I applied for disability in September. Today I get a letter and they are sending me to a psychiatrist. Does anyone know what I should expect? I am slightly insulted to think my whole life is in turmoil due to 4 tick borne illnesses, and the government thinks I need a shrink? Anyone have any advice for my appointment?
Thanks Rene Posts: 366 | From Louisville KY. | Registered: Nov 2003
| IP: Logged |
rosesisland2000
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 2001
posted
Don't worry about it. They, the SSA, send the majority of filer's for Social Security Disability to these doctors.
I was in there with psyc. for all of 10 minutes. He asked me about 5 questions and then said I could go. I reported him...the SSA said that they were paying him for at least 45 minutes of evaluation, not 10. But, these are docs being paid by the Gov so don't expect too much.
Your best bet for being approved is a letter, both, from you General Prac. AND your LLMD.
These letters are better written if you write a detailed letter to them about what your limitations have been due to this disease. Small things that folks do that you can't like you've had to give up going to the movies or church cause you cannot sit is one place that long...keep it as detailed as you can. Make sure that you are expressing that you can not only not work but, you cannot do any of the things that you so love to do.
I.E gardening, laundry, whatever it is that you can no longer do. Put it down. Doing this will allow your doctors to better understand what to write to the SSA.
THESE LETTERS FROM YOU DOCTOR ARE OF THE MOST IMPORTANCE.
map1131
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 2022
posted
The head doc SS sent me to determined that I was severly disable due to depression. SS still denied me for the second time. Why pay for a doc if you are going to ignore his findings? Our government needs a good shrink. They're nuts.
I didn't know what this docs findings were until I hired a lawyer and went for an appeal. I had assumed this doc found me able to work since the letter of denial came about 6 weeks after my visit with him.
The judge ruled me totally disable due to Lyme Disease and Depression.
Pam
-------------------- "Never, never, never, never, never give up" Winston Churchill Posts: 6478 | From Louisville, Ky | Registered: Jan 2002
| IP: Logged |
bettyg
Unregistered
posted
Pam, when were you approved for lyme & depression?
Note my signature line for info there.
Rene, have you ever been to a psychiatrist? YOU have a right to go to one you have been to before. YOU have to ask for this though.
Yes, it's a "formality" of sending us to drs. where they want LIMITED info that won't help us. That's IMPORTANT TO GO TO OUR OWN DRS! They are the ones who have heard our complaints for years. good luck.
IP: Logged |
hopeful123
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 3244
posted
i agree with what's been written so far!!
the psych exam was nothing!!! just don't try to pull yourself together too much. having spent a lifetime trying to hide dysfunction from the world it was very strange to go and let it all hang out. detailing the amounts of things impossible is something which as you tell this shrink, should depress you enough not to appear well functioning.
i am not talking about cheaing the government, i am talking about getting help for disbabling conditions which no one wants to acknowledge, not evern us.
best, hopeful123
-------------------- some days you're the bug, some days you're the windshield Posts: 1160 | From NY | Registered: Oct 2002
| IP: Logged |
robi
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5547
posted
I went for one of these about aminth ir so ago. It was easy. They want to know if my depresion was caused by my illness. I think the guy said it was in his report. I was told a decision has been made in my case and will be notified by mail in a week or two.
Don't sweat the appointment. Just go in and be real. This is not the time to hide your illness. Also, don't "play it up" .... just present the real picture.
robi
-------------------- Now, since I put reality on the back burner, my days are jam-packed and fun-filled. ..........lily tomlin as 'trudy' Posts: 2503 | From here | Registered: Apr 2004
| IP: Logged |
map1131
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 2022
posted
Betty, I first applied July 02 and my disablity was approved March 05.
What irrates me is the fact I had to give up $5000 to a lawyer when they had enough to disable me prior to having a lawyer.
Pam
-------------------- "Never, never, never, never, never give up" Winston Churchill Posts: 6478 | From Louisville, Ky | Registered: Jan 2002
| IP: Logged |
bettyg
Unregistered
posted
Pam, I totally agree with you $5300 to the lawyer when it's approved, but how MANY HOURS of work did lawyer/staff do for you?
Pam using your example, here are my personal feelings. You mentioned you had NOT seen your file or the DDS' dr. they sent you to.
EVERYONE, you have the right to see your file by contacting your local SS office! Use that time to review what other drs. reports you have NOT seen or read. MAKE COPIES OF THESE OTHER DRS. REPORTS and DDS' RFC and MFC, residual and mental function capacity reports they do based upon reading what our treating drs. submitted!
