Disability Benefits?

[Avez]

A month or two from now, I would have been accepting a hefty scholarship that would have put me through medical/law school, but here I am, still suffering from the PTSD symptoms that led to me dropping out of school about two years ago to begin with.

I have been trying for a while to get a job, but they never give me a job. They see that I have a GED instead of a diploma that one gets for actually graduating and automatically assume that I am lazy. They don't ask why I dropped out and got a GED. They don't give me a chance to say what I was and am going through and why I need a job so much. They simply assume I am lazy. I guess it saves them time. Yes, I want this so badly that I will fight my symptoms and my agoraphobia to put cans into bags, but no one will give me a chance.

Now I'm considering actually getting diagnosed and trying for disability benefits. I'm ashamed that it has come to this, that the would-have-been valedictorian must live off of the government.

I still have some online business ideas that I am trying to see through to completion, but after so many have failed, I'm scared to put so much effort into this last one.

But I need the money somehow. I want to be able to help my mother with her debts and to be able to pay for some surgeries. The surgeries are really important and are necessary on my road to recovery. Insurance obviously wouldn't cover them, though.

I looked it up and, even with a 60 month payment plan, I would be paying over $1,000 per month, and welfare here is only $712 per month. Now I'm more paranoid/hopeless.

Anyway, has anyone in the United States been successful with this? I feel I deserve to be happy. I want help somehow. I would do crowdfunding, but that requires social networking and I'm too ashamed to face anyone that I was in school with. "Look at the valedictorian now, begging for money," they would say.

Sorry for the story, everyone. I just thought it would help. Thank you.

 

[Changing4Best]

...

Now I'm considering actually getting diagnosed and trying for disability benefits. I'm ashamed that it has come to this, that the would-have-been valedictorian must live off of the government....But I need the money somehow. I want to be able to help my mother with her debts and to be able to pay for some surgeries. The surgeries are really important and are necessary on my road to recovery. Insurance obviously wouldn't cover them, though....Anyway, has anyone in the United States been successful with this?.

I'm on Disability, but I am also Bipolar and have Lyme Disease. Since I was begging n the streets and homeless, I think that helped me to get it. In fact I got my Disability in a year. The thing is, you have to have been working and made quarters of years for them to pay you, if you have no quarters, they place you on something called SSI which is Supplimental Security Insurance, if I recall it correctly. This, unfortunately is not enough money to live on. When I was collecting it, it was maybe $600 per month or so. I don't know how much they pay for it now.

Maybe you could go to school for technical training and learn a trade? You might be able to work with machinery or something. It is just a thought. I wish you the best.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Hi, I am on disability right now for PTSD. In order to qualify for SSDI you need to have worked a minimum amount of time, and based on your post, I am unsure if you've worked enough as you seem to be quite young and say that you are unable to find a job as nobody will hire you based on your GED status. If you haven't worked enough, then you would only possibly qualify for SSI, not SSDI.

The other hurdle you're up against is the fact that you haven't been diagnosed. I was approved within a few months of my initial SSDI application, but I had over 20 years of medical records including a number of longer psychiatric hospitalizations. That is, I had enough medical documentation to back up my claim. I'm not sure what your exact situation is, but I'm guessing that you do not have this type of documentation. At this point, do you have any medical documentation at all? If not, this is a major hurdle to overcome, and even if you go and get diagnosed right now, you'll still be in for a battle (my best guess based on everything I've seen/heard regarding disability). I'm not trying to discourage you, rather let you know the reality of how the SSDI system works. Only about 25% of applicants are approved on the first application, with the rest either reapplying or dropping their claim altogether. The more documentation you have the better, as this is how social security makes their decision.

My advice is to get an official diagnosis and then go from there.

Edited to add...

I'm on the lower end of SSDI and don't get much more than your welfare rate. The only reason I'm not on the streets right now is that I'm able to live with family until I'm able to get back to work again. So what I'm trying to say is don't count on getting much from SSDI as you'd be getting less than me.

