Emma Golledge, aged 3
Late in November last year Emma Golledge, aged 30, received a letter from the Department for Work & Pensions, the section of the British government that deals with welfare benefits. She opened the brown envelope and read that if she didn’t respond within a few days “any existing entitlement may be disallowed”. The letter was signed “Office Manager”. Emma reacted physically: the blood to her brain slowed, her speech slurred, all feeling in her right arm drained away. She was having a mini-stroke.
Why did a letter from the DWP cause such a reaction?
