As I can't edit, I will post something else I had to add. Now in no way am I blaming the bank for my own actions of what I did. The complaint about them really is more to do with them being fully aware of my gambling problems, how during a slip I end up creating/extending my overdraft, losing the lot and putting myself in debt (as well as incurring £1 a day in bank charges), yet they will not remove the authorised overdraft facility permanently from my account. Furthermore they have allowed me in February 2016 to extend my overdraft to £2000 (which seems like an irresponsible amount to allow me to access, based on my income at that time as well as knowing about my problems with gambling and wanting the overdraft facility removed prior to that). Looking at the secure message inbox I first contacted them in 2011 and told them about my gambling problem. At that time I wanted my debit card downgraded to a cash only card. Their staff were useless with 1 telling me they have removed the ability for my debit card to make online transactions (I tested this by making a low value purchase online which went through) and finally, another telling me they need to cancel the card and assign me with a cash only card. I then contacted them many times including in 2014 and the start of this year specifically about getting the authorised overdraft facility removed from my account permanently because I realised at some casinos I could pay by PayPal (could do a direct transfer to my paypal account from online banking page and deposit that way). Which resulted in being told it's been removed (when it wasn't), that they review the facility every few months or I can remove it myself by setting overdraft amount to 0 (Which doesn't remove the facility as I can extend my overdraft again right after)

I'm just wondering if this is in breach of responsible lending rules and if I could do anything about it. Years ago I realised I had a bit of a gambling problem and when having a slip what would happen is I would lose all of my money, then keep extending my overdraft to the maximum chasing the loss until everything had gone. Around 2 or 3 years ago I told Santander about this gambling problem and made it clear to them I wanted no overdraft facility on my account whatsoever. At the time they told me that overdraft facility had been removed from my account. I tried to create a £50 overdraft in my online banking and sure enough I couldn't. Several months later I had a huge gambling slip and when I emptied my bank, I tried to see if I could create an overdraft in my online banking account and sure enough, I created a £500 overdraft and lost the lot. I made requests several times again to stop any overdraft facility on my account, but they never helped with this. Last year was horrid. In January they let me extend my overdraft to £2000 (Which was ridiculous considering I was only earning £420 a month carers allowance and income support). I had a huge slip when mum died and lost everything in my bank and the entire £2000 of my overdraft. Towards the end of last year and start of this year, 2 more slips where I was allowed to create overdraft amounts of around £1000 where I had to sell my Santander shares to clear the overdraft. Then this year. I made a complaint with them about this, yet it was vastly ignored. I got a complaint response in a letter but again they said nothing apart from every few months they review overdraft facilities on peoples accounts and set the maximum overdraft limit. 2 months ago after doing so well I had another slip, I was allowed to extend my overdraft to £600 and again lost the lot gambling. Then now in the last 2 weeks, just as I managed to clear my overdraft (After paying £1 a day in charges for the last 2 months), I had a slip. I only had about £80 in my bank, but Santander allowed me to extend my overdraft to £700 and I lost the lot trying to chase back that £80 I lost. The thing is, Santander have been fully aware of my gambling problem. I can safeguard myself by leaving minimal money in my bank (withdrawing as much as possible to store at home), but the overdraft facility is something they won't stop for good on my account. In fact, every single time I have increased my overdraft limit or created an overdraft, it has been lost gambling online right after. I have never once increased or created an overdraft for any other purpose. Thanks

As it turned out, this breach wasn't anything to do with anti-virus, ebay or Paypal. It was to do with someone accessing my email account and using it to change my password on ebay. What they did was accessed my email, set filters to incoming ebay and paypal emails so it's diverted to my deleted folder (So I wouldn't see any future emails from ebay in case they did flag it as suspicious. People say about changing your password frequently, but, there is actually no way to change your password via orange's webmail system. For anyone who knows what webmail platform I am talking about, it's email.orange.co.uk. See it this way, a fraudster gains access to someones account. Bingo! The first thing they would do is change the password right? Of course they would. Even the fraudster didn't change my email password because there is no way for them to change it. I personally spoke to orange's support earlier and had this out with them. Here goes..... The email address in question was provided to me when I lived at my old address with the internet connection I had there. When I moved, I cancelled the internet connection and as I was using the email address still, they kept this email address active. Normally, to change your password for this email, you log in to your broadband account using the email address, then change your password there (which also changes it for the email address). That is the only way to change your password. In my case, I had no broadband account active to log into. So there has been no direct way to change my password. I was told, most people either change email address when they change ISP, or, use the pop3 settings through a mail reader like outlook (which, rather than store emails in the webmail, pushes them to the device and stores them there). They told me, in future, if I still want to use my email address via the webmail platform and want to change my password frequently, I will need to select "forgot password" and change it via that method. Orange/EE have as a result of this offered a form of compensation. As for eBay, they have now logged it as unathorised access to my account and told me I am to contact either my bank or PayPal to get a refund of the full amount. Attachment show the filters the fraudster set on my email account so I wouldn't see incoming ebay and paypal emails and also that there is indeed no way to change the password via webmail