 

[Dee Morris]

I had to stop working in 2009 because of the PTSD. I had been diagnosed for a couple of years before things got bad for me and my treatment was well documented, so the application process was fairly easy and I was approved right away. I've talked to a lot of people who had a much harder time and it took years of appeals to finally get approved. So I wouldn't bank on that.

I'm in shock at the amount of welfare available to you. In Texas you wouldn't get NEAR that amount. Although, I'm a little confused... you said you are concerned about your classmates looking down on you for going from valedictorian to welfare recipient but you said you got a GED. How could you have been valedictorian if you dropped out and got a GED?

 

[Justmehere]

I have had SSDI and it pays more than SSI, and goes by quarters worked - and I still got less than what welfare would somehow pay you in your state. I have gone off and on and back off disability a couple of times.

Have you applied for welfare yet? Many states require welfare recipients to continually prove they are applying for a certain number of jobs every week.

The economy is and many are having a hard time finding work. I have friends who have to apply for 100 jobs before they get one.

Your thinking seems a little black and white. It seems like for you, it's either med school or no school at all.

If you have been awarded a scholarship to pay you through graduate school all the way to an MD or law degree, based on your high school work, then surely you could qualify for other financial aid that would pay for other less rigorous programs that might better bit the symptoms and abilities you have right now.

It's my understanding you don't have an undergraduate degree yet? One option might be to look into help from your state's Vocational Rehab services. With some work, they can pay for things needed to become employable. If the surgeries are needed to increase employability, that may be an option to pay for them. They can even help pay for therapy and school.

There are many online degree programs with many major universities that student financial aid could help pay for.

But... I think your first step might be to get into therapy and figure out treatment and a diagnosis before doing long term planning.

Applying for disability may be what you end up needing to do, but It typically takes a least a year, and it's very hard to survive on it.

I hear that you want to help your mom. I think the very best thing you can do for your mom is to get into treatment and focus on your recovery. That is going to pay off the most over the long haul.

I wish there was easier solutions. Trauma is so horrible and PTSD robs is of so much. But there is hope and help out there - don't give up on your dreams yet. You sound very creative and motivated with the online businesses. I think you have a lot of potential to get better.

 

[Avez]

Thanks for the responses, all. This information has been helpful to learn. I meant SSI, as I know I can't quality for SSDI, having not been given a chance to put my few skills to actual use.

It sounds like it isn't worth what's left of my energy, since it is, of course, not guaranteed and will take more time. I would flip burgers if I could, as I said, but no one will let me do that.

As far as being valedictorian, I was at the top of my class when I dropped out. I'm assuming I would have still been at the top of my class if I stayed in school and someone managed to not commit suicide.

The $712 is how much everyone I know who collects it gets per month, so I thought it may have been a standard.

I may go back to school after surgeries. I just know that the recovery time is a while and it could kill me. I have waited for so long that I don't want to keep waiting, though, long enough until I go four or more years of training, just to then also possibly be denied a job yet again.

The last time I went to a therapist, I was mocked. Therapists themselves are now a trauma to me. I'm scared to go to one again because I fear this happening again.

Thank you all for your responses. They have been insightful.

 

[Dee Morris]

Just being nosy..but why wouldn't your medical insurance cover surgery? Are you sure about that? You didn't say what type of surgery so considering your insurance wouldn't cover it...it must be cosmetic?

I wouldn't give up on looking for a job. I worked my entire life with just a GED and so have many other people. I doubt very much that anyone is thinking you are lazy. That's you making excuses for why you didn't get hired. You might look a bit more inward for why your job search is falling short. Are you following up on your applications? Are you interviewing well? How's your hygiene? Are you dressed appropriately? There's a million reasons why you may not have been chosen and I doubt very much that the employers perception of you based on having a GED instead of regular diploma is one of those reasons.

 

[Avez]

Just being nosy..but why wouldn't your medical insurance cover surgery? Are you sure about that? You didn't say what type of surgery so considering your insurance wouldn't cover it...it must be cosmetic?

Insurance covers only what they deem necessary, and the procedures that I want in order to feel better and be more accepting of myself after my goofed-up circumcision, they are not deemed necessary. It's important to my recovery because it will then be easier to move forward.

