Getting Disability for Depression???

Hmm not sure about topic of post, but maybe shouldnt be calling people schizos! There's a lot of stigma out there , wouldn't want to add to it and make life harder for people

If you have to ask, you've obviously never been clinically depressed.

Meds don't work for everyone. Therapy doesn't work for everyone. Just saying 'chin up' doesn't work for ANYONE.

I work at a psych hospital, and have a long history of mental illness. Mental illness is just as serious and pernicious as any physical ailment.

I can't speak for depression but I have a friend who gets disability for being obese. In my eyes she can get up and lose the weight but everyone is not willing and able to do that. Now I applied for disability when I got diagnosed with Luekemia in 2009. They turned me down saying I didn't have a debilitating disease. Not to mention I have a disabled child that for as long as she live she will never be able to walk talk or feed herself. Yet to them I wasn't needy, but I didn't cry about and I continued to work and take care of my child while doing chemo. I just finished another 6 month round of chemo and I worked through it all. We all have our crosses to bear and only god can be the true judge. I like to believe that the man upstairs knew I was wrong enough and here I am 4 years later still living.

What are your thoughts? Am I the only one who thinks this is a waste of money? Can depression really be so crippling that you can't work? I mean, even people with highly crippling mental disabilities on medication can go to work...... Is someone's depression so damning that they just won't be able to work? To me that's a hopeless existence.

Yes. I was diagnosed with major depression over ten years ago. At the time I was put onto medication and it was so bad that I could not work. Depression is a serious condition that, unfortunately, can be fatal. I can assure you - major depression is not something you would wish on your worst enemy. These days my depression is something that I manage through medication, diet, exercise, regular sleep and maintaining important relationships. And while I have been out of work the last six months - that is due to the economic situation here rather than my condition.

As for the woman who you met - whether she was genuinely suffering from depression or whether she was rorting the system - that I do not know.
kind regards,

Ben

For those who don't understand just how truly crippling depression can be, take a look at this blog post. It's a perfect explanation, and even manages to be funny while talking about such a serious subject:

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2013/05/depression-part-two.html

If you have to ask, you've obviously never been clinically depressed.

Exactly so. Clinical depression is not "feeling kind of down."

I live with someone who suffers from depression.....I think I am becoming DISABLED! :frown:
Seriously, it can be BAD!

What are your thoughts? Am I the only one who thinks this is a waste of money? Can depression really be so crippling that you can't work? I mean, even people with highly crippling mental disabilities on medication can go to work...... Is someone's depression so damning that they just won't be able to work? To me that's a hopeless existence.

I think you don't understand the condition.

Ok, I'll try to explain this...many mental disorders give people trouble, but assuming they have anything like normal cognition they may be able to work and want to do so. Depression can be very disabling.

Pretend for a moment you are a severely depressed person and that these emotions are yours:

Imagine the most activity you could manage was lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling and sorta hoping you might spontaneously die. Not even necessarily want to kill yourself, it just crosses you mind that it would be ok if you didn't have to do this pointless thing we call life. How on Earth can you go to work when nothing in the entire Universe matters? What would be the point?

It is indeed hopeless. That is quite literally the condition we are talking about. You are, at least temporarily, completely without hope. The concept is alien, therefore the perfectly logical conclusion is that no action is worthwhile or even possible. In your mind there is absolutely no way it would possibly turn out well.

Depression is not like being sad. Depression is your brain not working properly in a very serious way.

Read the hyperbole and a half blog post obeseandsassy linked too. It's good.

I had to go on short term disability this spring for depression. It was the first time ever that it has affected me so badly that I actually missed work and I'm 41. It got triggered by a few things which made me eventually snap. I've suffered with it chronically since I was a child.

It took me a long time to realize that look, when you are physically sick you may need to be home from work because if you went you would not be a productive member of the team. It's the same with mental illness. When you have no will to live or even to get out of bed, how can you perform your job on any sort of competent level? Yes, a person with depression "can" work, but are the mentally stable enough to? That is the question. And sure, there is medication and half of that leaves you feeling worse off than you were in the first place.

We MUST get rid of the stigma of mental illness. It is real. People suffer and should NOT be judged because of it. There is a 1 in 4 chance that ANY of us could have it throughout our lives.

It's comments like this that make people afraid or embarassed to seek help for mental illness ...

You shouldn't judge ... I am visually impaired (legally blind due to a genetic condition called Stargardt's, which is similar to AR Macular Degeneration) ... People can be really rude about it, just because I don't use a cane or have a seeing eye dog (which I would qualify for), wear fashionable sunglasses instead of medical grade ones (too much light, especially sun and flouresent hurts my eyes), and try to "blend in" with normal sighted people (though when I take out one of my magnifying aides, then that kind of gives it away, lol) doesn't mean anything ... Just because a person doesn't have a visible disability, doesn't mean they don't have one ...

