The DSP form for my doctor doesnt even have impairment table

[highlander4000]

Hi guys

Im new, i have been on antipsychotic medication for a year now and centrelink gave me dsp forms to give to my doctor.
There were no impairment tables for him to rate me, just a medical report that he has to fill out.

He has diagnosed me as schizophrenic

In the question "within the next two years the effect of this condition on the patients ability to function is expected to.....
he ticked "uncertain"

in the question "the impact of this condtiion on the patients ability to function is expected to persist for..."
we wrote "uncertain"

But i think you have to tick "for more than 24 months" to get the DSP

He also writes that i have had the delusions for over ten years.

Im just worried that they are going to reject it based on the fact he hasnt ticked the "more than 24 months" boxes.

How could they reject a person with schizophrenia which everyone knows is a lifetime disorder and the most debilitating of all the mental disorders, based on the fact that he hasnt ticked a box. I know of people who get the dsp for post traumatic stress disorder and they dont take any medication, yet ill guarantee they will find a way to keep me on newstart allowance because he hanst ticked these boxes.

Im putting my form in today, ill update when i get my centrelink response.
thanks for all the good articles guys.

[Banjo]

Centrelink do not include the impairment tables with the form, they use them to assess you on your doctor's report and the information they already hold.

We advise people to ask their doctor if they are aware of them and if not, to take a copy; they can be downloaded from links on this site.

Welcome to the board and good luck with your application.

[highlander4000]

I have my centrelink assessment on tuesday. Im nervous, i dont trust them, they'll give me a male i know and he will try and come on to me. do i have to be alone in the room with one person or are there two?. my biggest problem is i cant go to the toilet in public unless im drunk cause i get followed by gay men. i survived for years by drinking at work or work for the dole but my liver is shit now and i know its illegal to be drunk at work, but my brain doesnt let me urinate in public unless im intoxicated. im not looking forward to this. i might have to drink alcohol before i go, ill write back and tell you how it goes.

[Deleted]

I recently was granted the pension for mental illness and some physical issues under the new impairment tables and it was a long battle which took several applications and appeals. My understanding is that any issues need to diagnosed, treated and stabilized plus they must be expected to persist for more than 2 years....so your doctor hasn't really done you any favors by ticking "uncertain".

Are you seeing a Psychologist or Psychiatrist? A GP report only goes so far with Centrelink, what really helps is reports from specialists. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Also be aware that the Liberal scum are reportedly taking aim at people on DSP with mental illness, they seem to think that our lives aren't really a living hell and we're just work dodgers enjoying the high life.

Good luck.

[Banjo]

Good luck with the assessment highlander, when you get there explain your fears to the assessing officer.
I've found that most are female and generally sympathetic while working within the constrictions of the impairment tables.

[highlander4000]

Well i cant remember what happened. I rememmber buying rum on the way to the interview, i remembber leaving centrelink while waiting so i could get more rum and the ladies looking at me strangely, then coming back. i remember vomiting in the fortitude valley toilets after the interview and i remember falling asleep on the side of the road about three times, one time having a lady ask if i was alright. i thinik i remember the job capacity lady saying something negative about my application, ill have to wait and see. ill let you know how it goes.

[highlander4000]

thanks Banjo, yes sickside i see a clinical psychiatrist at the RBWH oncea month to get my medications and also see a psychologist there once every two weeks. i think, shes my case manager or something. ive never been hospitalised, id never put myself in a position to be as my brain doesnt let me go to the toilet in public. i urinate in bottles in my room. i take anti depressants and antipsychotics. i think i got so drunk because of mixing alcohol with the antipsychotics. But i didnt want to talk about all my private stuff with a stranger, it took me ten years to get the courage to go to a psychiatrist and i was very drunk when i would attend those meetings. My reasoning for not being able to work is that im a danger to people if i go to work forthe dole drunk and it puts me in a position of going to jail if i cause an accident while drunk, and i cant urinate at work unless  im drunk. Its excrutiating to have a full bladder and not be abel to urinate. theres a partofmy brain that likes to torture me. he would let my bladder explode before lettingme urinate. but when im drunk i can kind of bypass him, but the process leads to a very red face and the worry that im going to cause myself an aneurysm, because i have to squeeze super hard as though im really constipated.  I think i have PTSD, but the psychiatrist wrote schizophrenia on my application, which i dont agree with.

[highlander4000]

centrelink gave me $666 last fortnight, noone ever gives $666, they work for satan, i knew i cant trust them. 7 weeks now, i just talked to her, she said they havnt started looking at it yet. my claim i mean.

[highlander4000]

no word from centrelink on my case yet, its been over 2 months since i gave them my forms. my psychiatrist is onhoiday so i had to see another one,he wanted to put me in the hospital but fortunately my case manager was there and said im better as an outpatient because of my urinating problem. Now they want to put me on the antipsychotic where you have to get blood tested every week at the mental health waard I really want to avoid this because i hate going there because everytime i go there i get worried days beforehand and it also reinforces in my mind that ive got a problem. i prefer seeing my case manager every two weeks and sending her text messages. so im now on antipsychotic, antidepressant and valium. i moved to my own apartment or the first time ever. i had to cause the guy next door was monitoring me, i got three big queen mattresses i saw on the side of the road and put them against my wall, but i couldnt stop his energy, so i had been sleeping on the verandah. but then it was too much for me so i just moved to a kind of massive apartment complex. it feels reallly good to have a little place with my own toilet, no more urinating in bottles and emptying themout when people are at work. but its 280 a week, which only leaves me 30 a week for living, so i hope i get this dsp. peace

[highlander4000]

well they gave it to me, the dsp i mean, not clozapine, although my doc said its the next step if i still feel like im being followed and people are monitoring me, because ive tried three different antipsychotics now. When clozpaine doesntwork they do the final step ECT (shock therapy). i went to see my psychiatrist and case manager this morning and they said i should give centrelink a call because if it was disaproved they would relodge a claim for me. So i called and the lady at centrelink said they had lost my claim form, so thats why it had been pending for 9 weeks.. so i walked to centrelink, filled in the claim form again, they faxed it through and she called me an hour later telling me i have the dsp. Is there anything else i need to do or know i asked, she said no, just take care. so i shall.

How do i know how many points they gave me and if the points are all from one table? anyone know?

[Banjo]

Congratulations Highlander.

If you want the full results from your assessment then give them a call or go into the office yourself.
If they say it's private information you can apply under the Freedom of Information Act for you file.