https://www.democraticunderground.com/11411051Oh my.
Astraea (380 posts) Wed Sep 5, 2018, 10:06 AM
My history applying for SSDI and SSI
Okay, so I have Asperger's Syndrome and Bipolar I, severe enough that I cannot work anymore. I know that's already a strike against me because it's an "invisible illness".
First, I applied for SSDI and was denied at each step of the appeals process. They said that since I was helping my physically disabled mother get from her chair to the bathroom that I was capable of working a regular job. It took over two years to go through this whole process. All that time wasted, the despair, the aggravation. It didn't help my mental state one bit.
So now I'm applying for SSI because I don't qualify for SSDI anymore. My mental health has deteriorated to the extent that I can't handle the pressure of taking care of my mother anymore; it causes me too much stress. I can't be at her beck and call anymore. So the rest of my family and my boyfriend have had to step in.
They sent me first to the same psychologist that interviewed me when I first applied. To me, that seems biased and I don't think that's right, but whatever. She behaved in an unprofessional and insulting manner, criticizing my relationship with my boyfriend just because he's older than me. And she never asked about my condition anyhow.
So, denied again. Then sent to a medical doctor. Appealed. Denied. Now I am waiting 16-18 months to see a disability judge!!! What the hell?? Do they really think I would put myself through all this if I really didn't have a problem?
And for what? $750 a month maybe? I'll really be living large, won't I? I can't even work part time jobs. I get so stressed I end up crying in the bathroom, unable to work, or erupting into a rage over the smallest thing. Or becoming suicidal, hurting myself, cutting. I've even gone to the hospital because I was having homicidal thoughts towards my mom and I didn't feel safe being in the house with her.
This whole system is a joke. It's broken and they're just making it harder and harder for disabled people.
Sorry for the rant.
Does anybody else have a similar experience applying for disability?
You know, I dunno why primitives have so much trouble getting aboard the disability gravy train.
The usual primitive whining, until the final comment:
Ziggysmom (3 posts) Sat Sep 29, 2018, 11:19 AM
10. I used to be an adjudicator for Social Security Disability
You would not believe the number of malingerers and scammers that apply, clogging the system for a measly handout. If the doctors see you are able to sustain a relationship with your boyfriend & family, while performing your own activities of daily living, they feel you would be able to perform low stress, unskilled work. I didn’t write the rules, just had to follow them. After 10 years on the job I burnt out and had to leave.
If your meds cause such severe side effects, why are you taking them? I’d find a different doctor or therapist. I have had anxiety and migraines my whole life, but tossed all my meds after becoming a vegan and doing yoga with other lifestyle changes. Sometimes unknown food allergies or sensitivities are the root of health problems. I don’t trust drug companies or the FDA when it comes to prescription meds.
Good luck to you!
Although it seriously injures my pride being on the dole, I'm not shy about telling my own story.
In mid-2016, as I got sicker and weaker, others encouraged me to apply for social security disability; not the one what's welfare (I forget which is which) but the one where one's paid into the system all his working life.
I balked. Being born deaf, I think I'm more aware than most, of games people play, especially bureaucrats. In my younger life, I unwittingly allowed myself to be used by them in instances that made them look good but did nothing for me. So.....about twenty-five years ago, I said "**** you" to bureaucrats.
But these "others" kept pressuring, and so I reluctantly applied.
Because it was just a game, I fooled around, I didn't keep appointments, I didn't answer most questions, I didn't return letters and telephone calls.
It was just a game, and I resented playing it.
(By the way, mental problems being pretty much nonexistent, were not created or alleged.)
I guess it usually takes six months, but it couldn't have been more than four or five months before one morning, while checking my bank balance on the internet--well, it was a good thing I was wearing brown pants. Then a couple, three, days later, a letter came in the mail, explaining this rather, uh, massive infusion of funds.
Without any manipulation of "the system" on my part, in less than six months, with little or no cooperation on my part, without an attorney.....approved the first and only time I ever applied.
Maybe the primitives are doing all the wrong things, trying to manipulate "the system."
Maybe they should just sit back, put up their feet, relax, and get mellow, and let "the system" do its own thing without any help from them.
I don't enjoy it, but I did pay into the system ever since I was fourteen years old.
