‘I rely on Pip for my mental health – restricting it would cause bigger problems’

“Without Pip… I’d just be inside, doing nothing, really struggling,” says Paul Harris. “It gives us a little bit of independence and I think that’s the biggest thing for me.”

The 46-year-old long-distance runner suffers from anxiety and depression and has been claiming the Personal Independence Payment (Pip) since 2017 to help manage her condition.

With four million claimants, it is the most sought-after health and disability benefit in the UK. But a landmark report by disability minister Sir Stephen Timms this week found Pip is “no longer fit for purpose” in modern Britain.

One reason for this, its authors write, is inflexibility in dealing with the rise in “variable conditions,” particularly those related to mental health such as depression, anxiety and ADHD.

Data from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) shows that 1.56 million (39 per cent) of the 4 million Pip claimants in the UK have mental health-related conditions, making them the largest group receiving the benefit.

This has coincided with a rapid increase in claims since 2019; it increased from 2.05 million in January of that year to 4.01 million in April 2026. During this time, spending on Pip has more than doubled from £15bn to around £32bn in 2025/26.

But it has proven very difficult for claimants like Mr Harris to get the support they deserve. After successfully receiving the benefit for two years, he was called for reconsideration in 2019 and his award was reduced to zero, beginning a two-year legal battle in the middle of the pandemic.

“What I found was that there was no real interest,” Mr. Harris recalls.

“You felt like a number or a form rather than a person. I went to these evaluations and there you are in a room with a person who is literally bombarding you with questions and typing on a computer, not even interacting properly.”

His evaluator reported meeting a “calm, relaxed person” who did not need any assistance in their daily lives.

“It’s all about what you can do physically, rather than how it affects you mentally,” Mr. Harris says, “not being able to actually go out, not being able to really socialize, all that… makes it very difficult to actually claim that if it’s just a mental illness that you have.”

He had to take his case to a higher court; where the DWP accepted the case within five minutes of the online hearing. His is one of nearly three-quarters of Pip decisions overturned at trial.

Among items that have helped his mental health, such as running shoes, Mr Harris says he has used his Pip to fund private counseling sessions after exhausting the NHS’s limited talking therapies.

Mike, 44, another Pip plaintiff, lives with severe ADHD, depression and PTSD. He explains that he uses his Pip prize to fund specialist appointments and medication.

“The government is paying me, Pip, to manage my mental health because the NHS can’t cope,” says Mike.

Mental health services in England face a backlog of 1.7 million people in 2025 following a 37 per cent increase in psychiatric admissions since pre-pandemic baseline levels, according to the British Medical Association (BMA).

In response to the Timms review’s view of fluctuating conditions, both claimants agree that the system could be redesigned to understand fluctuating conditions, but are wary that this would amount to a disruption or restriction on them.

“We need to treat people on their worst days, not their best days,” says Mike, who worked with the charity Money and Mental Health on his research.

“If we’re going to means test people, you can’t mean test them on their best days.”

No final recommendations have been made, but mental health charities have warned that the findings should not be used to justify removing or restricting benefits for those struggling with these conditions.

Sir Stephen’s review was announced last year after ministers backed away from proposals to change Pip assessment criteria to make it virtually harder to claim, cutting £4.8bn from welfare spending in the process.

One of the key criticisms of the plan was that the new criteria would particularly impact applicants with mental health problems, who could no less consistently demonstrate how this affected their daily lives.

Responding to the interim review, Mind chief executive Dr Sarah Hughes CBE said: “The report reflects what we hear every day: the Pip system is dehumanising, stressful and damaging to trust.”

“Pip is a lifeline for people living with the additional costs of mental illness through no fault of their own.”

“So as this work progresses, it is vital that we recognize that in addition to improving the process, we also need to support those who face additional needs in a decent society.”

A government spokesman said: “The key conclusion of the Timms Review Interim Report is clear: PIP is no longer fit for purpose. The review’s final recommendations will be released this autumn and will form the basis of deep, sustainable reform.”

“We are investing a record £16.1bn in NHS mental health services this year to ensure every person gets the mental health support they need as early as possible, and we have met our target of recruiting an additional 8,500 mental health workers three years early.

“The upcoming independent review into the prevalence and support of ADHD, autism and mental health conditions will make recommendations to ensure people receive the right care in the right setting, as well as how diagnoses of these conditions can be better managed.”