100% because I am an expert. Over 20 years experience and a wide computer knowledge. Viruses come in several forms including crypto (ransomware) and keylogger. Anti-virus software is mostly just there as insurance. It allows people to carry on with their normal activities but gets them out of a potentially bad situation if they download something they shouldn't have. The most common ways of compromising someones account these days doesn't even require the host system to download a virus. It's through the spoof emails people get that pretend to be from a certain company requiring them to enter their password. The user is then redirected to a page that looks exactly like the website (except the url wouldn't be correct) where they enter their password and the fraudster can then access their account. The other is via dodgy email attachments that can either be keylogging software (tracks username and password entries, sends them back to fraudster) or ransomware (password encrypts the users most important folders like "my pictures" and demands payment within 48 hours for the code to unlock the folder again). Even "hacking" doesn't exist on the scale it's mentioned in the media. Normally what happens is someone falls for a spoof email, they give their details away, end up becoming a victim to fraud and the report is along the lines of they were "hacked". Hacking these days is an overused term and really the only 2 ways of "hacking" that are common are DDos attacks (sending excess traffic to a website via many "host" infected systems) that overload servers so the website goes offline, and brute force hacking (running software that generates millions of password that tries each password until they get in). Although the brute force method is becoming more and more uncommon due to account servers only allowing a certain amount of attempts before locking the account or requiring CAPTCHA codes. 15 years ago I stopped using anti-virus software when my computer knowledge got to an expert level. Since all this software did was slow down my system with routine scans and never found any viruses. Today, just to confirm what I already knew I downloaded Norton anti-virus. I have a premium licence that was included with my ISP package that I never used before. I activated it, did a full system scan and the results as expected were no viruses were found. So the only ways this could have happened: 1) Someone found my long lost phone and got into my eBay account via the connected google account which automatically syncs any password changes. 2) The forced password change. As said, quite recently when logging into my account, I was forced to change my password due to when they were compromised in 2014 and user details were leaked. As I couldn't think of any new password I would remember, I changed it back to an old password I used to use. So maybe if that password was on the compromised list, someone might have tried it recently. So far I have reported it to actionfraud and also to PayPal. PayPal have told me there is no unathorised activity logged on my account (and they even told me, that instead, if I am unhappy with the item I "purchased", I should contact the seller to arrange for a refund). Ebay have been very difficult to contact

Thank you for the reply. The thing is, I only had that much left in my bank so it was the only thing they could take. The only thing I can imagine it being is a few years ago I lost my mobile phone. It didn't have a lock on the screen. It was reported to my phone provider and all they could do was cancel the sim. I think this was linked to my google+ account (Which stores passwords and updated passwords). If someone recently found this phone, charged it up and got into my eBay account, they might have made the purchase. Whoever did it, knew what they were doing. As soon as they got access to the account they changed the password and notification settings (So I wouldn't receive an email if they bought something). Thank you, I will report it to actionfraud

