If you are currently holding down a job, and not recently hospitalized, you are going to have an even tougher time getting SSD.

You have to think of this as a last resort, not as something that will make it easier for you. When I finally made the decision to ask my pdoc, I sat in his office sobbing that I just couldn't do it anymore. I have always prided myself on being able to pay my own bills, and buy the items I needed/wanted to live, but after 6 months of being sick, losing my apartment, my dog (I loved that dog!) my savings, my 401K, and my stock, I was still too sick to get a job.
That's when I made my decision.