{"id":760646,"date":"2026-07-13T16:15:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T16:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/760646\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T16:15:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T16:15:10","slug":"i-rely-on-pip-for-my-mental-health-restricting-it-would-cause-bigger-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/760646\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I rely on Pip for my mental health \u2013 restricting it would cause bigger problems\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u201cWithout Pip … I’d just be indoors, I wouldn’t do anything, and I’d really struggle,\u201d says Paul Harris. \u201cIt gives us that little bit of independence, and I think that\u2019s the biggest thing for me\u201d.<\/p>\n

The 46-year-old long-distance runner suffers from anxiety and depression, and has claimed the Personal Independence Payment (Pip)<\/a> since 2017 to help manage his condition.<\/p>\n

With four million claimants, it is the UK\u2019s most-claimed health and disability related benefit. But a landmark report from disability minister Sir Stephen Timms<\/a> this week found that Pip is \u201cno longer fit for purpose\u201d in modern Britain.<\/p>\n

One of the reasons for this is its inflexibility in handling the rise in \u201cfluctuating conditions\u201d, its authors write, especially those relating to mental health like depression, anxiety and ADHD.<\/a><\/p>\n

Data from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) shows that, of the UK\u2019s 4 million Pip claimants, 1.56 million (39 per cent) have conditions relating to mental health, now making them the largest cohort in receipt of the benefit.<\/p>\n

This has coincided with a rapid increase in claims since 2019, rising from 2.05 million in January that year to 4.01 million in April 2026. Spending on Pip over this time has more than doubled from \u00a315 billion, to around \u00a332 billion in 2025\/26.<\/p>\n

But for claimants like Mr Harris, getting the support to which he is entitled proved very difficult. After successfully claiming the benefit for two years, he was called for a reassessment in 2019 where his award was dropped to zero, beginning a two-year legal battle in the midst of the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\"PaulPaul Harris, 46, says \u201cthere was just no real care\u201d at his Pip reassessment (Paul Harris \/ Mind)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing I found was that there was just no real care,\u201d Mr Harris recalls.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou felt more like a number or a form than you did a human being. I went to these assessments and you’re just there in a room with a person who’s literally firing questions at you and typing away on a computer, not even engaging properly.\u201d<\/p>\n

His assessor reported meeting a \u201ccalm, relaxed person\u201d, who did not need any help with their daily living.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s all so targeted towards physically what you can do, rather than how it impacts you mentally,\u201d says Mr Harris, \u201cnot really being able to go out, not really being able to socialise, all those things … if it\u2019s just a mental illness that you’ve got, it makes it so harder to actually claim\u201d.<\/p>\n

He was forced to take his case to a top-tier tribunal, where the DWP<\/a> ultimately conceded the case within five minutes of the online hearing. His is one of around three-quarters of Pip<\/a> decisions that are overturned at the tribunal stage.<\/p>\n

Amongst items that help with his mental health<\/a> like running shoes, Mr Harris says he uses his Pip to fund private counselling sessions after exhausting the NHS’s restricted talking therapies.<\/p>\n

Another Pip claimant, Mike, 44, lives with severe ADHD, depression, and PTSD. He explains that he uses his Pip award to fund specialist appointments and medication.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government is essentially paying me Pip to manage my mental health because the NHS can\u2019t cope,\u201d Mike says.<\/p>\n

According to the British Medical Association (BMA), mental health services in England faced a backlog of 1.7 million people in 2025, following a 37 per cent rise in psychiatric referrals since pre-pandemic baselines.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe review is being led by disability minister Sir Stephen Timms (PA Archive)<\/p>\n

Responding to the Timms review\u2019s point on fluctuating conditions, both claimants agree that the system could be redesigned to understand fluctuating conditions, but are wary of this meaning a cut or restriction to their entitlement.<\/p>\n

“We need to treat people on their worst days, not their best days,” argues Mike, who has worked with the Money and Mental Health charity in its research.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we’re going to means-test people, you can’t means-test them on their best day.\u201d<\/p>\n

No final recommendations have been made, but mental health charities have warned that the findings must not be used to justify removing or restricting the benefit for those struggling with these conditions.<\/p>\n

Sir Stephen\u2019s review was announced last year after ministers backed down on proposals <\/a>to tweak the Pip assessment criteria to make it effectively harder to claim \u2013 and slash \u00a34.8bn from welfare spending in the process.<\/p>\n

One of the key criticisms of the plan was that the new criteria would have particularly impacted claimants with mental health conditions, who are less consistently able to demonstrate how this affects their daily living.<\/p>\n

Responding to the interim review, Mind CEO, Dr Sarah Hughes CBE, said: \u201cThe report echoes what we hear every day: that the Pip system is dehumanising, stressful and damages trust.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPip is a lifeline for people who, through no fault of their own, live with the additional costs of mental illness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo as this work progresses, it\u2019s vital that, alongside improving the process, we also recognise that in a decent society we must support those facing additional need.\u201d<\/p>\n

A government spokesperson said:\u201cThe central conclusion of the Timms Review Interim Report is clear: PIP is no longer fit for purpose. The review\u2019s final recommendations are due this autumn and will lay the foundation for deep, sustainable reform.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are investing a record \u00a316.1 billion in NHS mental health services this year to ensure every person gets the mental health support they need as early as possible and have met our target to hire 8500 more mental health workers, three years early.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe forthcoming independent review into the prevalence and support for ADHD, autism, and mental health conditions will make recommendations to ensure that people get the right care in the right setting, as well as how the diagnosis of these conditions could be managed better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":760647,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[97,259,260],"class_list":["post-760646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=760646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/760647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=760646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=760646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=760646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}