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Thinking of Going on Long-Term Disability

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Roo

Confident
Hi, all...

I am considering going on long-term disability re: PTSD and major depression. I have been working full-time and am presently on a short-term medical leave which expires end of April.

I want to prepare myself as best I can for the possibility of LTD...especially in relation to any shenanigans the insurance company/my employer might attempt in order to negate my claim. I've heard so many horror stories.

I'd like to hear from anyone who can offer tips, advice, ways to prepare, things to watch for...

Thanks in advance to everyone who responds,

Roo
 
HI Roo,

I have no tips, but just wanted to say this......I just lost a friendship do to this very subject. If anyone that has PTSD is struggling and having a hard time working, then by all means why not try for disability. It doesn't mean that you are weak, can't perform, or anything. It isn't for life, and it certainly doesn't make you less of a person.

I hope Roo that you won't have a hard time getting accepted. if denied then try again.....
 
You'll likely be denied several times. Make sure you express your troubles to docs, no matter how embarrassing, really let them know the struggles and how you capacity to function is very limited. Make them write it down. Be firm in standing for you rights.

And get a lawyer.......prepare for a long process of standing up for your rights. Don't look at it like you are unworthy, they will make you feel like scum, but don't take it on.

We will help you stay strong through the process.
There should be no shame in this, no shame at all.
 
Hi Roo,

I used to work in Human Resources (I quit my job a few weeks ago because of PTSD related things). I don't know if I have any tips for you but the most important thing is to look over your company's policies when it comes to STD and LTD. Usually, as long as your doctors provide the information in a timely fashion, I can't see you being denied. I doubt that anyone in your company is actually "approving" claims - most companies use a third party vendor to handle the acceptance or denial of claims. You're already on STD so the transition to LTD should not be difficult - do you know if your STD and LTD benefits are paid out by the same company? Ah, most important - I would start working on the paperwork now. Call the benefits company and ask them to send you all of the forms so you can start preparing. You don't want a lapse in benefits, as that can be a cause to terminate an employee. Also, please be sure to check that you are being covered under the Family Medical Leave Act which should be running concurrently with your STD and LTD.

If I think of anything else, I'll stop back in!

Best,
Rachel
 
Hmm, I just want to be sure that I'm reading your post correctly, Roo. You're speaking about Long Term Disability benefits through your employer, yes?

Going out on Long Term Disability and trying to get Social Security Disability through the government are 2 different things.

Best,
Rachel
 
My tip?


Don't stop trying.

They don't want to give you that money, and that's all there is to it really. Once they deny you just keep plugging on!
 
option for LTD

While you are trying for LTD, apply for Soc Sec Disability too. I wrote a page on that subject and how I got SSI in 30 days after I applied the first time. My writing is in this website under something like "Disability Awards" or something like that heading. You can do a search at the top of this page; the word Search is in that dark gray horizontal stripe across the top of this page.

I have more individual physical disabilities than mental ones, but my procedure to get SSI can work for anyone. In short, drown them with medical records to prove your case.

2quilt
 
Thanks, all...Just a wee note that I probably should have inserted into my first post; I'm Canadian. And yes, Rachel, I will be attempting to gain benefits through my employer's insurer.

I'm most interested in knowing what kinds of roadblocks the insurer/my employer might try to erect against me. Does anyone have experience with this kind of thing?

Some folks have mentioned that they've had to hire a lawyer. I don't have the $ to do that.

I'm almost afraid to try at all. But my doctor is kind, wise, and accepting of me. I know he'll go to bat for me. My husband is right beside me on this.

I'm also concerned that I might make my symptoms worse by doing this...like I'll start to see (judge) myself in the role of permanently sick...and we all know how our thoughts can influence what happens in our bodies...

Please keep the wisdom coming...thank you all so much :Hug_emoticon:
 
Lawyer

If you keep getting denied, most lawyers will take it on contingency. Don't have to pay them anything unless you win.
 
