When most people see a person in the depths of despair or on the brink of suicide, they see a vulnerable person in need of help and compassion. Although not if you're Iain Duncan Smith, it would seem.

It’s been revealed that his Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) refuses to count serious mental health conditions amongst their criteria to protect vulnerable people on benefits. If you have depression, anxiety or OCD and are on the dole – tough luck. Under Tory logic, you probably chose being mentally ill as a lifestyle; just like you chose to be poor.

The “vulnerable person” provision of the Tory benefits cuts is there to apply the breaks on procedures if someone is in serious risk of harm or death. The principle is that, while the Government can stop peoples’ benefits abruptly and for no reason, if someone is really and truly in desperate need of help they can apply for their situation to be considered for a small amount of emergency funds.

Iain Duncan Smith clearly thinks this is the height of compassion and tolerance. That if you are on the cusp of starvation or homelessness, the DWP will begrudgingly throw you a meagre bone to tide you through. It’s a "get out of jail free" card which the Government has used to justify austerity. It basically says "Yes we’re going to make poor people suffer, but just enough to make them squirm. We’ll intervene before anyone gets seriously hurt".

But last week, it was revealed that even this insulting policy has been twisted to exclude some of the most vulnerable people that the system is meant to help. Even the Government’s pitiful protection for benefits claimants does not exist in reality.

The DWP has said that it only includes physical disabilities as making a person “vulnerable”. Having a mental health condition, no matter how serious, does not count. It is estimated that around 23 per cent of people on Job Seekers Allowance suffer from a mental health condition. They will still be able to claim for support when they need emergency support, but along with everyone else who is not classed as "vulnerable" they'll have to do this via a lengthy application process. This means they may have to wait two weeks when what they're applying for is emergency support.

The attitude perpetuates an outdated view that just because they might not affect people physically, mental illnesses are less real and less valid. For those who suffer from them, mental illnesses can be life encompassing and life-threatening. Their pain can be just as searing and profoundly felt as anything that can be picked up on an X-Ray or in an MRI scan.

What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain? Show all 8 1 /8 What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain? What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain? Welfare payments will be slashed One of the most controversial parts of the Conservative manifesto was to cut benefits for the working age poor by £12 bn over the next three years. But during the campaign they only said where £2 bn of these savings would come from. That leaves £10 bn still to find. Some experts think the only way they can close that gap is by means testing child benefit – with millions of families losing out Getty What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain? There will be tax cuts for those in work and those who die The Tories will increase the threshold at which the 40p rate of tax becomes payable to £50,000 by 2020. They haven’t said so but it is also likely that at some point in the next five years they will abolish that 45p rate of tax altogether for the highest earners. They also want to increase the effective inheritance tax threshold for married couples and civil partners to £1m Getty What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain? There will be an in/out EU referendum in 2017 The next two years are going to be dominated by the prospect of a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU. First off David Cameron has the daunting task of negotiating a deal with other EU leaders an acceptable deal that he can sell to his party so he can go into the referendum campaigning for a ‘yes’ vote. This may be unachievable and it is possible that the Tories may end up arguing to leave. Opinion polls show Britain is divided on EU membership, one poll this year showed 51% said they would opt to leave compared to 49% who would vote to stay in Getty What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain? There will be more privatisation of the NHS Having won the election the Tories now have a mandate to go further and faster reforming the NHS. In order to make cost savings there is likely to be greater private involvement in running services, while some smaller hospitals may lose services they currently provide like A&E and maternity units Getty What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain? There will be many more free schools – and traditional state schools will become a thing of the past The Tories plans to create 500 new free schools and make 3,000 state schools become academies. They will also carry on reforming the Department of Education and remove more powers from local authorities over how schools are run Getty What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain? On shore wind farms will be a thing of the past and fracking will be the future Government spending on renewable energy is under real threat now the Lib Dems are no longer in power with the Tories. Subsidies are likely to be slashed for off-shore wind farm and other green energy supplies. Meanwhile there will be generous tax break for fracking as ministers try and incentivise the industry to drill for onshore oil and gas Getty What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain? There maybe more free childcare – but not necessarily In the campaign the Tories pledged to double the amount of free early education for three- and four-year-olds from 15 hours a week to 30. The extra hours would only be offered to working families where parents are employed for at least eight hours a week. However they have not said where the money will come from to fund the pledge Getty What does five more years of the Tories mean for Britain? Workers' rights could be reduced The Tories want to slash business regulation, merge regulator and cut costs. The Lib Dems stopped them from reducing the employment rights of workers in power – but these are now under threat Getty

The Government’s refusal to acknowledge mentally ill people as vulnerable doesn’t just cause stigma. The policy puts people with mental illnesses at serious risk of distress and even death. For many mentally ill people, life on benefits can be a deeply distressing experience. Constantly under pressure to find work, jumping through ever-changing hoops to meet new demands and targets, being demonised for needing help and having to live a dreary existence on inadequate income.

Campaigners estimate that at least 80 suicide cases are linked to abrupt benefits sanctions. But the bottom line is that we simply do not know how many have died as a result. This is because Iain Duncan Smith is still refusing to reveal how many people have died after having their benefits sanctioned. The Government used to reveal this information until 2012 but abruptly stopped as the Conservatives proceeded to carve the heart out of the welfare system.

Iain Duncan Smith is point blank refusing to reveal the numbers. This is despite the Information Commissioner saying there is no justifiable reason to conceal the information. Despite the UK independent statistics watchdog writing to him this weekend to urge him to release honest and clear figures. And despite the fact that a petition from the public seeking the truth has reached close to a quarter of a million signatures.