No – having this or any other medical condition does not automatically make you eligible for the discount. To be eligible for the discount, you need a specific SMI diagnosis from your doctor.
The law says that a person is regarded as SMI, or ‘severely mentally impaired’, if they have ‘a severe impairment of intelligence and social functioning (however caused) which appears to be permanent’.
You can be diagnosed as SMI as a result of a range of conditions – which could include things like dementia, Schizophrenia, multiple sclerosis, having had a stroke, or having had an accident which permanently affects your intelligence and social functioning.
Many conditions can underlie being SMI, but no condition means a person is definitely also SMI. Being SMI is a doctor’s diagnosis in its own right.