Hey, just wanting to know where I stand. Let me start with saying i'm no newbie to computers and this wasn't a case of me giving away my login details via some [problem]/phishing email. I have more than 20 years computer/internet experience under my belt and even have no use for anti-virus software (put it this way, I know to avoid anything which might gain me a virus and know the system registry and background tasks like the back of my hand). My ebay account has been up and running for just over 15 years without a problem. eBay has always been fine for me. To cut it short, the past few days the money in my bank didn't quite add up. Something was pending for £30. I guessed it might just be their systems catching up. I had a look at my eBay account and shocking to me was a purchase done a few days ago for a computer game priced at £30. I knew it wasn't me or anyone else I knew who made that purchase. Some cheeky sod has well and truly defrauded me out of money. They bought the game (which includes a download code and a disc). They read the eBay inbox message with the download code, redeemed it and got the disc (which is useless as the code has been redeemed) dispatched to my old address that was still saved on my account. They even tried to hide the fact by paying for it, not out of my linked PayPal account direct (which shows on my PayPal account transactions), but via my debit card saved on my eBay account (that processes through PayPal but doesn't show up in my PayPal transactions history). The only way I can imagine this happened was because of ebay's 2014 data breach and now how frequently they require someone to change their password. About a week ago I logged into my eBay account (via a typed address) and was forced to change my password. My current password was secure (7 digits long, 2 capital and 1 non capital letter), but as I would struggle to remember another similar password, I used a basic password I used to use 10 years ago. It's possible that login/password combo was saved by a bot all those years ago and was detected as being my new password and the account was accessed. Where do I stand now? It shows on my bank account as card payment to paypal. The bank have cancelled my card and i'm guessing they could do a chargeback that will likely cause me fees with PayPal and a suspended account. Will PayPal/eBay refund this? Considering the voucher would have been redeemed by now. Thanks

Not a problem, I like updating with the end result to help others as well. Hahah, I wish, although I might manage a small break out of it considering the weather here doesn't look like it's getting better anytime soon

Thank you all, So what I did, rather than phone them (seeing as I was determined to do it online as thats what the online account is for) is click again on "Banco San SA EUR0.50 REGD". As it happens, once filling in details on that page its brings me to another page that shows amount of shares I own, how many I want to sell and to get a quote. A timer starts ticking to sell it for the quoted price and I can choose to sell at that point. The quote shows fees (£15), estimate proceeds and everything else. Thanks again

Thanks Maroondevo52. Indeed I did have a look at that earlier but it didn't make that much sense. Puzzles me why they don't just explain and make it simpler.... "Click sell shares in your account. Drag the slider to how many shares you want to sell. It will show how much money you will be paid for them after fee's. Click sell and we do the rest"

Can I just ask about this process? I currently have 250 shares (santander) that are on my Equiniti shareview account online. Under my account it shows them as "Banco San SA Ord EUR0.50 CDI" I go to the buy/sell section and search for Santander but 3 share descriptions come up? The closest match is "Banco San SA EUR0.50 REGD". Would I sell as that 1? The others shown are: "Santander UK Plc 8.625pct perpetual non-cum" "Santander UK Plc 10 3/8% perpetual non-cum Pref GBP1" *Actually as I type this up, I see the "Banco San SA Ord EUR0.50 CDI" is the only 1 that says "Santander nominee service" when I click sell, the other 2 have "share certificate", so it must be the first* Other questions.... When I fill in the details to sell, does that mean I get the actual share price for my shares the moment I click to sell them? And also, on 1 of the sell pages do I get an option to select how many shares I want to sell? At the moment the shares are worth £1200. I would want to sell half of my shares, so £600? Minus their fees? Also what would their fees be? Thanks and sorry if these seem like newbie questions but I have never dealt with shares before

Another q for those that might know. I was on carers allowance and income support up until April, so I gather NI credits were paid? Does that mean when I apply, I choose contribution based ESA? thanks

Been up all night worrying... Just to also ask, on the ESA form it says about sending my last P45? I haven't been in a job since 2012. But 1 of the questions on the forms says I would need to send them my P45

