[not quite right]

I had my first court appearance for disability august 7th, and found out through my lawyer that I had been denied, tho I guess they sent my copy to a wrong address. Recently I received from my lawyer the copy and I was seriously astonished to the judges comments on each areas of the decision. She was very just dogged me at every chance she had. Even suggesting without much professionalism that I was a liar and my doctors records were less than credible fir my dx. We're appealin, of course, but anyone else ever been treated this way?

[jelly-bean]

You are not the only one. They don't want to give anybody any money unless the patient gets put through the mill. It takes a long time and a lot of patience so just get ready to do battle with SSD.

[not quite right]

It's so maddening. I have 7 documented psychiatric illnesses with 8 years of doctors records & a very good attorney. It's notevenabout the money anymore. I want validation for my suffering. And I'm going to get it. I'll fight as long as necessary.

[cool09]

All of the decisions I got from SSDI trials were formal letters from SSA and they were very professional I think. I never heard of a Judge directly challenging a diagnosis as "less than credible". What is your Lawyer basing your SSDI application on? On documented mental health history and/or work history? My lawyer made a list of things that would qualify me for disability (under SSDI regulations) and he used the most credible one first (and so on). My Judge was a curmudgeon. In court he made a remark that my hospital records were voluminous (about 6" thick), that he couldn't read my Doctors notes and he questioned the accusation that I couldn't get along with co-workers - he said "Everyone has that problem". I had an excellent experienced lawyer from Princeton who didn't lose his cool.

[gayleggg]

Originally Posted by not quite right

I had my first court appearance for disability august 7th, and found out through my lawyer that I had been denied, tho I guess they sent my copy to a wrong address. Recently I received from my lawyer the copy and I was seriously astonished to the judges comments on each areas of the decision. She was very just dogged me at every chance she had. Even suggesting without much professionalism that I was a liar and my doctors records were less than credible fir my dx. We're appealin, of course, but anyone else ever been treated this way?

I haven't heard back regarding my claim yet. I haven't had a court date yet. I didn't even think they did that in Texas. I really expect to get turned down, but I hope a judge doesn't list out why that would be. And I only have one diagnosis.

Sorry you are being put through this. Good luck on your appeal.

[not quite right]

Good luck to you.I've been fighting for 2 years now. And I have 7 documented psychiatric illnesses. it's rarely easy. But if you're truly disabled don't give up. Don't let them beat you.

[shortandcute]

Originally Posted by not quite right

I had my first court appearance for disability august 7th, and found out through my lawyer that I had been denied, tho I guess they sent my copy to a wrong address. Recently I received from my lawyer the copy and I was seriously astonished to the judges comments on each areas of the decision. She was very just dogged me at every chance she had. Even suggesting without much professionalism that I was a liar and my doctors records were less than credible fir my dx. We're appealin, of course, but anyone else ever been treated this way?

I had the exact same thing happen to me!Some of the statements she (the judge) made were so bizarre that I kept wondering if she got my case mixed up with someone else's. She also said that some of my medical records "didn't carry much weight." She quoted me as saying a bunch of stuff I didn't say; for instance, she claimed that I told one of my doctors, "My depression is situational" which I never said.

[shortandcute]

Originally Posted by cool09

All of the decisions I got from SSDI trials were formal letters from SSA and they were very professional I think. I never heard of a Judge directly challenging a diagnosis as "less than credible". What is your Lawyer basing your SSDI application on? On documented mental health history and/or work history? My lawyer made a list of things that would qualify me for disability (under SSDI regulations) and he used the most credible one first (and so on). My Judge was a curmudgeon. In court he made a remark that my hospital records were voluminous (about 6" thick), that he couldn't read my Doctors notes and he questioned the accusation that I couldn't get along with co-workers - he said "Everyone has that problem". I had an excellent experienced lawyer from Princeton who didn't lose his cool.

Well, my judge did say that my dx "didn't carry much weight."
She also that I "told the doctor that [my] depression was only situational" (which I did not), that I conned the doctor into writing in my medical records that I could only lift five pounds (I didn't even know that was in my records), and that since I clean the bathroom occasionally and go grocery shopping FOR FOOD, that I must have a "very, happy and active social life." Of course, my attorney appealed that, but after 13 months, I get a letter from the SSA the other day stating that they did not even review my case, and they weren't going to either, because they "saw no reason to...."

I came across this site when I was researching SSD. The info may be outdated but maybe not. Statistically, your chances of winning are less than 50/50.
Some judges give a favorable decision in less than 10% of the cases that come before them. There seems to be a very wide variance in the percentage of favorable decisions between states. If you live in Alaska your chances are very slim. In Hawaii and Puerto Rico (yeah that one surprised me too) your chances are good.
Disability Judges | ODAR Offices | All States
You can click on the states and find the list of judges for that state. You may even find your judge.

[shortandcute]

...sometimes it feels personal............

[shortandcute]

Originally Posted by not quite right

I had my first court appearance for disability august 7th, and found out through my lawyer that I had been denied, tho I guess they sent my copy to a wrong address. Recently I received from my lawyer the copy and I was seriously astonished to the judges comments on each areas of the decision. She was very just dogged me at every chance she had. Even suggesting without much professionalism that I was a liar and my doctors records were less than credible fir my dx. We're appealin, of course, but anyone else ever been treated this way?

I was wondering at first if we may have ended up with the same judge, but I think we live in different states (I live in Washington State). But, seriously, it's crazy how I wasn't the only one to go through that!

[thickntired]

Originally Posted by not quite right

Good luck to you.I've been fighting for 2 years now. And I have 7 documented psychiatric illnesses. it's rarely easy. But if you're truly disabled don't give up. Don't let them beat you.

I also have a lot of mental illnesses but even though they all can be grounds for ssdi my therapist told me bipolar I is the only thing keeping me eligible.

[HALLIEBETH87]

when I applied it was for bipolar 1, ptsd, bpd and panic disorder.