The jobcenter sent us two forms as part of a „hearing“ regarding why they paid us too much money. Two separately mailed letters containing the exact same forms and the exact same letters, except that one was addressing my husband with “you earned income” and my letter read “Mr. Layara earned income”. So I explained for the fourth and fifth time respectively in those forms that the jobcenter pays in advance, but my husband’s salary only comes in about six weeks later since he gets paid retroactively the following month. I also asked for our monthly allowance to be reduced, to avoid having to transfer back hundreds of euros later on. We’ll see how that goes.
Tomorrow, I have an appointment with the medical service to assess my mental health. Last time was pretty bad; my one comfort is that with just a few more months to, the result of tomorrow’s appointment will only matter short-term. I was supposed to bring ALL my files from various doctors, but they gave too short notice of the appointment to get anything from the psychiatrist, and anything from the clinic / therapy is not available as it is part of a medical study and thus confidential. For the latter I still have a statement written by my therapist from the last time I had to see the medical service.
Also, I need to bring all the medication I take. Not sure why – to prove that I’m not making anything up? Shouldn’t they already have my medical records on that from the psychiatrist? And how would showing them a bunch of blisters prove I am actually taking that stuff? Seems rather stupid to me.
On Tuesday I have an appointment with my caseworker at the jobcenter. I am not sure whether I mentioned that before, but we got a new caseworker a year ago. She is nice enough, but I miss the old one. She was bipolar, so actually understood how mental health problems can influence your everyday life. Also, she would get in contact before setting the actual appointment. They don’t have to do any of that, but it was a courtesy she extended to me that made me feel as if they took me into account as a human being, not just a file that needs to be processed.
To say that I am afraid of the appointments would be overstating it, but they make me terribly nervous. I feel pressured, and “faulty” to boot. I understand that the state needs to check who they give money to, but this arrangement is not contributing to my recovery.
Lugubrious Layara 