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LuckyCupofTea
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Default Jan 05, 2017 at 09:59 AM
  #1
Long story short--My husband applied (I did ALL the paper work) for SSDI and was denied. We are awaiting the letter detailing the reason. We plan to appeal.

My husband tries VERY hard to be "normal" and is generally high functioning but cannot keep a job. He has had many throughout the years. He was working full time and ended up being hospitalized 3 times this year. All three times had to do with going off of his medication. Unfortunately, it's all part of the disease.

My husband was never willing to attempt to get assistance until now because in his family, you are considered "weak" if you ask for help.

All of this aside, here are some concerns of mine:
1. Should we hire an attorney? I have done a lot of reading and it seems that the attorney can only take 25% of backpay with a max of $6000 and gets nothing if you don't win.

2. Will an attorney even take the case? Mental illness is highly stigmatized and misunderstood. Finding someone who is experienced with this seems difficult.

3. Waiting 14-24 months for a hearing is a LONG LONG time. A lot can happen during that time. Committing to an attorney seems like a really big deal. Freaks me out.

4. When it comes to being open about symptoms and the illness, my husband is highly paranoid and "proud." He has JUST in recent years opened up to a therapist and to me here and there. He hallucinates, has mood swings, confusion, etc., but telling that to a judge would be REALLY difficult if not impossible for him. If someone else said it out loud and asked him to verify that it is true, he could do that. Will an attorney help with this?

5. If my husband works part time, will this screw up his chances of getting disability? I can attest to the fact that he is indeed disabled. Staying busy is important, but landing himself in the hospital for trying to take on too much is not a way of life.

I swear I am capable of being more coherent than this. I just am TRYING not to be long-winded and failing.
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Smile Jan 05, 2017 at 01:52 PM
  #2
Hello LuckyCupofTea: I'm sorry I cannot comment with regard to your concerns. However there are many members, here on PC, who have experience applying for SSDI benefits. Hopefully some of them will reply to your post. In the meantime, since this is your first post here on PC... May the time you spend here be of benefit.
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Default Jan 10, 2017 at 01:52 AM
  #3
Yes, you should get legal representation. I highly recommend you start calling law firms. Call several. I recommend the big firms that specialize in helping people get disability income. They have large staffs of clerks who get things done in a timely fashion.

Lawyers have no stimatizing attitude toward mental illness. All they care about is the chance of getting your husband's application approved. If they think he has a good case, they'll jump on it. If law firm after law firm rejects the case, that just means your husband is unlikely to get approved. A lawyer is the best person around to make that assessment.

Here's what the lawyers won't like because they know it's what the Social Security Administration won't like:

Your husband has a history of being non-compliant with taking his ordered medication.

Your husband does not have a long history of working well with therapists by being open with them.

Some things are in your husband's favor. He tries. He keeps getting jobs. He has a history of repeated failures. That strengthens his case. Being repeatedly hospitalized strengthens his case.

The attorneys get nothing if they don't win for you. That's why they won't take you, if they think your case is weak.
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Default Jan 10, 2017 at 03:23 AM
  #4
Don't go around saying that your husband is fine unless he goes off his medication. Then the SSA (Social Security Administration) will say that all he needs to do is stay on his meds, and he'll be fine. Nobody with a serious psychiatric disability is rendered fine by taking medication. At best, the medication makes things not quite so bad. There is this myth out there that, if a psych patient is properly medicated, they will be basically okay. No such miracle meds have yet been invented. It's not like anemia that goes away when you take iron. It's not just like diabetes. Part of the problem may be in the brain, but part of the problem is in the mind. The brain and the mind are not the same, though they are related.

The reason your husband got denied is the same reason everyone gets denied. He failed to demonstrate that his psychiatric condition makes it impossible for him to find and maintain some kind of "gainful" employment. An attorney can tell you what is needed to make that claim stick.

Working part-time does not automatically disqualify his claim. But it won't help. However, the question is can he not maintain "substantial gainful employment." That would mean can he not earn at least $1,170?

The SSA will not consider your opinion that your husband is disabled as being of primary importance. (Though what you observe can be helpful when your husband fills out information regarding his daily activities.) Every lawyer will ask you, "Does he have a doctor, especially a psychiatrist, who has encouraged him to file for SSDI?"

What your husband puts down on the daily activities summary is crucial. If he's a great help to you around the house, that suggests he might get work as a home attendant.

Everything that is put down on that big long bunch of papers detailing how he spends his time should basically indicate that this man has severe problems coping with life. People hate to say unflattering things about themselves. And that's basically what you have to do.
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Default Jan 11, 2017 at 08:26 PM
  #5
When you are filling out the forms you want to emphasize the difficulty and not the ability. So if he can go to the grocery store but needs a list, has trouble finding items in a familiar store, forgets items on the list and is so exhausted after the trip that he requires a 3 hour nap you want to describe that and not just answer yes, he can go to the grocery store. It's all about the difficulty level. There are even things I marked as sometimes able,sometimes require assistance (for me that's paying bills).

I agree that you should seek an attorney. I did mine alone and won on the first step. But once you need to appeal I think an attorney is a necessity and will help you know how to help your husband present his needs most effectively.

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Thanks for this!
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Default Jan 12, 2017 at 11:41 AM
  #6
Thanks everyone. This has been very helpful and has confirmed all of my thoughts on the matter. We have a phone call tonight with an attorney whom I talked with on Friday. She has experience with these cases. She said that the 3 hospitalization last year will strengthen his claim and she may be able to argue the work as a failed work attempt since it was so staggered. she has a lot of experience with mental illness cases so we will find out tonight if she will officially take the case (she needed to talk to my husband since he is the applicant, hence the phone call).

As far as the daily activities, yes...we will need to focus on difficulty. It won't be a fabrication either, it just is something that neither of us like to think about (the fact that I have to remind him to brush his teeth, his inability to remember to do everyday tasks, etc).
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Default Jan 13, 2017 at 03:28 PM
  #7
You're getting the idea! If this lawyer turns you down, call a few of those disability specialty law firms, like the ones that advertize on TV. Most of the work, in those firms, is done by paralegals and clerks. But they get good at it because they do so much of it.

Go to youtube and watch some presentations by some disability attorneys. Also, google up some articles and look for a website offering support to people going through this process. I did and found it most edifying. I got approved in 3 months on the first try.
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Default Jan 23, 2017 at 10:24 AM
  #8
I agree with all of the above. Lawyers will not generally take your case if they don't think you have some chance of being approved. How many times has he been denied? I was denied twice before I got an attorney and it was a wise decision. They will help you with paperwork and give you advice that you can't get on your own. If you get to the 3rd appeal(administrative hearing) they will be with you at the hearing interviewing. My lawyer was great, he knew that I was scared and agitated during the hearing and he did his best to calm me down. They will place emphasis on what you cannot do, not what you can do. The frequent hospitalizations your husband had can help, it did me, and his age may help. That was in my favor(I'm 56). It can be a long arduous experience, some people have it easier, but for me it was a long road. In the long run it was worth it.

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