Has anybody been approved for Sick Allowance?

[incrediblytired]

On my mother's recommendation, we've decided that it might be best if I took a few months off work. My mental health is the worst it's been in a long time, and I'm seeing a psychiatrist and working towards getting a referal for a new therapist, but the overwhelming pressure of work is making it hard to see any light.

Does anybody have any experinces claiming sickness allowance while suffering depression/mental health issues? What was it like? Was getting approved difficult? How long did it take?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm very in the dark on this.

[sensitiveswan]

I am in the same position. I have applied for sickness allowance. I had to go to the doctor and get a centrelink doctors certificate. I think there are still documents I have to give them, I can't remember. I think bank statements. It's really hard when your brain isn't working properly 😞

Lucky you have your Mum, she can help you. They wanted proof that I would have a job to go back to. If not, you could probably (maybe) apply for newstart and have a doctors certificate for the next month?

I worry that they won't believe me that I am really suffering, because I put on my 'public' face and am all smiles. They don't understand that I may have been crying 10 minutes before that, or understand how hard it was for me to get out of the house and get to the appointment.

I will let you know how I get on, hopefully I'll have it sorted soon.

Good luck xx

[Greys]

Hi

Sorry to hear how things are not good at the moment. I was approved for sickness allowance a couple of years ago. The process was fairly simple just needing a centrelink medical certificate and information from my employer that i had a job. Getting information from my employer was the hardest part took weeks for them to get back to centrelink. Once that was done they didn't take long to approve it and when i got close to my medical certificate running out i just want and got an updated one from the dr. They didn't stop my payments until i was able to go back to work. Hope this helps if you have any other questions just ask.

Best of luck

Grey's