Doing alright! As no other option, but mental health week means nothing to me as people say much including policymakers, funders, but on government level not sure what's happening as just to get a diagnosis takes years and years. No support around. All the systems are made for chaos, looks like still don't get anything, it's more exhausting and feel fed up along with mental health issues.

My work with changing realities is I just answer each questions. A big question every week. Well, I've received a couple of different cards. I'm very grateful and I'm proud for that, that I have done it, and that I've managed to get something for doing it, because I feel so proud that I can can do it myself, and in the future I would like to get more involved with changing realities and see where I can go from there.

It’s ages since I’ve been in here and wrote anything.

The truth is I’ve not had it easy and it’s been easier to hide away and try and shut the world out. I’ve had times when services have wanted to help me BUT they say what can we do to help you and I just can’t answer that because if I knew the answer I wouldn’t need help! So it’s been more easier to say it’s ok I don’t need help I help others.

Then they go away till the next malicious lies from my ex husband come (his way of continuing his mental cruelty)

Anyway this last time the police referred me to the mental health this certain policeman was the first to have sat and really listened and understood so for the first time ever I’m attending an appointment in the morning to try and get proper help …..

More money needs to be provided by our government to ensure those who struggle but are not yet in crisis don’t slip through the gaps but all it ever is is waiting lists.

Well mental health what do I say? I’ve suffered with this since a child I’ve had ongoing trauma all my life that’s never been dealt with, recently it’s got worse it’s the build up and has got on top of me/ I’m good at helping others but struggle to help myself. I help others claim what they are entitled to but again cannot face the forms for myself.

It’s hard having to be the strong one all the time, my brother was murdered a lot of years ago and I became the parent to my parents as they were consumed with grief, my kids have autism I am their carer, I run the local food bank, in fact this is the only reason I go out my house two days a week. But when I’m struggling no one is there …. GPs just give tablets saying they can’t take my problems away but the tablets will help deal with them. Mental health says I’m likely to get worse if they intervene. So I just plod on in the hope my lifelong bad luck ends. More needs to be out there for mental health , especially for when people have been through trauma that is life changing,

I feel it’s easier just to put on that mask and say I’m fine….

It has ben hectic for me the past month, I felt discouraged and I started isolating myself. Recently been registered with the specialist perinatal community mental health team and really hope to get better soon. This was too personal and I’m crying writing this down.

I'm really pleased that the Timms Review is currently in place because I recently had to phone PIP to report a change in my circumstances, but couldn't even get through to them in order to do so because not only did I have to wait ages just to speak to someone, but, when I did get through, they couldn't progress my call any further because I had 'failed the security screening' because I couldn't remember the exact date that my last payment from them was.

This security question must be fairly new, because I have never been asked that before. It also assumes that every caller does online banking (which I currently don't) or that we are calling them from home, and therefore would have our PIP award letter to hand in order to give them that information (which is not always the case either).

On the actual award letter (which I do now have in front of me) it states that you must report any changes of circumstance straight away 'using the phone number on the front page of this letter' which was exactly what I did, as I have the phone number stored on my phone, and was not at home when I made the call. Yet, on nowhere else of the letter does it state that once you phone them, you will need to let them know when your last payment was, as this would be part of your security vetting.

I reckon the sooner the Timms PIP Review is done, the better, because of my recent experience with them.

What option have we got? Especially when you are a single migrant parent. There is no support around us. We can't rely on anyone, we need to be keep going as we know if we don't wake up or leave the bed, nothing will be done. Just keep going and surviving and existing. It is a default mode now.

These proposed changes have taken an emotional toll on me as a mother. The uncertainties of waiting maybe ten or more years for settlement keep on piling up and this very thing just increases my stress. I'm worried constantly about what will happen to our family in future; the whole nine yards. When our position is temporary, for so long, it is often hard to rest, feel at home, or plan. The insecurity of being in this state is one that influences not only me, but also the health and happiness of my entire family.

As a skilled migrant and a mother: These proposals seem unfair to me. I moved to the UK in order to work, be part of a community, and have a stable life for my family. We all pay taxes, and we all give back to society, and we’re asked to wait far longer for settlement, with much less rights, and with little or nobody at all to support us in that interim. Extending the settlement time, but increasing visa fees and limiting benefits, makes us believe that our contributions are not valued.

My children will be affected by these changes, and as a parent my biggest worry is what will happen to them. Ten or even 15 years without a secure status creates a never-ending sense of insecurity in our house. The kids I raise in England are coming up here and going to school, and look to the UK as their home, but these policies make their future uncertain. I also know that not being able to call upon any backing of one’s own when the going gets tough worries me deeply and makes me all the more sensitive; as we must raise children responsibly and safely.

As a UK mother on a skilled worker visa I am quite anxious about these changes. That now we will wait 10 years instead of 5 to apply for settlement, in other words a longer period of not being on track financially. And for my family, that also means still living without access to public funds (like Child Benefit or housing support) even as we’re helping with taxes. With skyrocketing living costs — not least of which, for children — that puts extra pressure on us and makes it harder to plan out and feel secure.

While it may not be something that impacts my family directly, it definitely hits close to home because of my friends. I know some people in healthcare who work really hard, and it makes me mad honestly that they could be made to wait 10–15 years to get basic access to support. They are shelling out so much in visa fees and the health surcharge now. More is being asked of them now. It just feels really unfair — especially when they’re getting the most out of every little bit of work and contributing so much.