I see what you're saying. However, I personally did not wake up one day and say, "Gee, I feel like being on SSI today." I don't "want" to be on SSI. I'd rather work. But, because of my disability, I've never been able to find work or hold on to a job for very long. The few times I did work, the jobs were part-time and minimum wage.

Because of not being able to work:
I have had to live with men who abused--just to have a roof over my head
I've lived on the streets.
I'm pretty close to that right now because my family's only source of income,which is my daughter's survivors benefits is going end soon; I'm already behind on my mortgage because I had to spend thousands of dollars to get the plumbing fixed.
I've had to prostitute myself out.
I became pregnant three times so I can get some type of benefits.
When my daughter's benefits end, I don't what I'll do. I would love to just get a job, but no one will hire me because of my poor work record. Plus, I live in a small town, where everyone knows everybody, and I'm pretty much known around here as the town's "crazy lady" so that doesn't help me find work either.

I have been trying to disability for over two years now. I kept getting denied. Finally, I got a lawyer, and after about 14 months, we finally got a hearing. The judge did not make a decision right away because she still needed some documents; we were able to get the docs in to her within a few days. It took her 2 1/2 months to send us her decision. It was unfavorable. I read through it several times to make sure I understood it. She twisted a lot of my words, some places she even lied, while calling ME a liar! She even called a couple of the doctors liars! And some of the reasons she gave me were so bizzare I almost laughed. It was like, "She goes to AA and church every week (which I dont), therefore she is not disabled." Anyway, we did put an appeal in and it could take another 2 years. Of course at that time, I might be out in the streets or living in a shelter somewhere.

Plus, I get all this crap from people who just assume I'm being lazy. No, I have been through hell with this. This is too much strain and hassle over just not wanting to work. I've even come close to killing myself over this. I've been prescribed more meds because my depression and SI got worse. Believe me, if I could work and hold down a job, I'd much rather do that than to keep going thru this hell.