Problems with S.S.D.I

I applied for S.S.D.I. in Feb 2004 because I am Bipolar, Border line personality dissorder, I have suicidal tendencies, o.c.d., p.t.s.d and several more mood dissorders along with physical ailments.
I supplied the S.S.A. with an extensive lists of Doctors, Phsyciatrist, Phsycologist, Hospitals and so on. In their letter of rejecton they only listed some of the contacts I supplied to them. In there rejection letter that I recieved on 8/7/04 they did not include all sources that would have been relevent to my claim; they stated that I could be a candidate for job retraining and/or possibly work part time. I gave them the contact information for the PA. Office of Vocational Rehabilitation; that if they actually contacted them they would have seen that I have already tried job retraining 2 times from the P.A.O.V.R.. They also had me go to an evaluation from their appointed Phsyciatrist, who just happened to be one of the Doctors who treated me at a mental ward in a hospital about 6 years ago and also stated then that usually people with problems as severe as mine usually can't work and I should have went on S.S.D.I. then.
I also at one point called the person handleing my claim at S.S.A. and stated to her that my family is in a financial mess and we may loose our home, during the same conversation I stated to her that I should meet all of there guidlines for social security Dissability as I exceed there conditions required as stated by them and the fact that I have had these problems for the past 18 years with records to substantiate it I also stated to her that with all of my problems combined that they(S.S.D.I.) are going to pay my family either way as they can pay it to me in disability payments or they can pay it to my family in survivor benefits because if I get turned down this time I will kill myself so my family will recieve survivor benefits and won't loose their home.
As I said earlier I recieved the letter denying my claim for dissability on 8/7/04 and I immediatally tried to commit suicide. I spent three days in I.C.U as well as almost two weeks in the mental ward at the Hospital.
My question is can I use the persons name that I told this to at the S.S.A. in a newspaper article that we are going to have done by our local newspaper about the lack and outrite mistreatement we have received by the S.S.A. and other various governmental agencies that have just flat out lied or abused thier positions and negated thier responsibilities in our requests for help, and if I can am I able to use the names of the people that mistreted us at the other agencies as well as the person from the S.S.A.?

Contact your local independent resource living center and ask for a referral to SSDI advocacy, they will assist with your reconsideration.

Most SSDI applications are rejected the first time and SS doesn't keep data on this first pass, they do "qualties" on approved applications only, not denied in order to control costs.

Unless you have assistance of some sort you will not prove your case upon reconsideration, so you must have help.

How the applications are reviewed vary from state to state. Usually a "clerk" will process your application and log their informaiton or impression, they will look for thigs to disqualify you, that is their job, that is why they don't mention all the medical reports, then it goes to a "Doctor" who reviews what the clerk noted and usually on the first pass will not look at the medical informaiton beyond what is on the report of the clerk.

The problem you face is that none of your diagnosis is disabling and threatening suicide is not going to force them to do it, it will only get you hospitalized or a visit from the police. It doesn't matter if together they are disabling, because the clerk is not qualified to make that determination and most likely the "Doctor" isn't either. Cases such as yours, require a report written to pull everything together, usually individual providers are not qualified for that and neither are IME's because they don't have the scope of practice that allows that. In your case with your complex diagnosis you really need to be assessed by a neuropsychologist, who has a slightly different scope of practice, seek one that is also a QME. They will give some more tests and review your medical and psychiatric history is a way that may prove your disability. It is possible that you have a difficult to diagnose condition making it difficult to to prove your case, you might ask about non verbal learning disorders, if so this will possibly lead to other information to help with your reconsideration. I have seen cases where once the Neuropsychologist reviews the records a simple call may resolve the issue.

Please call 911 if you feel suicidal and keep in contact with your psychiatrist and be compliant with your medications, failure to do so can affect your reconsideration.

Thank You for the quick response

We have had an initial appointment with an Attorney. So I hope it goes better this time around. I do know that I have a long wait as he said that Pa is about 12 months behind at this point, but because our house is know in foreclosure he is going to request it to be expedited.
I mainly wanted to see if It's legal for me to use names of the people involved in a newspaper article that I am going to have our local newspaper do on us, because not only has the S.S.A. unjustly served my family. We have had a case with the E.E.O.C. that I handled myself in which the Employer was found guilty of wrongful discharge, failure to promote, and hostile work environment (all related to my physiological issues as he admitted too). The E.E.O.C. refused to represent me and also give me a list of attorneys in our area as they are required to do by their own statutes so the Employer got away with breaking Federal law and wasn't even fined as the E.E.O.C have no enforcement powers.
We also live in one of the few states that have a mortgage assistance program ( Pa H.E.M.A.P) and we were granted assistance through them to help with our mortgage until they found out that I recently applied for S.S.D.I. and then they rescinded all the help they said they were going to give us. We appealed there decision and again we were denied. The only problem was by Pa Code the person who initially reviewed the case should not be involved with the appeal it should be a separate uninvolved individual and it was the same person (she admitted to us even knowing they were tape recording the appeal hearing as it was via phone), she also manipulated the financial figures, used to fit her needs of disqualifying us. Another fact was that she felt we would not be able to resume mortgage payments within the allotted 2 year period of help that they give. By there own by laws and state code and statues if the areas unemployment rate exceeds 6.5 percent, which it did, the term period for help extends to 36 months instead of 24.
I am going to get this information about these Government agencies in the newspaper so hopefully something can be done about it to help other people so they don't get the same treatment we did. So I need to know if I can use the Persons name or will I get in trouble for it?

