SS Disability for mental illness?

[godlovesugly]

was wondering if anyone else's mental illnesses [depression, OCD, anxiety, etc...] have caused them to apply for Social Security Disability? i am in the process right now. i have major depressive disorder, with hypomania episodes, OCD, anxiety/panic attacks, PTSD, also insomnia...i feel as if it is so intense, i cant live life 'like a normal person'. i think i have a really good case. even my family and doctor are pretty optimistic about me getting approved. its just a long process. and i am afraid they will just look at me and just see a 24 year old girl who's a drug addict/alcoholic.

soo im wondering if anyone else has experience with trying to get disability for mental illnesses? advice or anything would be greatly appreciated! thanx :b

 

[*Venus*]

As a former intensive case manager that has attended several administrative hearings for my clients' SSI and SSDI cases, I have to warn you that you virtually *no one* will win their first attempt.

My advice-
Be very specific as to why you can't work and have lost jobs because of above said issues. They will deny you even if they think for a second that you are employable even if it is a mere bagging position at a grocery store.

Bring medical documentation supporting your case. They will likely have their own psychiatrist evaluate you, so be prepared for that.

Diagnosed schizophrenics often receive SSI fairly easily, but manic depression, anxiety, insomnia is almost always declared as "not debilitating enough."

Avoid mentioning any substance abuse related issues if they are not already in your medical records. If the administrative judge, psychiatrist, and other staff are going to see this in your records, you are going to have to try like HELL to convince them that it is not interfering currently with employability. Mention meetings, rehabs, counseling etc, any and all work towards sobriety that you may have done.

Do you have legal representation yet? There are legal groups for low income individuals in most major cities that will help prepare your paperwork.

With that said, I do not know you and will not judge your decision to try for SSI. I will hope that you reconsider giving work a try. It can be one of the many gratifying aspects of life and will help you maintain a regular routine, which we all know is essential to reducing mental illness symptoms. Look for jobs that don't involve customers if anxiety is an issue, or part- time work if that is all you can manage.

Good luck.

 

[theartofwar]

I was offered this and turned it down simply because I was going to receive 600$ a month and that is certainly not worth it when I can still work and once you go down SS road its perma stamped i believe.

If you need this help you will meet with a rep and they have a 2 page form (at least here in boston) and they will decide with that and case study of you from your psych where you stand.

 

[sandman_i_am]

soo im wondering if anyone else has experience with trying to get disability for mental illnesses? advice or anything would be greatly appreciated! thanx :b

Get a good disability lawyer who will only charge you a percentage of the benefits that get awarded to you in court. This is what I did. It may take a while, but if you have enough evidence (medical records, able to contact psychiatrists and therapists who work with you to back up your story) things should go quite smoothly. Of course, disability isn't much to subsist on at all, so really you still need to move ahead and try to get working again like I have, depending on how serious your condition is.

Keep following the treatment advice of your psychiatrist and therapist, try to improve your own situation, and hope that the social security disability is only a temporary thing for you. You may be surprised how quickly doing nothing with hardly enough money to survive gets old.

 

[Jean-Paul]

i reapplied for this a few weeks ago. i did not bring documentation. really, it was too much effort and i figured they can look it up can't they? i just met with a psychologist and answered her questions. i am wondering the importance of the questions such as 'who is the president?', 'what is a current political issue', 'spell world backwards', etc. i knew those things, but that doesn't have anything to do with the significant affect my anxiety has on how i feel in a work environment. i also mentioned my drug abuse because i felt it was important to say i had to use to medicate the anxiety disorder to try to keep a job. that's about my anxiety, not drugs, really. that isn't fair. i also had to ask if rehab counted as a hospitalization i should mention as they wanted to know how many times. how much did those things hurt me, you think?

overall unhappy with the whole experience, i think a short one on one interview that like isn't really a fair representation of what they'd need to know.

i will probably not get it, i don't think i was clear enough that i can't do *anything* (even if i could maybe in reality force myself, it's uncomfortable and i eventually quit). i basically said i would have to use drugs to do anything, and i can't find a psych who will give me the meds i need (klonopin).

if anything, i think this lady liked me and would vouch to a psych that i do in fact need klonopin depite my drug history. she seemed to want to get me at least medicaid.

i wish i could do it over, it's hard to paint myself poorly when usually in that kind of interview setting it's an employer sitting there and i'd do the opposite.

 

[mrflowers00]

i'm on SSI for back and neck pain and schizo bipolar panic disorder general anxiety disorder and insomnia