Alternatives for Income

Hi, I am a new member and this is my first post so I apologize if this is the wrong place to ask this or if I am breaking anything.

I suffer from Bipolar Disorder 2, High Anxiety, and Depression and until about three years ago after a bad stressful job and relationship end, not only have my symptoms worsened but I seem to have some PTSD regarding driving and going near my old places of work. As I get older all of my symptoms seem to get worse. I am at a point where I hardly function, but I can see a doctor who has been able to help put me on a regime to cure all of my distracting symptoms (nausea and vomiting, headaches, sinus issues, dizzy spells...everything).

I recently applied for SDI insurance but because I stopped working at my job over a year ago due to my disability even though I had been working and paying into SDI for 3 years prior to that I was unable to receive anything. I fear my symptoms will only worsen as I build tolerance to medications quickly and that with the lingering medi-cal cuts I won't be able to keep up.

Unfortunately all information regarding mental health in my area is sparse and I keep being told I won't be able to get social security unless I try for years. This is stopping me from finishing school and having a stabile income and job.

Does anyone have any advice for jumping through any of these medical hoops so that I can find some relief?

I don't really have any advice but did want to let you know it doesn't always take years. I was approved in 11 weeks for SSDI.

I don't understand though how waiting for SSDI is preventing you from going to school and having a stable income/job? Usually if you need SSDI you don't have a job or you work only a small number of hours. If you are able to work SSDI is not going to help; you have to be completely unable to work to be approved. I'm not sure I understood you though so please correct me if I misunderstood.

Since I have been out of work for over a year they told me I don't qualify for State Disability because they have nothing to base it off of and they told me they couldn't help me and my best bet would be to try for Social Security Disability but that I would need years of being off work and documents etc. I am not able to work at all on my disability.

Social security doesn't necessarily require you to have been off work for years. I'd been off 5 months when I applied and was approved in 11 weeks. You need documentation from healthcare providers about your disabilities and how that affects work. It helps to have a work history with a lot of problems/breaks in your working. You have to document why you can't work and they review medical records to see if that matches. Sometimes it is fast and sometimes it takes a couple of years.

In order for you to receive SSDI, you need to have accumulated enough work credits over the years. So in other words, it's like you are paying into disability. The longer you have worked the more money you may get if you are approved for disability... IF you are approved. SSI is different, it is for people who are disabled and poor but don't have much work experience. Either way you must apply the same way, by having your doctor records sent to social Security and them sending you a lot of paperwork to fill out. Almost everyone gets turned down the first time. You can appeal if you are turned down and if you are turned down again you can go to a third appeal called an administrative hearing. That is what I had to do. In my state there was a 20 month long wait for a hearing so all told, I waited almost 3 years for my approval. Some get approved faster. Those with mental disorders usually take the longest for approval according to my attorney. But if you cannot work it's worth it.

As misscath007 says, you have to have worked and earned enough credits over the years to get Social Security disability:

Work History Requirements for Social Security Disability Insurance ? Special Needs Alliance

I think California SDI is non-work related disability; if you were in a car accident, say, and is usually only temporary until you can get back to work: http://www.edd.ca.gov/Disability/About_DI.htm

It can be extremely hard to get a long-term or permanent disability designation, the younger you are, unless it's an obvious physical accident or problem with a job having let you go because of your disability; if you just "quit" your job because it was too stressful for you, you'd have to try to work other jobs and have a history of it not working and a history of the jobs and psychiatrists or other appropriate doctors agreeing that it did not work, etc. The individual does not decide they are disabled and can't work, it has to be obvious (and documented) from their efforts wanting and trying to work and not being able to that they are disabled.

I'm not sure how, but I was approved on my first try within five months. I'd only been off of work for five months.

So... you shouldn't have to be off of work for years in order to qualify for SSDI. Have you tried applying? Were you denied? I'd apply and see what happens.

There are attorneys that specialize in facilitating clients' application for SSDI, and you don't even need to pay anything up front; they garnish their fees from the first few months of your benefits, which makes their compensation contingent upon your approval. Try Googling 'Social Security Disability Attorney' for your area. You can at least talk to one and get a nuanced opinion of what your chances are for being approved for SSDI, or what you might need to do in order to help your chances.