Check with your attorney, as giving names to reporters may affect your case, stories can be written without names, it may not give you the personal satisfaction but it may serve you better in the long run. If you can prove they failed to consider information proving your disability, that they had, you may be able to get them to approve it without reconsideration. Have you requested the entire copy of your file including your original application, medical, IME, transcripts and their reports? Ask your Attrney for a referral to a neuropsychologist who is a QME that will be Key to your case.

Thanks again

I will do exactly that and contact the Attorney. Thank You for your advice

Ask your Attrney for a referral to a neuropsychologist who is a QME that will be Key to your case.

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Not necessarily. An attorney who does nothing but SSDI is the best resource. However, anyone who can type, correspond, and communicate effectively at will can be employed.

Just because mental conditions can be disabling does not mean that they are.
I have a feeling the OP is intelligent and capable and does not demonstrate a disabling condition as the OP can manage a family (?) and financial matters. The OP reflects too much ability and too little disability.

The healthy path for this poster to take is to be employed and live as productive of a life as is possible, not to be disabled when so much ability is demonstrated in two posts.

EC

response to ellencee

If you have any understanding of these disabilities you would already know that people with bipolar and etc. are some of the smartest people there are. As far as maintaining and supporting a family, my wife has been carrying most of the burden herself for the past three years, when I lost my job due to the fact that I have these problems. I previously was in the $50,000 a year income bracket so unless your implying that I'm just trying to freeload off of S.S.D.I. at a fraction of what I'm capable of making. I do not understand your reasoning for just assuming; that because I can type and demonstrate " too much ability" in other posts that I and my family don't suffer from me having these disabilities. Sitting at home and corresponding in this matter does demonstrate that I have the potential to do exactly that: sit at home in a safe place and correspond in this manner. I would wonder if you know what it's like to have a true manic episode at the place you work. I would also like to know if you have ever had a true panic attack in public and have people laugh at you for it. I would also wonder if you know what it is like to have to take the medications they give you for these problems. I would also like to know if you know what it feels like to have a true manic-deppressive episode and try to commit suicide when you feel that way.I would also wonder if you know what it's like to know that you have a high intellect but because of these conditions makes it impossible to hold steady employment and feel like your letting your family down. I have seen over 6 Phsyciatrist, 3 Pshycologist, numerous Therapists, and they have all stated that I am highly intelligent and have also stated that with my conditions the way they are that I need to be on S.S.D.I. So for you to take a position and comment that the healthy path for me to take is to be employed and live a productive life as possible I would then have to assume your credentials are higher than theirs. The way you responded I would assume that you were one of the people that would laugh at somebody having a nervous breakdown and tell them to just snap out of it. I would realistically hope that you research and become more informed on these illnesses before you make any more judgements to people who have these kinds of dissabilities and I am also sure that you have not had much background with people with these dissabilities or you would have known better to write such a response.

I sent a PM to Ellen, please contact your attorney and follow those suggesitons, I will PM you with more specifics.

Thanks again

Thank You again rmet4nzkx

I stand by my answer. A SSDI attorney who wins despite the evidence will be of more use to the OP than will any person in the medical or psychiatric field and NOTHING would be better for the OP than to rejoin the work force and get on with a productive life.
ED

ellencee said:

I stand by my answer. A SSDI attorney who wins despite the evidence will be of more use to the OP than will any person in the medical or psychiatric field and NOTHING would be better for the OP than to rejoin the work force and get on with a productive life.
ED

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I agree. SS doesnt' look at so much what YOUR doctors say but what THEIR doctors say so there's no need in wasting time in finding a new one for yourself. My DH had a neurosurgeon, a family doctor and a rehab specialist ALL say there was no way he'd ever return to work and he was still denied. It took being approved by SS's doctor. Although I am not a fan of lawyers for SS sometimes it IS warrented and when dealing with more mental then physical problems that can be confirmed with X-rays and the like it's best to have an attorney.

please read posts fully

I do have an Attorney whom only handles S.S. cases. The S.S.D.I Medical examiner (as I stated in earlier post) was a phsyciatrist who had actually diagnosed me with some of these problems about 6 years ago, and had even then stated that most people with my conditions usually can't accomplish what I have been able to and recommended at that time that I should be on S.S.D.I. so it would be safe to assume that her diagnosis had not changed from then till know because my conditions have gotten worse since then, not better. I at that time still had enough ambition, desire and physical ability to return to work despite being told that I should not. I am, simply put, being chasticed for trying to be an asset to the community for a few more years before I had a complete nervous breakdown this year when my Mother passed away.