Thanks flecth, first.... I should have a certain amount? As in why I should be entitled? (Sorry if I read it wrong) I lose my home eventually otherwise. I was on carers allowance until mum died in February as I cared for her. They carried on paying this for 8 weeks after the death of mum (government rules). After, both CA and HB were stopped. As I was in a bad place I claimed HB on a "nil income" basis. When the inheritance came through, I declared it to the HB team who calculated I am entitled to full HB still as when they calculated my income (£1 for every £250 over £6000) it was £25 a week income, but in the letter they showed the law says I need £75 to live on per week. Since capital made it under that figure, HB was paid in full. My intentions were to claim ESA right away at a reduced rate by being signed off by my GP. I didn't get round to it though as I struggled with the death of mum, all paperwork I had to do, gambling slips and I was taken to hospital after trying to end my life. In theory, I was entitled to ESA many years ago as the chronic anxiety has been a long term illness. Yet GP's in the area I lived didn't understand mental health too well and didn't sign me off or give me the help I badly needed. If I was given the help back then and been signed off, I would have gone through the help, hopefully been at some point where I am fit to work and then got a job while caring for mum voluntarily. So I struggled for the last 5 years alone with no medical intervention. Quite recently I plucked up the courage to see a GP in this new area I live. It took a hell of a lot for me to go because of the anxiety and depression. I finally went last week, they saw me, offered me a lot of help and had insisted signing me off in 1 go for 3 months. So thats where i'm at now. My overall capital is under £6000. According to the GP, I can be expected to be signed off long term. He said to me "There is no way you are fit to work now or for quite some time". So I could either carry on supporting myself out of my inheritance, which wont last that long at all, (Bills alone are almost £300 a month... Gas, water, electric, phone, internet, pet insurance, council tax, mobile phone) or claim ESA. My ESA claim should be straightforward as I can prove the gambling addiction, but there are problems with survey earnings. It's due to there being so many conflicting views on earnings from surveys. With the advice I had been given until now mostly being it isn't enough to declare myself as self employed so unless I earned over a certain amount, I wouldn't need to do anything. However more recently I found out that I should have been declaring that amount (even though the average earnings are barely £7 a week, with a maximum of £20). Yeah like take my recent slip up.... I had self excluded at that casino previously a few years ago, but they were still sending me promo material in the post, via email and by phoning me up. Recently I was at a low point at home and saw a promo email from them which threw me over the edge with temptation, so I started gambling there and lost a lot of money. The next day, when the damage had been done I had an email off them telling me my account had been terminated as I had previously self excluded. They said in the email that had I won, my winnings and deposits would have been forfeited anyway. So little did I know that regardless if I had won or lost, I would have lost. I did mention addiction to a different GP ages ago, but they only gave me leaflets for GA and Gamcare

Gutting to hear Mr P. I really had no idea at all. It looks like I could be in trouble with that. I declared myself on nil income with housing benefit back in April/May, which as mentioned worked out as £50 short of what the government says I need to live on per week. So I gathered that unless I earned more than what the law says I need to live on, theres nothing to mention. At 1 point, I was wondering about becoming self employed with the earnings. I spoke to someone at citizens advice who said the earnings are nowhere near enough to be self employed. So I carried on until recently reading up that survey earnings are taxable income. Im guessing now that if I dont say anything to the ESA team when I phone to claim, I will be in trouble if they find out. Whereas if I do say I earn £20 a week maximum to them, I will be in trouble for not declaring it to the housing benefit team.

I can only demonstrate it via bank statements (with the deposit pattern showing increasing amounts deposited in 1 session... so chasing losses), plus at the time when the bulk was lost, I was claiming no benefits at all (Except HB, who I declared the inheritance amount to and they were paying me full HB anyway). Had I not lost it, I had planned to not go on ESA, but instead support myself while I was getting treatment. I did try multiple types of therapy including with gamblers anonymous, gamcare and various web forums. It didn't work though as its not just a straightforward addiction. My triggers to gamble stem from my chronic anxiety. As I don't have friends, no close family left and don't leave the house much at all, I eventually hit periods of total depression where I crave some fun or excitement in life and so then become vulnerable to gambling slip ups. As an example, until recently I hadn't gambled at all for 5 months, but had been drinking much more than normal. Recently though, I had 3 weeks off the alcohol, but then the most recent gambling slip happened. The key is to eradicate the trigger, which can only be done by treating the chronic anxiety (which I am in the process of doing). Then once I am getting out and about more, the feelings of complete isolation and lows will be removed and so will the temptation to gamble.

Just wanted to add my input after spending the last few days researching this situation, in case it helps anyone else who might be browsing the forum. As per gambling... I think the DWP will question it, but, there are obvious signs that money was lost through addiction opposed to depriving myself of capital (patterns are, £20 deposit, then £40, then £80, then £150, then £200... and so on... obviously was me chasing losses) and there are quite a few cash point withdrawals which again, obviously is me trying to take money out in cash to safeguard against online gambling. I can just send a note with my bank statements explaining this. With the surveys, it can get a bit more complex.... When I declared the inheritance to get HB and £1 for every £250 was classed as income, it said something like my income: £25 per week. What the law says I need to live on per week: £75.... So £50 short.... My survey earnings at tops was just £20 per week.... so still under what the law says I need to live on. Surely, the council wouldn't have had the time and resources for me to email them each week saying how much I earned, but instead would prefer me to only contact them if I earned over what the law says I need to live on. As for mentioning it when I apply for ESA on the phone tomorrow.... I will tell them I get at maximum £20 paid to me each week for surveys. By the looks of it, it could come under "permitted work" which I can earn around £110 a week for doing.

