Getting Disability for Depression???

entitlement for sure.

Awesome word "entitlement".

We really do live in the greatest country in the world!

I personally hated to read what some of the posters in this thread are going through, thoughts and prayers.

The rest of MY personal opinions on this subject...I will keep to myself.

I don't agree with getting disability for it...

I'm going to respond to your original post where you said "I have depression but believe getting disability for it is whack as hell"

You are obviously not in the same boat as some of the people being discussed. I bet if your depression was really severe, so much so that you couldn't hold down a job and pay your bills or put food on the table, and feed yourself and possibly your kids, you might have a different opinion about it.

Minor depression or situational depression would never qualify for disability anyway. While there are some people that may try to play the system, they are eventually caught and fraud on a federal level is a very serious offense.

Depression can be so crippling you cant even bring yourself to bathe or make yourself food.

I've had postpartum depression so bad I was put in the hospital. I literally idnt eat for days or do anything, I was just dead inside.

OP: I'm glad that you've taken something good away from the discussion here.

Depression and other mental illnesses/disabilities are indeed very real things that I don't believe we have a right to judge others on.

I don't tell people many people about my past- my history of depression especially because even if no one would judge me for it, I am afraid of feeling judged.

Just because someone has a disability, mental or otherwise, doesn't mean they automatically get a gov't check. They have to apply.

Just applying for a disability payment doesn't mean they'll get one. They'll have to fight for it.

Just because a person seems relatively normal to in a passing conversation doesn't mean they aren't dealing with a crippling disorder that prevents them from having a normal life. Saying hello to your neighbor doesn't give you intimate knowledge of them.

Just because you edited you're original post doesn't mean we can't still sense the tremendous animosity behind it.

QFT^ People wear many masks and the OP seems a little myopic in her vision or insight of people, situations or how the system for dealing with these issues work.

ETA: the below statement is not always true but is an example of how people deal with mental/emotional disorders.

She is getting money to live off of. I don't know how much, and it really doesn't matter. I'm saying, would t that money be better spent on treatment instead of letting her continue to live with something so dibilitating? I'm coming from a "help her get better" perspective, but as I can see, it might not be that simple.

And I'm saying she receive benefits that will HELP her, not continue to perpetuate her condition. I really don't want this to sway in the direction of whether she QUALIFIES for living assistance, because I cannot speak intelligently on that. Obviously she qualifies because she has it. My point was should that money she QUALIFIED for be used to help her get better, and not just let her pay her bills and let her continue to live with depression. As far as better treatment, I can't say what better treatment is. The only way for her to know would be for her to try them, but as a PP said, trying is not that simple, and I can remember from my depression days I often didn't want to try to do anything. So I'm sure compounding that times 100 and you may not be fit for treatment.

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I GUESS I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW YOU UNDERSTAND DEPRESSION. THERE IS NO FIX ALL FOR DEPRESSION. MEDICATIONS MAY WORK FINE FOR A WHILE THEN STOP WORKING. WHAT DO YOU MEAN "LET HER LIVE WITH DEPRESSION?"

Awhile back I met a woman who used to live in my old neighborhood. She was a very nice woman. We would talk everytime we saw each other. One day out of the sake of conversation I asked her where did she work. She told me she didn't work. I looked confused because she lived alone except for her 16 year old son, so I knew something didn't seem right. I think she could read the expression in my face because she said, "oh, I'm in disability due to depression."

It took a lot of conscious thought to keep my face straight.

You're getting disability for being depressed?

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'm not going to read all the other answers to your question. I usually do though.

However, to answer your question, YES. I grew up with a mother who was bipolar and yes, she was on disability for it. She cycled rapidly and had an allergy to lithium, probably the only medication that could have helped her. She would be on the other meds out there and they'd work anywhere from 6 weeks to 3 months and then we'd be back to square one. She raised my sister and me by herself, my dad checked out a long long time ago.

I won't get into what it was for us, but yes, my mother was crippled by the disease. And yes IT IS A DISEASE. It is a lack of certain chemicals in the brain. The only thing different from someone with depression and an amputee is that you can see the person's limb missing, you can't see the chemicals missing. Is Depression crippling for everyone? No it is not. I am answering this purely from a personal standpoint as I have Clinical Depression, I have been able to hold full time jobs for years and years, some days were harder than others.

Depression is hereditary, every woman on my mother's side of the family has/had it. Both aunts are being treated for it, my sister and I are being treated for it. My grandmother had it, and her mother had it. After that, the stories are sketchy at best but it sounds like past family members had it also.

I do give your credit for at least having decorum to not laugh at her answer. I also give your credit for asking questions. I can't tell if you're judging or not, but the tone of your question certainly conveys it. I hope some of the answers here enlighten you to some degree.

Please just remember, just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

I don't agree with getting disability for it...

I'm going to respond to your original post where you said "I have depression but believe getting disability for it is whack as hell"

You are obviously not in the same boat as some of the people being discussed. I bet if your depression was really severe, so much so that you couldn't hold down a job and pay your bills or put food on the table, and feed yourself and possibly your kids, you might have a different opinion about it.

Minor depression or situational depression would never qualify for disability anyway. While there are some people that may try to play the system, they are eventually caught and fraud on a federal level is a very serious offense.

^This. I applied for disabilty in March because I lost my job (fired because my performance was effected by my disorder) and was homeless. It took 3 months for my claim to be processed. 3 months in which I lived in my boyfriends 2 seat pick up truck in california heat. I slept in there at night. I was on food stamps while I was waiting so I could eat. Getting SSI would mean that I would not have to live in a car anymore. Since I had been hospitalized twice in 2012 and had depressive disorders diagnosed as early as when I was 11, I was approved the first time. Now I live in an apartment with him, and I have justenough money to help pay for bills and food. Because of my track record with work, it's hard for me to get a job. I kept trying to work despite how hard it was with my BPD, but I would always fail.

And the process for getting disability is hard. It takes MONTHS, you have SO much paperwork to fill out, they need records of your disability, you have to see a doctor in some cases. It's not just like oh hey im depressed give me money. It aint a medical marijuana joint....