Abbott mocks sick DSP pensioners - sad we're not stigmatised

Update: 'No Evidence' Depressed People Are 'Rorting' Pensions Or 'Drug Addicts' Huffington Post

Update 2: Government must stop blaming welfare. Lazy lies do damage. Mark Dickenson blog 

I wish they'd give as much attention to those in the corporate end of town who pay no tax on bazillions. I read recently this latest attack on Disability Support Pensioners and the unemployed is now the 8th time in three years that the Abbott/Turnbull gov has done so. Each time we're demonised as bludgers and cheats rorting the system, and we must be cracked down upon to rid the country of our evil bludging ways. It's always done in a paternalistic and derogatory way, implying that we have gone on some mission to rip off the gov by living in poverty. 

No person in their right mind would chose to live like this. Do they think we enjoy being ill? 

This time is no different. This time prospective re-PM Abbott has popped his head up on his favourite archaic far right shock jock radio show and accused many of us on the DSP not being tough enough or something, that a "bit of depression" and back pain aren't permanent conditions. He is quoted on the radio thus:

Former prime minister Tony Abbott has praised his Government's crackdown on the Disability Support Pension, saying it was far too easy for people with "a bad back and a bit of depression" to access the benefit. 

Mr Abbott also lamented the fact that there was no longer a stigma attached to being on social security and warned there are "welfare villages" on the outskirts of Australian cities that are "full of social dysfunction". 

Mr Abbott said he was pleased the number of people on the DSP has started to fall, for the first time since the benefit was introduced, because of changes his Government brought in. 

"We were far too ready to put people on the Disability Support Pension with bad backs and a bit of depression and so on," he told Sydney's 2GB. 

"These are not permanent conditions, they don't necessarily stop you from working." ABC

I honestly don't know where to start with this, perhaps than to say this is typical lunar right christian Abbott. Hard nosed, uncaring, incapable of compassion and empathy. This is Abbott's brand of christianity and politics right down to the brass tacks.

Why should there be a stigma attached to being on gov support? WTF? I worked in factories hard physical printing work for 30 years, and now he reckons I should be stigmatised for being on welfare? I fell on bad times, things happened, I nearly died, and I'm supposed to endure stigma as well? Believe me, being HIV+ stigma is a big big deal and I find those words alone of his some of the most deeply offensive I've ever heard from him (and that's really saying something). Would he like me to be stigmatised because I'm HIV+ too? People have fought long and hard against that for decades. It's a mental health issue for us. I'm sure stigmatisation for those sick on the DSP is a mental health issue for them too. What an uncaring prick of a man. Does he have any sort of conscience? How the fuck does he sleep at night?

Speaking of social dysfunction, remember the post Abbott PM piss up that broke the expensive marble table? When Abbott couldn't face the media after the spill because he was chicken shit wallowing in self pity? When he skipped turning up for work (attending parliament) for a week because he was too depressed?....... 

The only reason the DSP recipients are reducing in numbers is because of this cruel gov that would rather target the sick, old, poor and unfortunate in the community rather than the fat cats that pay no tax.

Has Abbott turned into a doctor and psychologist all in one now? I'm sure he's got the outfits in his dress up drawer somewhere. How does he know what's involved in a bad back? The back is extremely complicated being the nerve centre distribution point in the body. The largest nerve in the body is the sciatic nerve which starts at the base of the back and goes down both legs. You get bad pain in that nerve and you're fucked. Bad pain from shingles years later for example, like I've had lately, makes it impossible to even walk much or do anything other than lie on the bed and try to breath slowly to avoid a panic attack. Has he lifted 3-6 tonnes of paper a day for 30 years working full time? WTF would he know?

"A bit of depression"? WTFuckin Fuck? Does he even know what severe depression is, or was he just too pissed as a fart to turn up to parliament that week? Does he understand PTSD? Has he had to get therapy from a psychologist for it since 2009? Depression where you just want to die to stop the pain of it. Where you just can't go on. Where you have a plan to do yourself in. Where nobody seems to understand where you're at. Where you have to take 300mg of Efexor a day to stop you falling into the abyss. Where the psychologist makes you promise you won't do anything until he sees you again in three days. When you can't remember a whole afternoon and evening because the pain became so intense as to be a traumatic event.....

"A bit of depression"? Oh just fuck off. Whatever Abbott says my diagnosis says it's permanent; depression/PTSD/panic attacks were one of the conditions the Centrelink person himself described as permanent. Abbott is disagreeing even with the very narrow Centrelink definition of a permanent illness.

"Don't stop you from working"? Oh for fuckin sake! Try suffering like people like me do who are on the DSP now. Try getting up in the morning for work when you're paralysed with depression and anxiety. Try just snapping out of that "bit of depression" when you don't even want to leave the bedroom and leave the curtains pulled shut all day. When daylight comes unwelcome in the morning, when your head is so exhausted you want to spend all day in darkness and the safety of the bedroom. When outside is just too much to face.