I really hope it works out that way too. The big step has been taken with the gp, so i'm hoping my esa claim goes relatively smoothly

Excellent, thanks very much Antone. The title is great and I appreciate you moving the post to a new thread

I would just like to add, that the gambling addiction I speak of is linked to the chronic anxiety. As the anxiety restricts what I can do in life (forming friendships, doing things I want to do), I first turned to gambling to get that buzz and excitement I don't have in life due to being unwell, but fell into it deep and ended up becoming addicted

Could I please ask a moderator or admin to remove all posts in this thread aside from this post and the 1 above about my GP appointment (As that part is complete and I do need help with my ESA claim, but less members will scroll to page 2 to give advice due to the huge messages I posted). Thank you. I just wanted to ask a few things about when I apply for ESA on the phone regarding capital. My inheritance was paid in over 6 months ago and I declared that with the housing benefit team who calculated I was entitled to full HB. The ESA team wont need to be told about inheritance because it was paid in over 6 months ago? I am a gambling addict who has struggled with battling addiction for years. As a result of this, my bank statements are in a mess. What I do to try and stop myself gambling is I take money out of my bank account and store it at home, so it cant be gambled online. Unfortunately, after the lows of mums death I have had slip ups with gambling. I should have something like £9000 to declare to them now, but instead I have just under £6000 currently... made up of.... £400 in the bank £4300 in cash stored at home £920 of shares (current market price for them but goes up and down each day) £28 in my PayPal account How would I go about explaining this to them? The bulk amount of cash I lost was lost 6 months ago (over £3000). Then recently I won £1200 which was paid into my bank, a few days later though lost the lot and more (maxed my overdraft). I then paid £1000 in cash to someone who wrote me a cheque and paid that into my bank to clear the overdraft. In other words my most recent statement will show nearly £2500 paid in with £2000 paid out. What about deprivation of capital? I lost that money purely through addiction and not to try and claim extra benefits. It's pretty obvious too as nobody would flush away over £3000 just to avoid having their benefits (When they got round to putting in a claim for them) reduced by £12 a week. Also what would I need to say about income from things like online surveys? The income isn't much at all but it varies. 1 week I might be lucky to earn £5, the next might be £15 or £25. How would I go about declaring that as its always different amounts each week? Would it be classed as permitted work? Thank you

The appointment was today and although it was very difficult (shaking so bad there and couldnt stop talking quick), I am now signed off with chronic anxiety for the next 3 months. He said he didn't feel I came across as someone with Apergers and so that seems very unlikely. I went there armed with a big list of things to talk about but the idea I got was before I even entered the room, he had read a letter I previously sent to a GP explaining a lot and had already decided what my problem would be. In the first 5 minutes I think the way I was confirmed what he had thought. I don't think he was happy with my criticism of the nhs over mental health services. He was asking what I would like to happen and wrote out a list for me of things with the first step being to book an hour long appointment with the mental health team. Other things included CBT, small steps I can take and some different medication. Another thing said was I appear to be obsessive. That is probably right. I think it went well overall. I can tell it's going to be a very long process though. Going to try and phone the ESA people tomorrow or Monday to apply for it

Thanks again all, I had some time out to get everything I needed ready for the appointment. I have re-written my notes a bit and have 8 A4 full pages for them to read through. Hopefully I can book a 20 minute appointment and they will read through all of it. I will have a look for that Eric Berne book thank you. As for CBT, as I recall, I was never offered it. Even so, at the moment, after thinking about it, I do not feel at this moment in time it would be suitable for me. I will explain... In order to know what would be the most efficient form of treatment, I would need to know for certain what I am dealing with. There is a place in a town near me that does offer CBT (after being referred via a GP), but their main advertising is something like "Suddenly stopped feeling yourself and now feel anxious/stressed/depressed? We can get you back to feeling yourself". The "get you back to feeling yourself" is important here because what is feeling myself if I have always had this health problem? Bear in mind so far the only things GP's have told me it is has been stress because a family member isn't well and very mild depression. There has been no official diagnosis from an expert in that field (psychiatrist), because GP's never understood or believed my health problems were serious enough to be referred to one. So first thing is first this time.... If the GP understands I will be signed off to claim ESA and be put on a waiting list to see a psychiatrist who is more likely to be able to accurately diagnose exactly what health problems I am going through. That is all I need for this visit. No meds (as they have never done me any good), no self help leaflets to read, no referrals for counselling and no guessing by them of what it might or might not be. Then after I have been accurately diagnosed, go back to my GP and discuss how to treat/cure/manage living with the diagnosis. Hopefully this is the way it works out. We will soon see next week when I have booked and attended the appointment

