Social Security Disability:
I am new here, and I don't know how to PM.

How I got Social Security Disability in 30 days:
I already had received 100% service-connected disability from the US federal government for physical disabilities from Desert Storm. I got an application from Social Security, which is about 25 pages long. I made a copy of it because my husband and I filled out the copy and made corrections on the copy, then I had my husband help me fill out the original because one of my disabilities concerns my hands, so it would have taken me months to complete a 25-page form. Don't give up! It's very important when you go in for your personal interview to tell the Social Security interviewer that you could not physically fill out that darn form by yourself, and why you could not do it. If you just give up, Social Security will never know why you never applied. The form asks some very personal questions. Don't be shy about writing on the form that you often have arguments at work with authority figures or that you have been fired from multiple jobs. If that is the truth, then it is just a fact, and the facts can help your disability case. Put on that 25- page form everything you can think of, add pages if you think it will help your case, of incidents where your PTSD (in our case in this forum) has caused you trouble at work, in your close relationships, trouble with the law, caused you to seek counseling, ended friendships or change your residence. Every piece of information helps show the government more evidence.

Next, They wanted me to give them a list of every doctor I had visted in the past 5 years, with names, addresses and telephone numbers. Instead, I went back ten years, and then sent out requests for medical records to every single one of them. Luckily, I had made copies of my medical records from Desert Storm, and, although that had been more than ten years before, I made copies of what medical records I had and gave that stack to the Social Security office free (they appreciated that) as added proof that my medical condition was very long-term. Here's a hint: When the Social Security office has to pay a doctor's office to get your medical records, they are less willing to do so, and they put your file on the bottom of the stack. When you can make a phone call for them or get the records, if you can get them free or cheaply, do that. Find out if your doctor's office charges Social Security per page before you open your wallet unnecessarily, but do Social Security a favor if you can.

If you have had an argument with a doctor and that is documented in your medical records, add that to this pile and to the 25-page form as evidence, if you consider that argument a part of your PTSD. Copies from medical journals with highlighed sections may also be helpful. The higher the stack of paperwork evidence you show up with for your interview, the more impressive. Go to the interview with someone who knows you very well and who can corraborate what it is like to be around you. They ask about your daily life: Sleeping habits, do you eat on a regular basis, what medications do you take and do you take them, can you dress yourself, the interviewer also reads how you interact with the person you came in with, they can you hold a job, what stopped you from keeping your last few jobs, would you be willing to try to work part time with the help of vocational rehabilitation training (never turn down assistance!) This is how I answered: I tried to work full time but I took too much time off for sick days after the car wreck and my employer threatened to fire me, so I quit. My physical therapy was more important to me than that job. When I recovered, I took a part time job, but the man who hired me to do a sitdown job, which we agreed I could do with my disability, ordered me to go to the shipping area and lift 70 pound boxes, and I had to choose to either injure my spine again or quit that job. We had an argument and I quit. I took another part time professional office job where the employer expected me to leave work to babysit his children and take care of his personal problems. I quit that job too. This type of evidence shows Social Security that I did not give up, I kept trying to work, but that I had bad employers. Who hasn't? Always say that you are willing to work. Social Security will not make you take a job, but they do want to see you say that you are not a deadbeat looking for a check in the mail. It's important to show Social Security that you want to be a productive member of society, to pull your own weight, and that you are greiving that you can no longer do that, and that you now have come to the conclusion that you now have to ask for help. That is a hard thing for you to do, ask for help. But that is exactly what Social Security is there for. There is no shame in asking for help.

Luckily, all Social Security interviewers have kleenex boxes on their desks. On that 25-page form, list all the meds you have tried for depression and PTSD and what side effects they had, why they didn't work. List any hospitalizations related to PTSD, depression, any psychological conditions at all. When you have everything you want to say on that copy of the 25-page form, then transfer it to the original. Gather all your medical records and call the doctors' offices to make sure they sent the records to Social Security per your medical records request, and good luck at your interview. About a week after my interview, I received a form in the mail from Social Security asking me about my Activities of Daily Living: Can I bathe myself, Can I feed myself, etc, and before I could complete it, I got a phone call from Social Security asking for my checking account information so that they could begin direct deposit payments. It was 30 days from application to approval.