Can You Go On Disability For Bpd?

[Healing Reins]

Borderline personality disorder

 

[StarChild]

High Healing Reins. Please don't take my question as a criticism, but as an attempt to understand you better. As fas as I know, you're about 18 years of age, and a smart girl too (Recenty you graduated successfully :tup:). What is it, that gives you the impression, that you'll have not future in the working world? Could you please clarify your request a bit further for us to understand?

 

[cherryblossom]

@Healing Reins you will have to give more information, if you want people to respond to your post.

Yes, I can see that there is a question in your thread title, but is that it? We need more information, please.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

I am assuming you mean in the future as you're not eligible at this time for SSDI I am guessing as you are just out of high school?

 

[joeylittle]

Hi, @Healing Reins. I responded to your other BPD thread, so this might sound like a repeat (but it's not meant to seem lecturing)

I am assuming that you haven't really been able to spend much time in DBT yet. I truly believe that you will start to understand there are real ways to conquer many (if not all) of your symptoms. Thinking about going on disability is actually a kind of BP symptom; it indicates a possible cognitive distortion in regards to your diagnosis.

I don't have BPD but have spent many hours in DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) groups with folks who do.

It's not like talk therapy. DBT for mood/personality disorders is entirely focused on skill building in four areas:

• Emotion Regulation (how to "surf" the waves of extreme emotion and not lose yourself.
• Distress Tolerance (how to cope and survive when you can't regulate the feelings)
• Interpersonal Effectiveness (how to relate to others without having your emotions take over)
• Mindfulness (how to live, day to day, in a way that feels present and whole)

It's a ton of work - and yields great rewards. Most importantly, you get to really do something about the diagnosis besides carry the weight of it.

I don't know as much about DBT for PTSD, so I can't comment - but as far as your original question: I don't believe you could apply for disability for DBT alone without having demonstrated time spent within the only recognized treatment protocol (which is DBT). My sincere advice is that you focus on living with your diagnosis, not on being overwhelmed by it.

 

[Healing Reins]

I don't know, I feel like I have a learning dissability...I feel like BPD is a learning dissability and I will never get through college...

 

[joeylittle]

I feel like BPD is a learning dissability and I will never get through college...

BPD is a very challenging disorder, but it's not a learning disability. You might think that now, and that thought might make you feel panic and a little bit of hopelessness. Both those feelings can be changed.

You are not a prisoner of your thoughts or feelings. They are things that come and go; you can teach yourself how to manage them.

You might need to take some time off school in order to focus on treatment - that's not out of the question, nor is it indicative of any kind of failure. Many of us here have had to stop work; I had to, and it was really hard, but absolutely necessary. At the time I could barely speak or get up. So I took the time, and I started getting better.

Are you in any kind of therapy for your BPD? (Forgive me if you've already said if you are or aren't). If you are, what do you do in there? If you're not, what stands in your way?

 

[Deleted member 1860]

If you have a psychiatric disorder (any psychiatric disorder) then I believe you are eligible for disability services at any US college or university. Every school is mandated by law to provide such services. You will need to meet with disability services at your school and they can guide you through the process of how to get accommodations which can assist you in your classes. Long/short, you will have to meet with your psychiatrist and he will need to tell your school which accommodations you need and why you need them. You don't need to know in advance which accommodations you need, as your school will have a lengthy list of possible accommodations (many of which you won't be eligible for). Try not to stress out too much as there is a lot of help out there for you, and your school can guide you through this entire process.

 

[kagamine]

If you can keep with whatever momentum you have going right now, it would be a lot better than getting caught up in the system. I have disability support, it's probably dif in the states, but at least here, it was time consuming to get on and I know a lot of people who don't get approved despite being immensely qualified for it. If you already have or are close to getting a high school degree, then you already have a decent shot at being able to work most entry level jobs, even if you don't want to go to school right away, and there are services designed to help you succeed in education and workplaces.

If you feel like you do really need disability support, like you won't be able to work because your symptoms are too severe or you won't be able to handle school, that's okay, I got on disability support when I was 18 and I know other people who have too, but that's really looking at your life and asking if you're capable of even the most basic of work.

I don't know how permanent disability supports are in your state, but I know where I am, ODSP makes a lot of effort to support people going back to work or going to school with supports in place, you can go off of it if you get a job that puts you past their income cap, and you can get back on it quicker and easier if you've been approved in the past. So for a lot of people, esp young people, it isn't necessarily a life sentence.

 

[Healing Reins]

Sorry, I was having a bad week. I have a meeting with dissability in September, what are some good accommodations? Like what are some good ideas?

 

[joeylittle]

You'll want to think about where your challenges are. In a university setting, some very common accommodations are:

• more time to take tests (for anyone with focus or reading issues)
• having an in-class note-taker (focus or writing issues)
• a plan for more absences than allowed (sometimes this is tutoring support plus professor agreement, sometimes its the professor allowing at-home work or distance learning, recording the lecture and sending it to the student, stuff like that)
• an understanding that you may need to leave the classroom abruptly

There are more, I'm sure. Those are the ones I'm familiar with. Try and think about what is hard for you in the school setting, and that will help you understand what to ask for. You can also check out your school's website under Accommodations for students with Disabilities; they often have specific lists for things like ADHD, Dyslexia, Handicap, etc.