SS doesn't look back very often however. They more then likely will consider this as a new diagnosis and completely separate from 6 years ago.

exactly why I posted in the firstplace

My whole point of posting in the first place was to see if I could use the names of the people invovled. We are going to have a story about this and other Gov't agencies lack of treatment, help, understanding, and just plain negligence in there duties. For S.S.A. not to consider someones complete history of physical and/or psycological impaiments is unjust and could almost be percieved as discrimination in itself.

To Ren,
I didn't jump into the middle of this because I simply was not available and as it turns out you are holding your own. Please do as I said, I base what I said on being an expert witness and this is my field, forensic neuroscience, as such, I know what Social Security is looking for and can even cite on which page of the manual it will be found upon. If you have what is suggested, this is a condition begining in childhood, in fact is also most likely genetic, so Social security would have to consider your entire medical and school history, for you may have shown signs in childhood which may never have risen to the level of disability but may have been accommodated or you may have "overcome" these disabilities. At this point many people including some posters believe you are malingering because it is their personal belief that you are capable of working and may not understand the nature of your disability. What I am suggesting is to put that question to rest, clarify whether or not you are malingering or not and if not, what is the nature of your disability on a practical level and what basis if any for rehab and employment. Unfortunately too many people apply for Social Security Disability not knowing how the process works and not understanding it is adversarial.

I am not suggesting you get your attorney to spin non proof of disability into proof of disability as Ellen suggests, but rather to prove how your collection of dissibility and the possibility of a frequently overlooked and misunderstood disability that I mentioned in my PM to you to perserve your confidentiality, together effect the disabiltiy and substantially limits your gainful employment. It is also possible that by having this type of evaluation, that an appropriate treatment plan and possible rehabiliation plan might be made to return you gainfull employment in time, which will serve you and your family better in the long run. If you have what I suspect, based upon what information you provided, you might have to totally revamp what you attempt as future employment and to specifically use skills which match your ability to adapt. You have not told us what type of employment you have engaged in in the past, let's say that you were an engineer and you for a number of reasons cannot work as an engineer any longer, so they train you to be a computer technician or a programmer so you can use your basic skills and earn about the same amount of money, but this doesn't work, with the proper evaluation, it may be determined which of your skills will serve you best, so perhaps, your skills using a computer might be put to use in a different way or in an environment where there is less stress or frequent change to exacerbate your symptoms. Social security has a program which allows you to work some, so you might be able to work part tme and presenve you disability to some extent if it is approved.

Your providers cannot do that because it is out of their scope of practice and social security isn't going to because it is not what they and their evaluators are there to do. Essentially you have to have someone, an expert, in this case a neuropsychologist who is also a QME say the majic words.

For example, I once evaluated a client, I reviewed his record, spoke with his sister and his social worker who had accompanied him to his Social Security interview because he was so severely disabled he could not find his was there and his medical clearly showed the profound extent of his brain damage. In the interview, Social Security askd him if he was able to work, he answered, "Yes" because he wanted to work and didn't understand why no one wanted him working. They then asked what kind of work could he do and he replied that he could be a tow truck driver and work in an auto collision repair shop as a paint technician. Application denied because applicant can work as a tow truck driver or paint technician! Social Security is not required to ask why he cannot work at those jubs and none of the medical contained the information about the license. He couldn't work as a tow truck driver because his license was pulled because he was having blackouts from the damage caused from the toxic fumes from the paint shop! He was constantly being found around towm unconscious by the police from blacking out, he was not drinking, it was from the brain damage! After my review the applicant was brought to me by his social worker for an interview, this took 5 minutes. Immediatly after, I informed his social worker of my findings, she called Social Security, told them he couldn't work because because his license was revolked because of his disability and they approved his SSDI.

Ellen while she is far more expert in nursing matters than I and is entitled to her personal, different from professional, opinion, it does not change my suggestions based on my professional training and experience, either. I understand why she feels that you would be better served by going back to work and why it may appear to her that you are able to work because of your communication skills. These are some of the very things that make the disability I asked you to check out on my PM, so difficult to diagnose, in part because it involves persons with normal to high intelligence who are highly verbal and for these reasons, most people conclude that you are capable and not trying or still capable because you used to do this, whereas in fact, it is a chronic neurological condition, which has, as a feature, decline in functioning exacerbated by age accounting for the "breakdown" and inability to return to former levels of functioning.

Because this is a disorder of childhood, it is important that your entire medical. social, school hisotries are evaluated as there are almost always clues, you could also have the same presentation without the early history if you have a history of head injuries, this would come out in the evaluation by the neuropsychologist. This would also affect your ability to rehabilitate, so knowing this is crutial no matter the outcome.