mum died a while back. I had her estate sorted out and all accounts closed. Today I was just checking her emails and I saw there was an email off the national lottery. They said "We have transferred the balance from your National Lottery account to the bank account associated with your debit card because it is about to expire". I thought it was just spam at first but it had a username down the bottom. I entered mums usual password and sure enough it logged in I checked transactions to see at the end of August this year they did send £26 to my mums bank. I never even knew she had a lottery account. What happens now? That bank account was closed around 6 months ago. Thanks

What do you mean mrs poppers? I have gone into detail trying to explain it as much as possible but here are a few answers to your questions: If it has been going on for this long then why not have taken action earlier. As I have been nervous ALL of my life, how I am meant to know any different what "normal" is? Let's take a physical illness, if someone has a pain in their leg that wasn't there before, they know to see a dr. If someone like me is nervous all of their lives, how are they supposed to know anything was wrong (and it's not something that everyone feels)? I only knew something was wrong because others pointed it out (saying it seems like im on drugs) and by seeing that other people were not nervous like me when in a supermarket. I went to the dr's was told it's stress and had no reason to doubt them as they are the experts. Eventually as my life was going down the drain I knew the offered treatment (1 week off work) was not going to work and so went to another GP. This next GP didn't do much aside from give me a blood test to see if I was diabetic... the results came back and i'm not diabetic. I went to another GP soon after and again, no help offered. It was then I researched online what could be wrong. My symptoms seems to have matched "social anxiety" in quite a few ways. I plucked up the courage to see other GP's over this. The understanding with that first GP I saw about it is "social anxiety" is a mild problem and aside from being offered citalopram, nothing else was done. I took citalopram for a while but it did nothing for me, after many months of taking it, it made no difference. This same view of "social anxiety" was also the opinion of other GP's I saw. I felt reluctant about going to GP's from then on because it was a really bad experience for me having to go there all nervous, see the GP, explain everything to them only to be given next to no help, but I still visited 4 different GP's after that GP. (1 of them gave me sertraline, which I took for months but again felt no different from taking them). All with a similar result, with the final GP I saw telling me to my face "you are not going through depression, otherwise you would be low all of the time" and for the anxiety giving me a print out of the name of a book I could read for "self help". I got that book, read through it all and did the steps it said to take but it did nothing for me. Bear in mind, that throughout my GP appointments altogether, I had to go on my own. The close family member was ill and not able to go with me and my mother was ill herself. So on each visit I had to go to the GP on my own. It answers the age old question of "why do people with mental health problems not keep pushing to see a dr?".... well... because they are mentally unwell and struggle to do so. In my case I am mentally unwell but through being a strong person after caring for ill family members since I was just a child, I pushed myself as hard as I could to see them. I find it hard to believe that after admitting twice you have threatened to take your life that you have been ignored Tried being the word, not threatened. It's area specific with what help you get though, unfortunately I now know that in this area there isn't much help. I see articles frequently about people who tried to take their own lives, were taken to hospital, patched up, discharged with no help and later than same day ended things for good. A diagnosis is not why you are paid a benefit. Take me as an example. I have arthritis in several joints plus a neck problem. Plenty of people get ESA for that and they are entitled to do so. I agree with you there ShoeLover...but (being the key word).... It can vary between physical and mental illnesses. A GP seeing someone with more physical problems could easily grasp an idea of what is wrong on that appointment. Someone could say "hey, I have this sharp pain in my leg/arm/back/neck" and the GP will on the spot be able to run some basic tests (getting you to try and move your arm or leg, seeing facial expressions) to get a rough idea of what could be the problem. They then will refer that person to a specialist or consultant who specialises in that field and that GP could sign someone off as unfit to work (for ESA purposes) because they "cant walk properly like an average person can" or "in pain when moving arm/leg to a certain angle". Which gives the ESA people something to go by... i.e... joe bloggs is unfit to work because he cant stand up for more than 5 minutes without being in pain. With MH