Dear Boris, I hope you don’t mind me calling you that, but Mr Johnson sounds too formal.
As I know what you look like, I felt I should reciprocate so that you also know who you are talking to.
Now we have the formalities out of the way, I would like to introduce myself
My name is Betty, well it isn’t really I just haven’t got around to changing it formally, but I am a 50 year old Geordie lady, from Newcastle that’s way up North, you’ve probably heard of Scotland, well I am about as near to it as you can get without actually living in Scotland.
It’s also where Ant and Dec are from.
I’m not sure if you’ve ever watched I’m A celebrity Get Me Out Of Here or not. they are presenters of the show ….and do a very good job … I feel you may need to watch the 2019 series as something tells me we may be seeing you in the jungle 2020… after all a fellow usually follows in his fathers footsteps….
I live with severe mental health problems, and rely on the state to support me, via the welfare system.
For the last 3 months, weather permitting, I have been sitting at the top of my garden, trying to recover from wanting to die.
3 months ago I wanted to end my life.
3 months ago, the Department for Work and Pensions, which I’m sure you will have heard of, I have uploaded a picture, just to jog your memory.
YOUR Department for Works & pensions decided that I needed reassessing again to prove that my mental illness is real, and that it hasn’t just vanished overnight into thin air, and that I am not all better now.
They decided that I would need yet another face to face assessment.
I have given the DWP lots of proof over the last 2 years, but for some reason they keep wanting more, and although I have repeatedly told the DWP and all involved that I would not be able to cope with a face to face assessment, they were still coming to my home, whether I liked it or not.
Even after my own GP wrote a supporting letter to say that it would be detrimental to my mental health, were I forced to have a face to face assessment. they sent somebody anyway.
I have Autism, I do not like eye contact, it makes me feel threatened, I can make eye contact, because I have taught myself over the years, but too much eye contact overwhelms me.
This lady rocked up to my door uninvited, she was half an hour early for the appointment, so I was already on the wrong foot.
I am a law abiding citizen (well until I found out that Cannabis actually worked in managing my mental health problems) but that is another story.
I try to always do as society says..and play by societies rules, this is what we are all taught from a very young age. which I am sure you will agree with me, seeing as you seem to be the head of this so called society.
The heads of this society are so far up their own backsides to realise that they are expecting us, mere mortals of society to follow rules that they themselves are exempt from ?
In allowing this Brexit fiasco to get to this point, you have let our country down.
You have let me down. I am not blaming you personally Boris, I blame Maggie Thatcher, but that is another story altogether.
back to the reason for my contacting you today.
Because of YOUR governments Department For Works and Pensions rules, my life was put at risk, just so that they could tick boxes.
what kind of society are we living in when the most vulnerable of us have our lives put at risk for the sake of a tick in a box ?
Mental health is real, Autism is real, Abuse is real, Dissociative Disorders are real. invisible illnesses are still there, just because you cannot see it. and because it doesn’t tick your boxes, people with severe mental health problems are left extremely vulnerable, and at risk.
Not everybody wants to claim benefits, some of us have little or no choice.
I have been a very valuable member of society for 50 years. I have paid Taxes, raised children, grandchildren, worked in care, and I am still looking after my 14 year old son who is also Autistic, as a single parent.
This representative from ATOS came early, and when I informed her of the problems I have with face to face assessments, and after confirming that I would be able to be located in a different room to the assessor. This assessor refused point blank to do the assessment.
although I had written a 15 page report explaining how my disability affects me, she read the words, and still said that she couldn’t do the assessment until she could see my face ?
she had already seen my face when I opened the door, what could my face possibly say that would be more explanatory than a 15 page letter ? or the words that I was saying through an open door ?
This lady expected me to be able to perform for her, when I was completely unable to do so.
It is no different than asking an amputee to walk, then because they can’t, say oh well you failed to do the assessment, we are withholding your benefits until you can walk again.
I was born with Autism, this is not my fault. I was given Anxiety, Depression and Dissociative Identity Disorder by cruel members of a society that does not accept me. And from abusers who abused me from a very young age.
Not everybody has the luxury of a happy childhood, the luxury of being born a certain way, the luxury of not suffering abuse, the luxury of being financially independent.
You probably have no idea about what child abuse actually does to the mind of a person, or what extreme poverty can look like, you probably had a very happy childhood and Im glad about that. Every child deserves this.
I never want anybody to suffer in the way that I have suffered my entire life. not even for a day.
After my close call with the grim reaper, thanks to a crisis team who arrived 8 week later due to government cuts, and the Samaritans who kept me going until then, and with the help of Cannabis, meditation and a huge will to help other people who cant verbalise for themselves I have finally found peace..
Some things are just not fixable, you just learn to live with them.
after a long and hard 3 months I finally found the peace I had always craved.
The DWP obviously got wind of this and have decided that I need another face to face assessment in 2 weeks.
I am only just starting to recover from my crisis brought on by the DWP, but it seems they want to kill me off again.
Is there a government conspiracy to get rid of people with mental health problems ?
Instead of worrying about Brexit Boris, why don’t you leave a legacy to our society by changing some of our countries policies, just because you were handed the poisoned chalice, does not necessarily mean that this has to define you as Prime Minister. Leave the EU immediatley and start focusing on our country again.
Society is in a mess. We have become a society full of mental health problems. Our children are suffering, we are suffering, most of this is caused by hate and greed which seems to have taken hold of the population.but some of it is caused by using outdated social policies in education, welfare, and many more things. you have the power to change this Boris.
look at how we treat the most vulnerable of society, the homeless, the people who don’t have a voice.
Charity begins at home. Before you can run, you must first learn to walk. Our government has lost sight of humanity.
We are all people, each and every one of us deserves to be happy.
I have found my happiness in cannabis. legalise cannabis, put more effort into research, then the most vulnerable can access the medication that keeps them alive.
why is the government not jumping for joy that a natural medicine that actually works is out there ?
Is it because cannabis can cause mental health problems ? it possibly could for some people. My mental health problems were there for 50 years before I even touched a cannabis leaf.
I have no legal access to a drug that works and prolongs my life. why is this ?
so to be clear on the points I have raised
1.. change the DWP forms and assessment processes for mental health disability, abolish face to face assessments for those terminally ill with mental health disorders. These conditions will always be there, and these assessments can actually be a threat to life.
2. legalise Cannabis, start more research, we have a wonder drug here that our government seems to want kept under wraps. Why ?
3. Open new schools specifically for Autistic children. this is our future generation we are talking about. do not allow a new generation to become so disabled by their mental health that they cant contribute to society.
4 start listening to what society wants as a whole. we all really want the same thing, and that is to just be happy. It isn’t a lot to ask for.
yours sincerely Betty.
A very concerned British Citizen…
WELCOME TO MY INNER SANCTUARY 