Remember also when you review any file at any location, ALL EYES are watching you: how you are dressed, walk, stand, how many times you stretch, how long you sit without moving, how many times you go to the bathroom, etc. you've got the idea now.
fyi, So my 1st claim I submitted myself & was turned down initial step, that's when I hired Phoenix lawyer, Scott Davis, who specialized in fibro & chronic fatigue. I did ALL the work for almost 4 years. He withdrew/dropped me at the time of my lyme dx. "They couldn't please me."
No, when you fax something or send duplicate copies in the mail, and they WILL NOT even send an email saying they got them, and then NOT responding for 8-12 months; that is NOT the type of people I want to be paying big bucks. When I tell them I made copies for myself, & they are sending me DUPLICATES which they are going to charge me for ... NOT good service!
When I submitted my 2nd claim when 1st when to appeals council (& BTW, Scott NEVER submitted a brief to appeals council stating why ALJ was wrong on denying me!), no one told me I could NOT have my 2nd ALJ hearing before 1st was decided.
Des Moines DDS office sent him/me a letter about this, but NEITHER of us got this at all.
It was when I pursued my June 05 hearing date that I was told this. So I wrote a very angry email to the head of the Des Moines DDS office who forwarded it to Kansas City bureau chief. They both sent me emails back promptly. I sent my comments to the HEAD of SS in DC; they sent brief note back saying the Des Moines office would be contacting me.
Well, the CHIEF ALJ in DM wrote Scott a 2 page letter stating that his secretary had called their DM office about 2nd ALJ hearing date. She was told there would be none until AC decided mine.
ALJ also stated that it was HIS job to fill me in on these things, and I shouldn't be contacting ALJ office directly. Scott did NOT like the scolding the judge gave him; "you made me look bad in judge's eyes." No Scott, you created that situation.
So then lawyer's office called me & told me this. I hit the ceiling! She quoted me a HALLEX rule, which I eventually found with the help of our local SS office. They printed off that section of rules.
In CHIEF ALJ's letter, he mentioned my writing them and how clearly upset I was, which he could understand why. He stated they had sent us a letter in 1-05 explaining this all.
In my angry note to them, I asked why they hadn't told me/us this upfront. They did; that's the LOST letter explaining what all the options were.
The one good thing when Scott quit me, he WAIVED all expenses occured to date: his travel expenses to DM for 1st hearing and misc. costs for copying, postage, etc.
Do you remember the LOST letter I mentioned above? When secretary got their fax, she OVERNIGHTED it to me costing $2.50 vs. using 37 cents for a 6-month old DATED letter which we had discussed over the phone. They sent many things overnight at $15 - $20 per mailing.
Scott did RETURN both file copies at $24 postage to him. But it was a learning experience! For the 2nd ALJ hearing, he was going to charge me $7200 vs. $5300 as he figured up my lost wages & used the 25% max figure. So I saved myself $7300 by representing myself. Sorry, I got to rambling.
map1131
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 2022
posted
Betty, I started off doing all of this paper work by myself. After all I WAS a pretty smart upper mgmt person before lyme. I thought I could handle all of my own paperwork.
During this time I was so ill it took me days to do the paperwork from SS. When they denied me the 2nd time I felt defeated and was so ill, I contacted lawyer about SS help. Actually I had done all the work prior, he just gathered more paper work form docs. I didn't realize I could ask SS for doc findings. Live and learn.
I also had another lawyer in the office handle my LTD case. I had been denied and appeal then denied again. It went before a judge and I lost only on one piece of paper that my doctor incorrectly circled I could sit, stand, and walk 8 hrs a day.
I had even brought that form from my doc home and mailed them a copy without even looking at it. That's how ill I was. I couldn't handle crap. My doctor filled out a corrected form and I faxed it from his office and came home and mailed a copy of corrected form to them. I did not save any proof or do certified mail.
It came down to the judge being totally unimpressed with the case they had against me. He ruled against me based on the 1st form my doc sent and I couldn't prove otherwise that they had received a corrected form. After all this form from my doc said I could sit, stand or walk for 8 hrs a day. Even though the rest of this form limited my abilities and he had wrote that participation in any everyday life activities was more than I could handle due to chronic lyme disease symptoms.
I made a huge mistake trying to be in charge of myself. I should of had someone helping me with such an important matter. It cost me alot. This LTD companies are nothing but crooks. If I only knew then what I know today.
I hope my story helps someone get what they rightfully desire.
-------------------- "Never, never, never, never, never give up" Winston Churchill Posts: 6478 | From Louisville, Ky | Registered: Jan 2002
| IP: Logged |
The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations. If you would like to support the Network and the LymeNet system of Web services, please send your donations to:
The
Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey 907 Pebble Creek Court,
Pennington,
NJ08534USA http://www.lymenet.org/
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
![[loco]](graemlins/loco.gif)
![[bow]](graemlins/bow.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic