Warning: this article includes repeated references to self-harm and suicide
The proposed changes to the PIP scoring system will affect many claimants living with severe mental illness (SMI) and some have already experienced a deterioration in their health, a Benefits and Work survey suggests.
Labour intends to remove the daily living component from claimants who do not score 4 points or higher for at least one activity, when their PIP award is reviewed from November 2026,
DWP disability minister Stephen Timms said that claimants who will lose their PIP daily living have “multiple but low-level functional needs across several activities. These could individually be managed with small interventions or the addition of aids or appliances. This change will focus PIP more on those with the greatest needs. . .”
However, a survey completed by almost 550 Benefits and Work readers who do not score 4 points has shown that many of those who will lose their award are living with SMI, including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and personality disorders.
Current distress
The publication of the Green Paper has already caused distress amongst some of this group of claimants.
Shakk66, [no real names were used by participants], aged 43, lives with unstable borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder. They told us that they “struggle understanding the world and understanding what people mean .I'm vulnerable to abuse because I don't understand what's going in i hear voices in my kitchen and I feel like I'm being spied on all the time . . . i tried volunteering and it sent me off the deep end after being unable to volunteer and hearing about the pip changes i tried to kill myself with tablets and now I've got permanent stomach damage.”
Paul, aged 30-40, lives with bipolar disorder and says “During manic episodes I always end up being hospitalised. I have been trying to get part time work for over 6 months and have not been successful. . . This green paper has caused me extreme anxiety and has prompted suicidal thoughts.”
Dee, aged 43 lives with emotionally unstable personality disorder. They explained that “I struggle with going out and being around people (other than my parents) more than once a week without extreme psychological distress. . . My mental health has worsened since the announcement in March and I feel very fearful of the future with little hope and serious thoughts of ending my life.”
Lilly, aged 33, lives with schizophrenia and says they “can not communicate with others due to the extreme paranoia I experience every day.” They expect to lose £5,000 a year if the cuts go through “This will be catastrophic for me I will loose all sense of independence. My mom is my only carer and as she gets older I’m aware that once she is gone I will be all alone. . . I feel suicidal at the prospect of these changes and my symptoms are worsening. . .”
Future fears
Other claimants living with SMI also fear what the future holds.
Daz, aged 42, lives with schizophrenia. They say “if wasn’t for my carer I would spend all my income in the first three days of receiving it (which is solely from UC and PIP). Prior to my carer helping me 5 years ago I ended up homeless and couch surfing then ended up in hospital after being sectioned. . . My carer will lose her Carer’s Allowance then this will mean she has to get a full time job and no longer be able to care for me. I will no longer be able to afford all my rent, bills and very little food. I will end up losing my home and end up back in mental hospital”
Sweet-Night, aged 32, lives with schizophrenia, depression and anxiety. They told us “Speaking with others is difficult due to my schizophrenia and my relationships with others can become volatile, harmful and unpredictable. I'm also not able to manage the motivation required to care for myself, to maintain my health, hygiene, and appearance. I don't know how i would be able to maintain a job or who would hire me.”
Sheepdog, aged 60 plus, lives with borderline personality disorder. schizophrenia and arthritis. They say that if they lost their PIP “I would not be able to pay for my careres. . . If I lose my care people. I would struggle to cope by myself.”
Anon, aged 53, lives with bipolar disorder and psychosis. They say that if the Green Paper cuts happen “I would have only £100 approx left for going out including bus fares. Clothes etc would need to come out of that too. In other words I would become isolated and my mental health would be at rock bottom.. . I have tried volunteering but still ended up in hospital. I I am disabled and over 50 and know the reality is that younger fitter people are chosen by employers in most cases.”
Kevin, aged 54, lives with bipolar disorder and psychosis. He considers that if the PIP cuts were imposed he would become homeless. He says that if he had to try moving into work, “With how serious my bipolar disorder, psychosis and extreme anxiety not only Will this effect me mentally and I can become violent when manic or paranoid psychotic I will be a danger to others or myself as I would be suicidal. Physically my condition causes extreme stomach problems to the point of I can’t leave the house for fear of having accidents. I will definitely consider suicide as an option as I would not be able to survive.”
Lack of openness
Approximately 30 people out of the 550 who completed our survey said they lived with SMI but did not score any 4 point or higher descriptors.
In part, this is because there are fewer opportunities to score 4 points or more for supervision than there are for needing actual help with an activity. And in part it is because assessments of are often carried out by health professionals with very limited understanding of SMI and so they fail to award the appropriate points.
But our survey is a tiny sample, a fraction of one percent of the total number of PIP claimants.
There are almost 240,000 PIP claimants who live with SMI. It is likely that many thousands of them are at risk of losing their PIP daily living.
The DWP know precisely how many people with every health condition currently fail to score any 4 point or higher descriptors, but they will not publish that information.
This lack of openness allows Timms to get away with his claim that only those with low-level functional needs face losing their PIP.
It allows Liz Kendall to argue that too many on benefits are taking the mickey whilst ignoring those whose lives depend on PIP.
Rachel Reeves was asked by the treasury committee on 2 April 2025 “Are you quite confident, then, that everybody who ends up dropping out of the [PIP] eligibility criteria has the potential to work and that you will be able to get them into work?”
The same lack of openness meant that instead of answering with honesty, “Of course not” she could get away with “We know that there are hundreds of thousands of people with a disability who want to work, and there are many people with disabilities who already do work.”
What you can do
If, due to being misled, MPs vote in favour of the Green Paper changes it will mean disaster for large numbers of claimants. From November 2026 until after the next general election at least 10,000 claimants every month will lose their PIP. This will include many living with SMI.
Please draw the attention of your MP to this issue.
Ask them to ask the secretary of state for work and pensions to publish a breakdown by health condition detailing how many claimants get the PIP care component without scoring 4 points or higher.
Finally
Amongst the other people living with SMI who completed our survey was a claimant who says that they have scars from self-harm in places they can’t cover up including their hands and face, a claimant who thinks the devil is in their shower water so needs someone to calm them whilst they wash and a claimant who has been detained “many, many” times under section 136 of the mental health act for running in front of cars.
These are all people who will lose their PIP in order to maintain Rachel Reeves fiscal rules.
People living with SMI already have a life expectancy 15-20 years shorter than the general population. So, why take money from individuals with such enormous challenges in their lives, rather than say, millionaires or tax avoiding multinationals?
Maybe you could ask your MP their opinion about that too?
You can read more about how we carried out our survey here.
You can search our survey results by keyword, including health conditions and you or your organisation is welcome to carry out your own research using the survey results.
