The first thing said to me at Ingeus by
the advisor I was seeing after the usual greetings was this and I
quote;
“The file sent to us states your
disabled and unable to work”
That’s news to
me.
In all my dealings
with the Jobcentre Plus and Department for Work & Pensions at no
time did they tell me they had classified me as disabled, it was
always stated as 'sick and unable to work'.
What’s the
difference? Well to me the words sick and disability have different
implications, sick is temporarily and disability is permanent.
It looks as though
now depression can be classified as a disability in certain
circumstances
(http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/HealthAndSupport/MentalHealth/DG_10023351)
“Many people with a mental health
condition do not think of themselves as 'disabled' - but they may
have rights supported by the Disability Discrimination Act.”
Certainly there is
a need for those of us who have a mental health issue to have rights
which protect us from discrimination (or attempt to address the
discrimination anyway).
When I have
encountered the question on application forms “do you consider
yourself to have a disability” I always answer no and will continue
to do so regardless of what the DWP or anyone else say.
Why?
If your mental illness affects your
ability to carry out day-to-day activities then you are likely to be
covered by the Disability Discrimination Act.
The trouble with
the above statement is (in my case only) my mental illness does not
always affect my day-to-day activities, usually the only time
it does is when it is a severe episode.
These are not
common anymore and the recurrence of them during a 12 month period is
not guaranteed to happen, the trigger for them to occur takes
considerable and enduring levels of stress. If they (the DWP, JCP
etc.) try 'well this is the reason we class you as disabled because
stress could lead to another episode' then in my opinion they will be
classifying everyone as disabled, stress is a part of life who
doesn't deal with stress in this world?
So for me
classifying me as disabled is an insult to those who are truly
disabled and to be clear I am only speaking for myself here, in no
way am I saying that others who have depression/mental health issues
are not disabled either, that determination in my opinion is down to
the individual.
Not some faceless
bureaucrat.
20th
July the journey continues.