can you be signed off work long-term for medical reasons but not qualify do disability living allowance?

@Baby Sparkle

"mental health is not classed as a disability, you can walk, talk and function fully 100%, so i doubt you would be entitled to DLA"

Do you know this for a fact? Because that's not true and the DLA would state that's not true.

My partner has mental health problems and cannot walk talk or function 100 per cent. Otherwise he would be in work and I wouldn't need to shovel sh&t and blood from his backside or clean up puke, and p%ss or deal with the rages, self harm, the terrible side effects of anti depressants, the terrible state of the mental health system and I wouldn't be on £1 an hour! He also has Gord (reflux disease) hence the puking and sh&t and also has to have his foreskin cut off due to not being able to look after himself and getting an infection (hence the p&ss) getting a blood clot and nearly having a stroke at age 27, being on warferin and heparin injections daily along with weekly clinic blood checks. ALong with being passed like some package no one wants between the different psychiatric and mental health departments, therapy and counselling services. You do this in my world for a week and then come back to me and spout that mental heath isn't a dissability :0)

DLA CAN be claimed by people with MENTAL Illness and it IS classed as a disability depending on what the problem is and how the problem effects the person on a day to day basis. My partner's aunt also has a mental health problem and IS classed as disabled. her kids were taken off her for a few years!

As for the asker : Go ahead and fill in the forms for DLA. You can but try. Answer honestly and don't be modest about what you do or how you cope. Alot of people say oh I get by really, when this is not ok and not how it really is (My mother in law is like that :0)

Even if the DLA is low level you can still get it. Also just because you have a bus pass doesn't mean you function or can get out. My partner has one and so do I. But he's a mess and I still need him to have travel for when we do need to go out to a clinic. This travel reduction has been a vital source to us, as we are both young too!

Poeple who are healthy may have got a low level part of DLA due to say being deaf (My half brother apparently gets DLA for this, and my other half brother gets a small sum for his severe Aspergers)

It's not a one size fits all. So yes you may be able to get some component of DLA.

If you need anyone or want any other info, please feel free to contact me :0) Good Luck and don't let the system get you down.

Hope you get the help you need.

Edit: Geriann81 - Thanks for your support :0) Sorry your going through a rough time too (Hugs) xx

Its true also about panic attacks! Not nice in public either.

I ahve also just been reading a link someone gave me about "hidden" Disabilities. Very helpful and shocking to read some of the stories. Don't want to make you feel even worse or anything but it made my partner feel a little better today.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.htm...

Not just for money tips but has TONS of info in the threads and subjects about benefits and all sorts.

Also check out the mental health boards on here, I found them helpful. They can be a bit depressing as it's hard enough dealing with your own mental health lol but sometimes we both feel better by reading others that feel the same way.

Sorry for the long post by the way lol I feel rather passionateley about these things :0)

Yes. My mum is 53 and has been unable to work now for 5 years. She gets incapacity benefit which is about £84 a week but doesn't qualify for DLA. What a joke and shes been told she is unlikely to get back to work from the doctor but yet cant claim DLA. Theres loads of people getting DLA and they are able to work and some do! so doesnt make sense

Yes. DLA is discretionary and dependent upon the age of the applicant.

In the first instance you should claim sickness benefit, then incapacity. If DLA is granted you may also get Income Support.

But the definitions of how able, or unable, people are to work is changing. Maybe you can't do physically demanding work, but can you use a computer? Even people who are wheelchair bound can work.

You can also claim disability working allowance and remain in work.

DLA is weird. You may not be fit to work and go on income support or whatever but you may not need the additional DLA which some people need for travelling expenses or fuel or whatever extra costs are associated with living in their shoes. Interestingly i used to know a woman who worked full time at the job center who managed to qualify for some patheticlly small amount of DLA.

mental health is not classed as a disability, you can walk, talk and function fully 100%, so i doubt you would be entitled to DLA. If you have applied for incapacity benefit but you say your not entitled to it because of NI contributions, then they should be paying them for you so that your entitled to your state pension when you retire. so to say your entitled is wrong, they will not give you cash payments thats all.

They are making it harder for people to get long term benefits because of the level of fraud, otherwise everyone could run around in the rain int heir pyjamas claiming to have mental problems and get handouts from everywhere

Depends on how dependant you are on the care of others,,,I should imagine that as you have a bus pass you get out quite a bit which would prevent you from getting D.L.A. as you are capable of independent living...people who receive D.l.a.usually have to have a carer with them to prevent self harm...perhaps you dont fall in to this category...but it is worth appealing a refused claim as 80% of those who do are accepted on appeal. with mental health problems who receive D.L.A.

yes you can even be medically retired but not get a medical pension. people screw you over for money when they can.