Every call that I get about an interview, I am sure to be there. I was calling about application statuses before, but I think I may have annoyed them, so I stopped. Hygiene and the like are all good. I actually did a class in school about job-finding and interviews, including trial interviews and the like. It could be anything, though. I also don't have anyone who is able to pull strings for me, and being honest about not having any work experience doesn't seem to help. It's upsetting that materialists can get jobs and sources of income, but I can't.

 

[Dee Morris]

Oh I see, so it's cosmetic. I find it interesting that you perceive these cosmetic surgeries as crucial to your emotional/mental well being. You are giving a lot of power to the surgery and forgetting your most powerful tool to feel better...your self talk. You seem to have made your happiness contingent on something that may or may not make a difference in how you feel about yourself. My question is what if it's not the surgery that is key to your happiness but an acceptance of what is and a mission to love yourself despite your imperfections. If you already don't love yourself, surgery isn't going to help with that.

You'll find a job. You just have to keep at it. Apply for anything and everything...fast food, grocery clerk.... literally anything. You have to understand that there are adults with masters degrees out of work for YEARS before they finally find something. It's not your GED that's preventing you from getting a job. The economy is bad. Too many people competing for too few jobs. The sooner you stop making it about you, the happier you will be. I only have a GED... and now I graduate with my Associates degree majoring in Criminal Justice in a few weeks and starting the BA program at a 4 year university in the fall. Do yourself a favor and don't let your inner struggles dictate the course of your future. Life can be good for you but you have to make it good. Step one is recognizing your worth and not letting life's inevitable rejections define you. Easier said than done but if life were easy we wouldn't be here chatting on this forum. ;-)

 

[Avez]

I find it interesting that you perceive these cosmetic surgeries as crucial to your emotional/mental well being.

It's very similar to how restorative procedures for breast cancer survivors help with their emotional/mental well-being. I had the initial idea for surgery years ago, but instead of listening to myself, I let people that I know tell me to accept myself for what I am. Try as I might, I failed, and decided that I would wait for my family to die out before I used an exit bag. I prayed for guidance, and the idea that I had long ago came to mind. The thought of it coming true is comforting, and, while I will still be imperfect, I know things will be more bearable. It will help me feel better about myself the same way restorative procedures help breast cancer survivors feel better about themselves. I love myself enough to want these procedures for myself, even if they are cosmetic. I'm simply not going to accept living like this for even another year.

I already applied everywhere in the three nearby towns in less than a week. Everywhere besides sawmills and the like, anyway, because I'm not sacrificing more of my life. This is one of the lowest-income places in the country. Large cities have more jobs, but if I were to move to one, I would have to stay in a homeless shelter until I could get at least twelve hours a day. Here, almost everyone on every corner is living off the government, selling their food stamps and spending every penny that they can get on drugs.

 

[Lady of Longbourn]

after my goofed-up circumcision, they are not deemed necessary. It's important to my recovery because it will then be easier to move forward.

Perhaps this will be to bold Avez and if it is I am sorry. I will shut up if you ask me too because I realize some people are not comfortable with the topic: But when you say 'goofed-up' I am assuming that it might be a bit more then cosmetic? Sex after all is a normal part of adult life and a huge deal in emotional well being.

Oh I see, so it's cosmetic. I find it interesting that you perceive these cosmetic surgeries as crucial to your emotional/mental well being. You are giving a lot of power to the surgery and forgetting your most powerful tool to feel bette

So honestly I am not sure I agree with you Dee Morris because of my reason above. He is not talking about a nose job.

 

[Justmehere]

@Avez - No matter if you get the surgeries or not, you need an income of some kind.

What about volunteering somewhere? The best jobs I have had were from volunteering for an organization and over time, I developed skills, experience, and connections that help me get the job. There are even organizations that allow people you volunteer online. Experience pays off and sadly, sometimes it has be to gained without pay. On the other hand, volunteering helps me through some of my hardest times.

Have you been able to sort through why the previous online businesses failed and what might be different for the possible future business?

I know you are surrounded by tough circumstances. You are doing well by continuing to apply for jobs. Keep fighting to rise above the circumstances you are in. You are very bright and I'm time, I do believe doors will start opening for you.