Quote:
Originally Posted by yagr
I am requesting and gratefully accepting support, encouragement, love, virtual hugs and even (gasp) prayers. In less than twenty hours, after a three and a half year wait, I will be sitting in front of a disability judge. I am terrified. Thirteen days ago I met with my attorney to find out what to expect at the hearing. The last thing I remember about that meeting was when he asked, in reference to a little, "So she's not real right? She's just all in your head?" I came back as we were being shown the door - fortunately without a police escort so I'm pretty sure the rest of the meeting appeared to be acceptable to the lawyer anyway.
When I got home I sent the following e-mail to my T:..oh, if anger triggers you, be forewarned - I was livid.
Anyway, the hearing is tomorrow. I've got instructions from the lawyer to read to get ready, questions to prepare for, etc., and can't stay present long enough to do so. I just need to be heard and know that you folks are at the top of the list for likely candidates to understand my fear.
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sending good thoughts, prayers and support.
am I right in what your post means... the lawyer believes you are faking and wants you to read up on having this alter and prepare for what ever questions that may come up,?
one thing about disability hearings its not something you can "cram" for like a high school test. short version the questions are going to be all about you and how having this alter has affected all aspects of your life. let me give you an example....
in 2013 what is considered to be a dissociative type alter has changed, what is DID has changed. much of what you find now on the internet contains outdated\ discontinued\ no longer used for what is a dissociative type alter and what DID is, its related symptoms and so on. Even testing and the scoring system for those tests have been changed.
so say someone goes into a disability hearing and the question is what is an alternate personality. and you have crammed and read up on it and found what is now considered to not be a dissociative type alter (there are now many kinds of alters with many different normal mental and physical health problems.) that will get you denied your disability status.
my point with mental disorders there is no such thing as cramming for a hearing or assessment. before you have your hearing they probably have contacted their own treatment providers and specialists so they will know whether you have read up and studied for the hearing. they want to know about you, your alter and such related to you, not what you find in books, movies and the internet.
they are going to want to know your own dissociation problems, your own dissociation process and your own hardships. the centering around this one alter means your lawyer is going to try and focus the questions on things like what the diagnostic criteria for DID is and how you fit or dont fit that diagnosis, presenting your mental and physical health records, test scores that show this alter is a dissociative type alternate personality, all these kinds of things that point to this alter is real and how this alter presents/ her sense of agency, how this alter adversely and positively affects every aspect of your life... things that cant be read up on and faked. those are the kinds of things the review hearing will be looking at that wasnt in \on record before that will help them to change their decision from denying you your disability grant to awarding it to you.
my suggestion is just take a deep breath and not let what you read on the internet influence what you say and do at the hearing because they will be able to see through to what is real and what isnt. you are not the only person with dissociative problems applying and reapplying for disability. they have most likely seen many people who actually have the problems before the courts and many people who dont actually have the problems before the court including past and present access to mental health specialists in the field of dissociative disorders. just breath and be yourself. take it one step at a time.