I can't speak for depression but I have a friend who gets disability for being obese. In my eyes she can get up and lose the weight but everyone is not willing and able to do that. Now I applied for disability when I got diagnosed with Luekemia in 2009. They turned me down saying I didn't have a debilitating disease. Not to mention I have a disabled child that for as long as she live she will never be able to walk talk or feed herself. Yet to them I wasn't needy, but I didn't cry about and I continued to work and take care of my child while doing chemo. I just finished another 6 month round of chemo and I worked through it all. We all have our crosses to bear and only god can be the true judge. I like to believe that the man upstairs knew I was wrong enough and here I am 4 years later still living.

See, this is the problem. If you can get disability for something like depression, then you should be able to get it if you have cancer, especially if you have a disabled child. You are a survivor ma'am. Awesome for you.

I just think we should be trying to FIX the problem. That money could be spent on intensive inpatient treatment. I had a professor in college who discussed this topic. It was a Drugs and Society class. After taking his class I have a whole different perspective on America's treatment of mental disorders. Instead of trying to help we medicate and put bandaids just to keep making money off of people's suffering. Disability for obesity? I guess it pays more to keep a person motivated to stay obese so doctors are guaranteed thousands of dollars by the time this person dies.

I'm not trying to judge, but I am entitled to my opinion. I had no idea that depression could be so crippling. Like I said I watched my brother spiral in it. He was hospitalized for a month, medicated and sedated; he used to tell me demons were following him. I cried for him quite a bit. After awhile he got some newer aged treatment, starting exercising, and now he's in college and going to work. I guess that's why I didn't empathize with the woman, because I saw my brother fight it and come out on top.

I am glad I asked. I learned something new. It still makes me uneasy, but that's probably because there are theoretical practices that could be tried. But every situation is a different case, so I don't know.

You don't know what kind of treatments she's undergoing at the moment, how many she's tried before, how long she's been doing it, if her previous medication stopped working for her (it happens), if her psych wanted to exhaust SSRI class medications before trying SNRI medications, if she's currently trying to get a job that has a schedule that will work for her (because going from 0 to a 40+ hour work week is seriously overwhelming), if she's taking a break from working to allow herself to focus on her mental health recovery, and on, and on, and on. I sure as anything wouldn't be sharing those details with my neighbours.

(And no, as someone with depression that responds to no treatment but medication (and lord knows I've tried), medication is not a bandaid. Medication is effectively my insulin. The technology to permanently fix what is wrong with my brain is a long way off.)

Hell, even recovery is hard work. "Crap, I still feel bad. This is the xth medication I'm taking and it's still not working, I'm a failure, nothing is going to work for me, why am I even trying, I'm just wasting everyone's time and money, just because I'm thinking bad things about myself doesn't mean they're wrong and attributable to depression, f this I'm just going to sleep for the rest of the day," is a thought pattern I've been through multiple times, and I know I'm not the only person.

Not to mention, if she's the sole caretaker for a minor, even if she can financially afford to be hospitalized long enough to set up an effective long-term treatment plan, she might not be able to have her kid watched for that long. My parents might have left me alone for a few days when I was 16, but I sure as anything can't imagine them leaving me alone for a month+. Given that most medications take several weeks to start showing effects, and several are contraindicated, meaning she would have to be fully weaned off one before starting another, this could take several months of inpatient treatment, as opposed to her simply taking these medications at home where she can keep an eye on her kid.

TL;DR 1) depression can be seriously crippling, 2) given how tightfisted disability services are, someone far more qualified than you has certainly determined that hers is such a case, and 3) it can take a very, very long time to find a treatment that allows one to get back into normal adult life.

There's no need for name calling because a lot of people have mental issues. Anyway, severe depression is crippling, and a mental disorder that warrants a disability check from the government.

Well I can see you have never ever dealt with depression. Depression is crippling, it can make you desperate, it can make you not want to get out of bed. It is not just a made up thing, I think anyone suffering from severe depression deserves to get disability while they work with doctors to improve their mental state.

@ budgie

That's true. I really don't know what all she has tried. However, there are some things about her that kinda tells me she hasn't exhausted all avenues. And I'm very sorry you've had such a battle with depression. See, in my mind I always saw depression as something that has to be overcome, not like an actual DISEASE. to me it's like cancer, a very bad disease that you can either succomb to or survive. Is that a bad analogy to have. With the way some of the posters sound it seems like depression can be something lifelong that can't be cured.

I like to compare chronic major depressive disorder to diabetes. It's usually a lifelong condition (although depression's severity can fluctuate). Untreated, it can do a serious number on you, even kill you. It can go undetected for quite some time, it can show up at different ages, and some people are better at sticking to the necessary regimens for managing it than others. Some people can manage it non-medicinally, while others need medications all their life, and some people might be able to manage it non-medicinally but find it safer/easier/more comfortable to manage it with medication. None of these choices are the wrong ones, so long as they take care of themselves and are healthy.

She might not have tried all her options. Unfortunately, depression is pretty good at making trying seem futile. If that is the case, I sincerely hope she finds the drive to find a solution, for her own sake.