ESA and mental health

Hi all,

Having already posted the link below elsewhere - I later thought that actually perhaps we should have a separate thread on mental health and ESA.  I know that this is a serious concern for both client and adviser alike.

Please see a couple of very interesting Guardian articles and video to get things started:

‘Mental health of benefit claimants is put at risk by welfare reform’:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/jun/20/mental-health-benefit-claimants-risk?newsfeed=true

‘Breadline Britain’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/series/breadline-britain

‘Human cost of welfare reform’ (9 min video)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/video/2012/jun/20/human-cost-of-welfare-reform-video

I think that where possible, there needs to be a concerted social policy effort by local agencies to raise awareness of these types of issues, including pressure on local authorities and other local services to prepare for the steady flow of tragedy that is coming their way thanks to poorly managed welfare reforms.

Eri