Mental health petition needs your signature
Foreword by Liz Lockhart
Mental Healthy has been approached by Pat’s Petition in the hope that our visitors will read about the work which it 
is doing. We are totally in favour of any work which improves the lives and treatment of everyone suffering from any mental health condition and hope that by publishing this we can help vulnerable voices be heard. Opinions below are that of Pat’s Petition.
Pat’s Petition motivation: The government’s cuts to sickness and disability benefits coupled with the cuts to services are having a devastating effect on people with mental health problems and consequently their carers. While the reforms set out in the Welfare Reform Bill have been deemed not to be working for people with symptoms of mental distress by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, a shortfall in local authority funding has meant that people with mental illness who have been in receipt of statutory services for many years, have been discharged and left without any support. In addition, charities supporting sick and disabled people have also been hit by cuts to local authorities and funding organisations.
The mental health charity, Mind, have found that nearly half of people claiming incapacity benefits have a mental health problem. However, capability for work is not the clear-cut issue that the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) would have us believe and Rethink Mental Illness is concerned that current benefit assessments fail to understand the reality of what it is really like living with a mental illness.
Although, in our opinion, the WCA is not a fair or effective tool to determine whether or not someone with mental health problems is capable of working, this is even more apparent now that the number of descriptors within mental health have been reduced by a third. These measures seemingly target those who suffer from depression, stress and anxiety; conditions which can be extremely debilitating but may not be seen as such by more healthy individuals.
The vast majority of people who undergo the WCA are placed in the Work Related Activity Group, and with its sanctions and time limits, we believe it is not taking account of the vulnerability of people to undue pressure; something that people with mental health problems may be more disposed to than most. While we may have supposed that genuine claimants would be protected, to our shock, this has turned out not to be the case.
It feels as though the government is not listening to us nor is it listening to the disability charities representing us. This situation is previously unknown to such organisations who are also reeling from the shock and telling us, their members, that it has never been as bad as this.
Pat’s Petition is a grassroots petition giving people with illness and disabilities of all kinds a way of fighting back and a chance to make their voice heard. The petition is led by a small group of friends, all disabled and/or carers, some with mental health challenges, although the welfare benefit changes go right across the spectrum of disability.
We need 100,000 signatures to apply for a debate in Parliament to stop and review the cuts to our benefits and services. Please don’t think that your signature will not make a difference, because it will. Every single signature matters. However we do not have a great deal of time. Please sign the petition and be counted!
If you would like to sign the petition you can do so by clicking here.