I can tell you what happened to me before i got Social Security Disability from the fed govt.

One of my last jobs was as a customer service rep for a very large health insurance company in the states. My hands hurt really bad and stopped working because we had to fill out forms in triplicate, bearing down with the pen, for 8 hours a day. My hands lost strength and the pain was so bad that I got tendonitis and carple tunnel. I was the top producer of all employees for this health insurance company.

But that didn't matter when i got injured by doing all that writing.

My supervisor took me off the phones and gave me a job doing copies for everyone. I stood at the copier for 8 hours a day making copies for everyone and their horse. I am physically disabled and I sinply can't stand on my feet for more than about 15 minutes. I think the health insurance company gave me that copier position so that I would quit before they could put me on LTD. They tried to make my life hell. I quit becuase they refused "reasonable accomodation" which is required by the American's with Disabilities Act. I could not afford a lawyer either, so I just quit.

Next job: I was a receptionist for a federal office. That sounds great: I could be seated all day, no typing to hurt my hands, very limited writing. Sounded great.

My first day, the boss tells me to go type a bunch of envelope addresses, on an old IBM typewriter! How in the phucking hell am I supposed to do that when we agreed during my job interview that I could not even type on a computer keyboard because of my hands. An IBM Selectric requires a ton more finger and hand power than any computer keyboard! After 6 hours, I quit.

I took my next job as a receptionist for a computer parts firm that mails boxes to customers on the internet. After about 2 hours on the phne, the boss tells me to go work in the shipping department, lifting 70 pound boxes (the weight of a 6th grade child) which I sure as hell can't do. The boss knew that at my job interview, but still demanded that I lift heavy boxes. She fired me and i quit in the same sentence.

Last job was at a sexy women's catalogue clothing store online. I sat in a chair and took phone orders. Pretty easy. My asshole boss, however, even though i was top producer, again, wanted to fire me because I refused to tell him about my disability and I came to work in an electric scooter. In the US, it is not required to reveal one's disability unless it impacts the job, so until it did, i was not going to divulge. That made my boss mad, so he looked for ways to fire me, but he could not.

Then I was rearended in a car accident and took time off work to heal. When i came back, I needed nose surgery because I had had a sinus infection for 8 months and one of my sinuses in my cheek was closed off and not draining. That nasty boss told me that he was going to give me a very bad performance review because i had taken time off work and then asked for another week for surgery that he didn't think I needed. I just quit that job and applied for SSI.

The pattern is that I was willing to work, but my bosses kept asking me to do tasks that were made to make me want to quit. They would not obey their own promises made during the job interviews. They would not give me reasonable accomodation.

Document everything that happens to you that is in any way discrimiatory. Does the Canadian govt have any programs that pay disabled people when they can't work any longer?

You may run into problems for the fact that your PTSD is not caused by the job, but external sources. I don't know where your PTSD comes from, but if it's not caused by your job, like police work or the people who clean up murder scenes, for example, then you could say that your job exasterbates the PTSD, and explain why.

Don't give up. Keep us informed. You deserve compensation, so don't let them deny you of what you deserve.

2quilt
 
2quilt, thank you so much for your story and your support. I am saddened that you had to go through such cruelty.

I posted this poem on another thread, I think; it bears repeating here. Please take this to heart...

I am not a mechanism,
an assembly of various sections;
And it is not because the mechanism is working wrongly
that I am ill.
I am ill because of the wounds to the soul --
to the deep emotional self
And the wounds to the soul take a long, long time;
only time can help,
and patience,
and a certain difficult repentance:
long, difficult repentance,
realization of life’s mistake
and the freeing oneself
from the endless repetition
of the mistake
which mankind at large
has chosen to sanctify.

D. H. Lawrence, from "On Healing"

Blessings on you...:smile:

Roo
 
Roo,

Just remember - you are already out on STD. The transition should be easy to LTD and really, doesn't require your employers involvement. Call the insurer asap to get that paperwork!

keep us updated,
Rachel
 
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