problems, it's more about the person explaining that day what they have trouble with, the GP taking their word for it and then *in an ideal world* referring that person to a specialist who can go through accurate tests and diagnose them. For ESA purposes, in my case for example, a GP wouldn't know that I am nervous when leaving the house, that some people think i'm on drugs or I struggle at home to do basic daily tasks. They would be taking my word for it. For all they know I could be telling lies to get a golden ticket out of having to work. So would they risk being in trouble by saying "Matthew has problems with xyz and he has xyz" or would they avoid being in trouble by saying "Matthew has suspected xyz, he SAYS he has problems with xyz and has been referred to joe bloggs for tests to confirm this" ?. Obviously the latter. The people who process ESA applications have a decision makers handbook, which lists illness names and what type of illness it is. "suspected" is not "definite", so it might make the ESA people think twice about processing the application. One sure thing is that you are drinking too much at particular times which is binge drinking, you are drinking more in general, you are drinking to avoid stressful situations and you are concerned about your drinking. I strongly suggest you get yourself to AA. Well.... that is tricky with things. Back 9 or 10 years ago up until now... Well let's say 5 or 6 years ago since I was out of work.... I had perhaps 2 pints twice a week to get rid of the nervousness (twice a week because on those 2 days I would be out in public shopping or travelling to mums house). Aside from maybe 1 or 2 real ales at home on a Saturday evening, I wouldn't drink anymore (So 12 units per week at most... under the now 14 units per week limit... perfectly fine). When mum was alive, it was the only thing I really had left. I cared for her but I enjoyed going to her home, talking to her and it being like a mother/son relationship is. Caring was never a chore for me, which is why my main aim was to care for mum unpaid, as long as I had the help with my health to get me back into work (which I never got of course). When she died, so did my last form of social interaction. Well enough people would then use that new free time to first grieve the loss, do things they enjoy doing (days out) and then get back into the workplace. As mentioned, my nervousness heavily restricts that, so I have to spend a week, if not longer at a time stuck in. That just sends me in a rock bottom low mood especially as i'm still grieving the loss. In order to break a week up, I assign 1 day to getting in shopping (2 pints to reduce the nervousness) and on the frequent days where the upset of isolation kicks in, the "drink ups" help me not to forget... but to remember. It gives me that missing buzz in life and it allows me to get upset over the loss of my mum. If I was to consider AA at this moment in time, what good would it do? Their policy is focused more on no alcohol is good alcohol.... So, if I did have the help from them and gave up alcohol altogether... what would happen? I would have 6 days a week stuck in being really low and 1 day doing what? Ordering shopping online because without the 2 pints to reduce the nervousness, going out to buy shopping will make me feel worse? The nervousness truly dominates me... even with silly things. If someone knocks at the door, I can't answer it, I freeze up, feel sick, dizzy and just cant answer. If neighbours are outside when i'm about to leave my home, I cant face them and will wait until they have gone.

I wanted to post this bit in its own post for easier reading... It does feel frustrating with everything I have to go through to possibly get ESA. There's someone who does a video blog on youtube who gets the support group version of ESA for over 5 years. They are very open about all parts of their life and show proof to clarify what they get. Their problem is fish odour syndrome and their reasons to the DWP as to why they cant work is the syndrome means they can't go anywhere due to smelling of fish which people then make fun of and that makes them low and suicidal. In this persons videos though they regularly go to betting offices, the gym and restaurants alone. They drive a nice car, go on holiday alone and meet up with people they have never met before off the internet. They don't even help themselves reduce the fish odour syndrome with a healthy diet, but instead will often eat unhealthy foods at restaurants and stock up on junk food from Waitrose. I could only dream of doing the activities they do and if I was able to, I would be fit enough to work and be out working. Yet the DWP fund their lifestyle continuously without question. Then there's me who needs to be on ESA by the end of this month so I don't lose my home, who will have to battle with an assessment and probably go through an appeals process. It's very frustrating as I know I don't want to sit around on benefits all of my life. I just need the help now with the overall goal being to have a job and pay my own way out of the money I work for. It's around 2 weeks today that my appointment will be booked for and we will see what happens