r/IsleofMan • u/FourtKnight • 5d ago
frustrations with accomodation and mental health services
my partner and i are born manx residents who need to move out soon. my partner is at college and is physically disabled. i'm an agoraphobic who would like to work, but can't due to my mental circumstance. i can't even go down to the shops, let alone to an office or site. i understand that some people are on benefits because they can't be bothered, have no drive to work, want to cheat the system, or what have you, but that isn't the case here.
so at the moment, not only am i being passed around by three different mental health services who can't decide what to do with me (i swear, i need help Yesterday but i can't get it), my partner and i on our joint claim can't afford even the cheapest accomodation around. we've been to housing matters, spoken to landlords all over the place, and put in our forms to go on the housing list, but nobody can help us. it's hopeless.
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u/GrumpyIAmBgrudgngly2 5d ago
May I please suggest telephoning or writing to any of the media. Manx Radio's Mannin Line is on air right now until 1pm. Phone number is 661368. Contact your current MHK, or local Councillor for help. I would suggest you definitely need help. You could write to Isle Of Man Newspapers, they ar on Finch Road nearby to Tynwald. Now Manx Telecom has chosen not to publish a telephone directory it's a lot more difficult when you're trying to locate a departmental relevant number to speak to someone about it. I hope you can speak to an actual person as well. Calling mobile telephone numbers from a landline is more expensive than calling a telephone landline.
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u/AlmightyBagMan 5d ago
I fully sympathise; I had what could have been a 6-12 month long medical leave turn into nearly 5 years of claiming income support due to the assessments/treatments I needed not being available on the island, and the government being unwilling to subsidise without me being diagnosed with a registered relevant disability (which wasn't possible without those assesments). I was only able to get by due to family support - without that I genuinely don't know what I'd've done.
Unfortunately, this is due to the constant framing of benefits claimants as just being lazy or wanting "handouts" or whatever. In our eagerness to make sure benefits feels "fair" for everyone, we've made a system so hostile and demeaning for everyone who actually needs it that - more often that not - we're crippling people who do want to work but need support to be able to do so.
Now that I'm actually earning again, I'm kind of mad as hell that so much of wage is being sliced out for tax and NI when I know for a fact it's not helping people with legitimate need anywhere near as much as it should be, and I'll never be seeing a damn penny of that national pension.