Social Security and OCD

[prayerbear]

I am also OCD and I was wondering have a number of other individuals
received Social Security disabilty payments? I have a very hard time hanging on to jobs and I think I have had about 20 since the age of 16.

I am now 32.

Please let me know if you got disabiltiy payments for this condition as I am still waiting for mine to come.

 

[prayerbear]

Social Security benefits

Has anyone else with OCD been granted disability payments yet?

Was the process a struggle or was it pretty easy?

Please send me your opinions-thanks

miss clean

 

[Daniel E.]

From what I have read and experienced, it's usually an uphill battle and it's never too early to get an attorney involved (no fee unless you win).

It is certainly the case that most people who apply for SSI & SSDI are denied. The most important thing, however, is to not give up and to appeal within 60 days of a denial decision. Most people who get a denial letter from Social Security are too discouraged to appeal.

The good news is that most people who appeal and go to a hearing are approved. However, it takes about 1 year of waiting after the initial denial decision to get to a hearing. (By then, you may feel good enough to work part-time.)

For better or worse, the Social Security Administration is the largest bureaucracy in the world. On the positive side, the application and appeal process does not have to end until you are happy with the result. The process:

1. SSI Application (usually denied) (3-6 months of waiting)
2. Request for Reconsideration (usually denied) (3+ months of waiting)
3. Appeal Hearing with Administrative Law Judge (usually approved) (can take 9 months of waiting for a hearing. A local attorney would know the wait time for your district.)
4. Federal Hearing (usually not applicable)
5. Re-apply and go back to step 1. (At any point, you can stop the appeal process and start a new application.)

Basically, SSI claimants don't have the benefit of the doubt. You have to prove that you are unable to work. It's easy to show you don't feel like working, but it's difficult and necessary to prove you simply can't work even part-time. The most important thing is getting your doctor involved and preferably an attorney as well. I strongly recommend you get your doctor to fill out a mental health form that details the cognitive, social, and other factors of why you are unable to work. This type of form is referred to as the Mental RFC Assessment Form. You can see and print this form here.

Personally, I had no problems getting SSI in 1996 with the initial application, probably because I was emotionally unstable/suicidal much of the time, had recent hospitalizations, had no significant work history, and provided a letter to Social Security from my psychiatrist. At the time, my primary diagnosis was OCD, and my prescription cocktails had included the maximum dose of Luvox.

When my depression returned in earnest and I had to quit my job a few years later, I had no luck with applying for SSI, and I was too discouraged to appeal. Some of the factors that may have led to the denial decision:

1. I was able to work full-time within the last year.
2. I did not get my psychiatrist involved, such as having him fill out an RFC form.
3. I did not get an attorney involved.
4. I did not have relatives or friends turn in letters of affidavit.
5. I was physically healthy and young (in my 20s not my 50s).
6. I had a college education and my employment history showed I was previously able to do a variety of tasks.

Eventually, I was able to go back to work.

(If things are really problematic financially, you may want to look into getting a food stamp debit card from your state's Department of Children & Families. By law, a food stamp debit card is issued within 7-30 days of a valid application.)

 

[prayerbear]

Thanks!

Thank-you for this valuable information as well as going to all that trouble to write this down!
This site is a "diamond watch" of information as well as talking to many others with the same problems!

 

[Daniel E.]

BTW, my favorite site about the SSI application process is:

Disability Secrets Homepage

One of the best points they make is that "maintaining ongoing and regular treatment with a qualified mental health professional will be paramount in proving the severity of [one's] condition."

 

[David Baxter PhD]

I have done battle with insurance companies and government agencies many times on behalf of clients. Most of the time, confronted with solid documentation of the disability, they back down and pay.

I have no doubt part of the strategy is based on the knowledge that many of these people, lacking the backing and coumentation, will simply give up and go away. I view this as unethical and immoral but sadly it isn't yet illegal.

 

[Daniel E.]

Another good resource:

Articles on Winning a Social Security Disability Claim (written by an attorney)

 

[mico]

OCD and disability

I tried to apply for CPP disability benefits but was turned down because they felt that ocd was not bad enough to prevent me from working. I ended up taking a job in security where I spend most of my time reading self-help books and tapes on ocd. Getting disability benefits is next to impossible even for people with physical disabilities let alone mental illness. Governments are run by jerks who generally ignore the people that elected them once they are in office.

 

[prayerbear]

Have you tried everything you know to do?

Hi George! This is miss clean again a lot of people get denied three times before they receive benefits! Do you have an attorney and medical documentaion to prove your OCD? Are you seeing a doctor on an ongoing basis?

I am very stubborn by nature, which keeps me from depression! Plus a
strong antidepressant! (German background!)

 

[prayerbear]

ALL things are difficult before they are easy! and I dont take no for an answer so take that government red tape, cuz this ole German is going to eee-aaawwww her way through that red tape! Actually being told no is a challenge to me! Its like waving a red cape in front of a bull! CHHAAAAAAARGE!