" Well I've seen benefits people on TV..."
As you may have seen there are a lot of TV programmes that show 'the life on benefits' if you watch any of these programmes you may see people saying that they like not working and they don't want to get a job, you may see people getting big beautiful expensive houses all paid for because they are claiming universal credit or JSA. When some people see things like this it's only normal that they will feel angry or annoyed and that's when you will see all over social media comments saying everyone who is on benefits are lazy and can't be bothered getting a job, or lucky because they get money for sitting around watching TV all day etc.
These programmes aren't realistic they don't show what its really like on benefits, and why would they? You see these programmes are supposed to make us, the real people on benefits, look bad. They make it look like we are living a life of luxury and it's just not like that at all.I want to tell people, show people that life on benefits isn't this fun, amazing life that TV shows it as, and that's one of the reasons I do this blog.
That brings me to the reason I am writing this post today. I want to tell you my truth, the things you don't see on TV. Firstly I don't live in a palace or a mansion I live in a one bedroom flat, I have a living room, a kitchen a bathroom and a bedroom. In the living room, I don't have any furniture, no sofa or TV nothing just a lightbulb hanging from a ceiling. The kitchen has only the things that it had when I moved in a washing machine, a small fridge, an oven and a microwave all things that I rarely use to save electric. The bathroom is a shower, a toilet and a sink all squeezed in to the tiny room and finally the bedroom, a mattress on the floor and a wardrobe to hang up the few clothes that I have. I spend most of my time in the bedroom because sitting on a mattress on the floor is better than sitting on the floor.
Most days I don't go out so it could be days before I have a conversation with anyone, it's boring and lonely. I don't see any of my friends because we live too far apart so I often miss out on a lot of stuff, because I'm not around a lot me and my friends have started to become very distant, hardly even talking now. I could go to a coffee shop just for a change of scenery but I don't have the money to buy anthing and all though a few places may not mind if you buy something or not, I feel uncomfortable and embarrassed just sitting there. I don't have a TV so I entertain myself sometimes with Netflix on my phone, but how many episodes of 'The vampire diaries' can you watch before your eyes hurt and you need a break?
When I do go out it's either for appointments at the hospital/doctors, which I've started to look forward too because it gives me the chance to go outside and be out of the house for an hour or two, or to the jobcentre were I'm made to feel uncomfortable and ashamed and punished because I only applied for 1 job that week.
I'm starting to feel isolated from the world. I feel like I'm missing out on life, I'm not doing the things other people my age are doing. I'm not enjoying life. My flat, the one place I spend a lot of my time, the one place I should be comfortable and be able to call home, feels like a prison. A place where I am trapped from the outside world and completely forgotten about.
On top of all that there's the health issues caused by being on benefits, issues I've only started to have problems with in this one year of claiming universal credit. To start with the problems I previously had, the reason why I'm out of work in the first place, are being made worse due to having to walk 40 mins to the job centre and 40 mins back at least once every two weeks because I don't drive and don't even have the £4 bus fare to get me there.
Then there's the depression, being locked in my flat alone for hours and days at a time has caused me to become severely depressed to the point that I have considered suicide. The depression also makes my anxiety unnecessarily worse which limits me even more. Sometimes I do feel I'd be better dead than suffering the long, slow death that my life has become.
The final health issues I have are caused by not eating and lack of nutrition. I have developed many deficiencies because I can't afford to buy good, healthy food. My blood pressure and cholesterol have also risen so much since being on benefits. My health is so bad, it's having a big impact on my day to day life but it's all okay as long as I do my 40 hours per week jobsearch, right?
My aim is to let people know just how hard life on benefits it and you can help me, just take a second to share this post on any social media and help me get my story out there.
Thankyou for reading
These programmes aren't realistic they don't show what its really like on benefits, and why would they? You see these programmes are supposed to make us, the real people on benefits, look bad. They make it look like we are living a life of luxury and it's just not like that at all.I want to tell people, show people that life on benefits isn't this fun, amazing life that TV shows it as, and that's one of the reasons I do this blog.
That brings me to the reason I am writing this post today. I want to tell you my truth, the things you don't see on TV. Firstly I don't live in a palace or a mansion I live in a one bedroom flat, I have a living room, a kitchen a bathroom and a bedroom. In the living room, I don't have any furniture, no sofa or TV nothing just a lightbulb hanging from a ceiling. The kitchen has only the things that it had when I moved in a washing machine, a small fridge, an oven and a microwave all things that I rarely use to save electric. The bathroom is a shower, a toilet and a sink all squeezed in to the tiny room and finally the bedroom, a mattress on the floor and a wardrobe to hang up the few clothes that I have. I spend most of my time in the bedroom because sitting on a mattress on the floor is better than sitting on the floor.
Most days I don't go out so it could be days before I have a conversation with anyone, it's boring and lonely. I don't see any of my friends because we live too far apart so I often miss out on a lot of stuff, because I'm not around a lot me and my friends have started to become very distant, hardly even talking now. I could go to a coffee shop just for a change of scenery but I don't have the money to buy anthing and all though a few places may not mind if you buy something or not, I feel uncomfortable and embarrassed just sitting there. I don't have a TV so I entertain myself sometimes with Netflix on my phone, but how many episodes of 'The vampire diaries' can you watch before your eyes hurt and you need a break?
When I do go out it's either for appointments at the hospital/doctors, which I've started to look forward too because it gives me the chance to go outside and be out of the house for an hour or two, or to the jobcentre were I'm made to feel uncomfortable and ashamed and punished because I only applied for 1 job that week.
I'm starting to feel isolated from the world. I feel like I'm missing out on life, I'm not doing the things other people my age are doing. I'm not enjoying life. My flat, the one place I spend a lot of my time, the one place I should be comfortable and be able to call home, feels like a prison. A place where I am trapped from the outside world and completely forgotten about.
On top of all that there's the health issues caused by being on benefits, issues I've only started to have problems with in this one year of claiming universal credit. To start with the problems I previously had, the reason why I'm out of work in the first place, are being made worse due to having to walk 40 mins to the job centre and 40 mins back at least once every two weeks because I don't drive and don't even have the £4 bus fare to get me there.
Then there's the depression, being locked in my flat alone for hours and days at a time has caused me to become severely depressed to the point that I have considered suicide. The depression also makes my anxiety unnecessarily worse which limits me even more. Sometimes I do feel I'd be better dead than suffering the long, slow death that my life has become.
The final health issues I have are caused by not eating and lack of nutrition. I have developed many deficiencies because I can't afford to buy good, healthy food. My blood pressure and cholesterol have also risen so much since being on benefits. My health is so bad, it's having a big impact on my day to day life but it's all okay as long as I do my 40 hours per week jobsearch, right?
My aim is to let people know just how hard life on benefits it and you can help me, just take a second to share this post on any social media and help me get my story out there.
Thankyou for reading
I hear you. Not on UC yet (terrified - I won't make it) but I lost my PIP 8 months ago, and my life is the same as yours. I'm so much sicker now...
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