I was a professor and also had a private disability insurance policy - short term and long term. My pdoc wrote a note saying I had to go on medical leave of absence and I brought it to the Human Resources office. They took it from there. I went on short term disability. After six months it automatically switched to long term. After a semester and a half I returned to work 1/2 time and was okay but really didn't have much to do. The next semester I went back to full time and I lasted about 4 weeks before I had to go on leave again. After a year on disability, they required me to apply for social security disability. I was approved on the first try - applied online and never spoke to anyone. I think the things that helped was failing after returning from a leave, many hospitalizations, ECT, support from my pdoc, tdoc and case manager. Once SSD started, the private insurance decreased my payments from them to match what I got from SSD so there was no change in my income. The only difference is that now I get two checks at different times of the month instead of one. I have been on disability since 2005. After a few years the insurance company required an evaluation by their psychiatrist who saw me for 2 hours and then gave me the MMPI and other tests. He said I could go back to work at a low stress job, without contact with the public, and without a supervisor. Now, where do you find a job like that? They were going to stop my payments but my pdoc and tdoc wrote supporting my disability and they changed the decision. Every 2 years or so they require documentation from my doctor. Every time this comes up I collapse emotionally.