Does bipolar qualify?
Yes. Bipolar I and II are covered by NHS guideline CG185. PIP applies the same functional test as to any long-term condition, looking at your ability across the 12-month reference period.
Episodic illness and the 50 per cent rule
Under Regulation 7, a descriptor applies if it fits on more than half of days across the 12-month period. For bipolar, count depressive days plus hypomanic/manic disruption days. If you spend 4 months depressed and 3 months in hypomanic states that stop you doing DL 10 reliably, that is more than half of the days on DL 10.
Which descriptors apply
- Daily Living 1 (preparing food): depressive-phase inability to plan, buy, cook; safety risk in manic phases from distraction and executive impulsivity.
- Daily Living 4 (washing / bathing): depressive-phase self-care collapse, days without showering.
- Daily Living 6 (dressing): depressive-phase avolition; dressing takes hours or does not happen.
- Daily Living 3 (managing therapy or monitoring a health condition): lithium levels, thyroid monitoring, mood stabilisers, antipsychotics, sleep meds.
- Daily Living 10 (budgeting): impulsive spending in hypomanic/manic phases; cannot open post in depressive phases.
- Daily Living 9 (engaging with people): withdrawal in depression, disinhibition or paranoia in manic phases.
- Mobility 1 (planning and following a journey): impaired judgement in manic phases; overwhelming psychological distress in depressive phases.
Example answers you could adapt
These are illustrations, written to show the kind of detail that helps a decision maker understand your day: what happens, how often, how long it takes, whether it is safe, and who helps. Describe your own experience in your own words. Never copy an example, or any part of one, that is not true for you.
Each activity is named as it appears in Schedule 1 to the Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013, and the descriptor wording is quoted from there.
Example only
Daily living activity 10: Making budgeting decisions
“Money is often the first thing to go when I am heading into a high. Last spring I spent over three thousand pounds in ten days on equipment for a business idea that came to nothing, and took out a credit card to do it. In the depressed months that follow I cannot face the statements, so the debt grows while I hide from it. My partner and I now have an agreement, written into my care plan, that he holds my bank cards once my sleep starts to drop, and he goes through the account with me every week. Between episodes I manage the food shop and the household bills with just that weekly check.”
Why this detail matters: Spending in a high and avoidance in a low are both relevant to 10b, "Needs prompting or assistance to be able to make complex budgeting decisions". The agreement that starts when your sleep drops shows the assistance follows the course of the illness rather than being needed only in a crisis.
Example only
Daily living activity 3: Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition
“Lithium is my main medicine, taken morning and night, and the level has to be checked with a blood test every three months, with regular checks on my kidneys and thyroid as well. When I am depressed I forget doses, and as I go high I start to feel I no longer need them, so my wife watches me take the evening tablets and keeps my blood test dates on the kitchen calendar. She also spots my early warning signs before I do, like sleeping three or four hours a night and talking fast, and rings my care coordinator, as our relapse plan asks her to. Last winter I took ibuprofen for toothache without knowing it can push lithium levels up, and I was shaky and sick until a blood test showed what had happened.”
Why this detail matters: 3b covers both "supervision, prompting or assistance to be able to manage medication" and "supervision, prompting or assistance to be able to monitor a health condition". Watching the evening dose and noticing early warning signs are separate kinds of help, so it is worth describing each rather than folding them together.
Example only
Daily living activity 9: Engaging with other people face to face
“How I am with people changes completely with my mood. When I am high I talk over everyone, say things to strangers I would never normally say, and have ended up in arguments in shops that my son had to step in and calm down. When I am low I barely speak, even to him, and cancel anything that means seeing people. Between the highs, the lows and the mixed spells, that covers around eight months of my year, and my son comes with me to any appointment with someone new.”
Why this detail matters: 9c reads "Needs social support to be able to engage with other people". Describing the arguments when you are high as well as the silence when you are low, with roughly how much of the year each takes up, lets the decision maker look at both phases together instead of judging you on a settled day.
Example only
Mobility activity 1: Planning and following journeys
“During a manic episode two years ago I got on a train to the other end of the country on impulse, with no money for the journey back, and my family did not know where I was until I rang them two days later. Since then I do not travel beyond town on my own once my sleep starts slipping, and my brother comes with me anywhere unfamiliar. In depressive spells the problem is the opposite, and I can go three weeks without leaving the house unless someone takes me. When my mood is level I drive to work and back on a route I know well.”
