Dave's Progress. Chapter 45: What Would The Tories Do?

As one who has experienced mental ill health, and yet is in so-called "recovery" (I am not cured, but my illness is rather "controlled" by medication) I find myself in the peculiar position of being relatively well and yet, because my diagnosis is regarded as a severe disability, perhaps unable to gain any meaningful paid employment. As some of you will know, I do work voluntarily for the Media Action Group for Mental Health, write articles for an occupational therapy magazine and also this blog. I do what I can, then, to fill my time, and to my mind, this is good for my mental health, maintaining a structure to my life and giving meaning and purpose to it. After all, most of this blog is about mental ill health and trying to combat the all too prevalent stigmas which surround diagnoses such as mine.
As I have, perhaps, written before, it is a continual bugbear of mine that those with a diagnosis of schizophrenia find it hard, nay almost impossible to find paid work, not only because of the stigmas which surround the diagnosis, but because there seems to be so little support out there for people like me to return to work. Despite a known high rate of willingness to work amongst those with mental ill health and despite many of us experiencing long periods of well-being (I would say I have been mentally fit at least since 2006) it seems that many of us, at relatively early ages, are put on the economic scrap heap, and the abiding impression one gets of the system then is of a massive waste of potential and talent.
In my frustration, then, I actually wrote a letter to the Conservative Party and their leader, David "just call me Dave" Cameron, in which I expressed my opinion. Believe me, writing to the Tories is not something I would normally do. Since the days of Margaret Thatcher I, and come to think of it, most of the population of Stoke-on-Trent, have been vehemently opposed to the Conservative Party and its policies. However, with Gordon Brown's popularity seemingly fading by the day, the spectre of an imminent Tory government looms large on the horizon. It was mostly out of curiosity, then, as to what they would perhaps do about people in my situation, that I wrote my letter.
To give them credit, I did receive a quite quick and full-page response to my concerns. However, on close reading, it would seem that the Conservative Party is loath to give any details of what "support", other than being on benefits, I would receive in my quest of some form of economic independence. In the letter, it stated the party's concern with the "cycle of long term benefit dependency that has grown up under this Government" and indeed, went on to say, that "we would retest everyone on Incapacity Benefit" (at present I do not even have to go for a check-up because my diagnosis falls into the category of "severe" disability). Those found well enough to work would be placed on Job Seeker's Allowance. The letter ended by stating- "we believe that those who can work should work and those who cannot work...should be properly supported by a compassionate society that believes in social justice".
OK, so far, so vague. If I wanted to return to work, exactly what support would I get, other than being just moved to a different area of the benefits system, one which, it must be remembered, pays less in benefits than Incapacity. Nowhere is there mention of measures which might actually make a difference, like those suggested by Professor Graham Thornicroft, such as support from job coaches (employment advisers), providing structured psychological treatment, encouraging health and social care agencies to see the experience of mental illness as a positive attribute when hiring staff, developing new roles in which former service users are employed in a mental health team, and the introduction of "reasonable adjustments" as cited in the Disability Discrimination Act.
The above changes might actually make a difference to me in experiencing some form of success in the open market. On the other hand, the Tory policy of simply, if it was that I were found fit to work, moving me on to Job Seeker's Allowance, would seem only to result in me receiving less money. The stigma which surrounds my diagnosis would remain, the difficulties in finding paid work perhaps not alleviated. So, what would the Tories do for people in my situation? According to this response, not near enough.
That's all for now from your normal, average, paranoid and delusional man.