Guilt about DLA

Albus Dumbledore · 14-12-2014, 08:14 PM

Okay, so i was awarded middle rate care DLA for 2 years and it was sue to run out next February. They sent me the forms to reapply and I filled them out. Doing so caused a lot of anxiety and whether I was downplaying my issues, or making them seem worse. I had horrible anxiety about it whilst I was waiting to hear back from them and that they would decrease or stop my payments.
Yesterday I got a letter from them and after I'd got up the courage to open it, I realised that they will be increasing my money, keeping me on middle rate care and low rate mobility (probably due to my agoraphobia), and that it's been awarded for the next 5 years. I feel relieved that it's all been sorted, but now I'm feeling really bad guilt that I'm a drain on society and that I don't deserve it. I'm even worrying that I might have lied on the forms and that I'm committing benefit fraud.
I'm not really sure how to cope with this, and could really use some advice on how to go about working through these feelings.

sherlock holmes · 14-12-2014, 08:37 PM

I experience the exact same anxiety when filling out forms for benefits. I am about to notify DLA of my worsening mental health but I keep panicking about it and whether I'm exaggerating or not.

I think that in these times where it's getting harder to get benefits (because of the small minority who have cheated the system in the past) then if you have been awarded anything then it comes after a lot of scrutiny from the benefits department, and is very unlikely that you've just made it up or exaggerated.

Albus Dumbledore · 14-12-2014, 09:07 PM

Thank you,
I just found out that my younger brother (who has learning disabilities and autism) wasn't awarded any of the mobility component when my mum tried to apply for him a few years ago, and am now feeling even worse because he is clearly in more need of it than me. It's all been sorted out now as the manager of the home he lives in knows how to fill out the forms the way they need to be filled out, but I'm still feeling bad and wish I could have helped my mum when she was trying to get it sorted out.
I was trying to work out the function of this emotion, but since it's founded on my thoughts (which I'm hoping are wrong), I'm struggling. I really find the more irrational thoughts and feelings almost impossible to work through as there is no clear logical path to take.