Why this detail matters: For the high spells the wording to compare is 1d, "Cannot follow the route of an unfamiliar journey without another person, assistance dog or orientation aid", and for the low ones it is 1b, "Needs prompting to be able to undertake any journey to avoid overwhelming psychological distress to the claimant". Saying what share of the year each phase takes, and that you drive a familiar route when well, keeps the whole picture accurate.
Example only
Daily living activity 1: Preparing food
“Each phase of the illness shows up differently in the kitchen. In a high I rush everything and take risks, and this year I have burnt my hand twice grabbing a tray out of the oven without gloves. In a low I can only face toast or a yoghurt, and a proper meal happens only when my mum comes over and cooks it with me, about three evenings a week. In the settled months between episodes I cook simple meals for myself without help.”
Why this detail matters: 1e reads "Needs supervision or assistance to either prepare or cook a simple meal". The burns from rushing when you are high and the meals that only happen with your mum when you are low are different routes to the same need, and giving the length of each phase shows how often it applies.
Example only
Daily living activity 6: Dressing and undressing
“In a depressive episode I can wear the same clothes, including what I slept in, for a week at a time, and getting changed only happens when my husband lays clean things out and keeps reminding me through the morning. Even then it can be mid-afternoon before I manage it. As I head towards a high I go the other way, changing outfits again and again in the middle of the night or going out dressed in a way I later feel ashamed of, and my husband will quietly ask me to change. In the months between I dress myself without any reminders.”
Why this detail matters: 6c includes "prompting to be able to dress, undress or determine appropriate circumstances for remaining clothed" and "prompting or assistance to be able to select appropriate clothing". The clothes laid out in a low spell and the quiet word before you go out in a high one are examples of each, so describe both and how long each phase usually lasts.
Reliability across mixed states
Under Regulation 4(2A) a task must be done safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly, in a reasonable time. Manic and mixed states routinely fail the "safely" limb. Depressive phases fail on "repeatedly" and "reasonable time". Both count.
Evidence to send
- CMHT / secondary mental health service letter with formal diagnosis (bipolar I or II).
- Care Programme Approach (CPA) or care plan.
- Medication history including changes over 12 months.
- Mood diary if you have one, or partner-kept diary.
- Hospital admission or crisis team letters where applicable.
- Partner or carer statement across both phase types.
At the assessment
The single biggest risk is being assessed on a euthymic day and having that treated as your baseline. State the phase pattern explicitly. Reference the 12-month reference period. Bring an advocate who has seen you across states. Ask for the assessment to be recorded.
The four-point rule (scrapped)
You may have read about a four-point rule starting in November 2026. It was removed from the bill in July 2025 and never became law. PIP rules are unchanged while the Timms Review runs (expected to report around autumn 2026). Evidence in descriptor and reliability language remains what decides awards.
Build the evidence pack
Our assessment turns your bipolar history across phases into a formal PIP evidence pack.
Frequently asked questions
Can you get PIP for bipolar disorder?
Yes. Bipolar I and II are recognised long-term conditions with variable functional impact. PIP scores against the 12 activities looking at your ability over a 12-month period, so both depressive and manic phases count.
How does episodic illness work for PIP?
Under Regulation 7, if a descriptor applies on more than half of days across the 12-month period, it applies. Add up depressive days + hypomanic/manic disruption days when calculating the majority.
Does being medicated well go against me?
No. Descriptors ask what you can do reliably on current treatment. Lithium, quetiapine, lamotrigine and antipsychotics manage but rarely resolve functional impairment.
Which activities does bipolar score on?
In depressive phases: DL 1 preparing food, DL 4 washing, DL 6 dressing, DL 3 managing therapy. In hypomanic/manic phases: DL 10 budgeting (impulsive spending), DL 9 engaging with people, Mob 1 planning a journey (impaired judgement).
Do rapid cycling or mixed states change things?
They strengthen the fluctuation case. More frequent switches usually mean more days where activities cannot be done reliably. Diary evidence matters.
General information and document drafting, not benefits advice. Finally Seen is not affiliated with DWP or the NHS and does not guarantee any award. Check current guidance at gov.uk before sending.