I don't see myself as manic. I certainly don't do any of the showboating things a lot of people seem to be posting online.
But I did do this today. I emailed a response to an article in the News of the World.
I worry it was a bit.... nutty.
what do you guys think?
Dear Mr. Wight douglas.wight@notw.co.uk
Why are you calling me a cheat in '7 Billion Benefits Scamdal?'
I am on ESA for Depression and Anxiety. But I was claiming JSA and looking for work for the past year, one of the worst years of my life. I lost my job, my wife nearly died.....
I was aggressive at the Jobcentre and deeply unhappy. They suspected I was Bipolar, and I am still waiting for a diagnosis, but I was still told I was not entitled to JSA any longer, even though I am meant to be the sole provider for my wife and three children. So I had to go to the Doctor and she wrote me up as suffering Depression and Anxiety... You state that this is one of the highest growing problems in the system, well YEAH, in the current economic climate I don't doubt it. But ESA does not exist to allow people to not apply for work, and depression is not a harmless thing, as the cut mark on my arm illustrates amply.
Why are you mentioning people like myself alongside the thieves and con-artists? When you talk about money that is owed I bet you are getting your figures from this reckoning based on faulty medical assessments. Yes thats right, because I have improved a lot I was marked off as ok to return to the jobcentre. GOOD! That was what I wanted, and I want WORK. But they then asked me for the last payment back and stopped my money until I put in an appeal. But, I said, I didn't want to appeal, cos if I was better I was better. This met deaf ears, and I was told I owe 160 quid. Yep thats even though would have had to be at the jobcentre claiming JSA if I wasn't on ESA.
So where exactly was my family meant to be getting the help from? I've had interview after interview but every time I get rejected I end up throwing my phone and feeling like I want to die.... It's got to the point with the mood swings and misery that I'm on the cusp of being diagnosed bipolar, a condition from which people KILL THEMSELVES. I feel like I'm wasting my life, and I'd give anything to be something like a journalist but I wasted my time training to become a teacher and watched the bottom fall out of my life.
The ESA appeals process and the misery I feel has put me back weeks, and I feel like I'm going to explode every two minutes. But never mind eh, even though I can't a job in a NEWSAGENT with 2.1 degree, I should be happy to be insulted in the pages of your paper?
Please feel free to explain to me why you saw fit to strongly imply that my condition is akin to blisters, or a bad back.
And finally... Do you realise that I still apply for just as much work when on ESA as when on JSA, and that I meet with Remploy regularly, and I'm volunteering for work to gain experience in other fields?
Most people on ESA are just as desperate to work as everyone else and are trying to. Is there any chance you could print the truth alongside this homage to imaginary scapegoats within the country? I didn't know I was reading the Daily Mail.
Robert Lyons
Worcester
