penny?