[Alone_and_Afraid]

People keep telling me that I should apply for disability. I don't know what to do. I'm only 19. My dx is Psychosis NOS. I feel like I'm not disable enough for it. My illness has been interfering with my job. I might get fired. I heard if I have disability that I can go to school for free. It sounds good, but I just don't know. Do they consider an IRA in the application? Because I have an IRA, but I really shouldn't be using it. I've been taking money from that for my rent and college. I really shouldn't be using all that money because I get penalized for using it before retirement age. I'm in a very confusing spot. I need some opinions.

What should I do? I don't even know where to start...

[Alone_and_Afraid]

Also, people tell me I can get Medicaid if I'm on disability. I have no insurance at the moment. I go to a free clinic for my psychriatric needs and I owe the hospital money...

[~Christina]

If your Pdoc doesn't agree you need disability it's almost impossible. Have you talked to your Pdoc about your struggles? It never hurts to apply for Medicaid.

[Alone_and_Afraid]

I applied. All they can say is no, but we'll see.
I'm going to apply for Medicaid today. I really hope I can qualify for Medicaid at least.

[Rose76]

So you are currently holding a job? And you are only 19. Both those things make it rather unlikely you will be considered disabled. Keep getting treatment. There is a reasonable hope that, with treatment and support, you will be able to maintain emlployment. If you are able to manage being a college student, the SSA will not see you as disabled.

Whether or not you have money in an IRA has not much to do with weather or not you are disabled. If you were judged disabled by social security, having a lot of money in an IRA could block you from getting SSI.

Don't worry too much about owing the hospital money. 7 years ago, when I owed a hospital money, they told me they could not consider my Roth IRA as an asset.

Definitely apply for Medicaid.

[CopperStar]

I also think it's a good idea for you to keep trying, but I want to advise you not to make the same mistakes I did in the process..

I'm currently in my late 20s, and over the years when I really needed to be hospitalized due to severe mixed states, psychosis, aggression, severe paranoia and so on, instead toxic people in my life always convinced me that I needed to just tough it out, while they never tried to get me proper help, either. This combined with my fear of hospitals and well, I never went outside of one suicide attempt many years ago.

What this means at this point in my life, is that I've been through a lot of terrible stuff, have lost multiple jobs, have been homeless, have had multiple psychotic episodes and have been utterly failing to thrive. Now I'm at the point where I have no job, no vehicle, no money, no assets, no friends. Basically no life and am having a very hard time seeing a future.

But I also have almost no paper trail, almost no medical history, almost no documentation. I have no way to prove most of what I've been through and have dealt with. If starting medication soon doesn't work out, I am going to be seriously screwed.

So keep trying, but don't be afraid to get help. Don't be afraid to go to the hospital if/when you are suicidal or psychotic. Document everything. Tell your pdoc everything. Save as much information as you can along the way when it comes to medical stuff, work stuff, etc. Don't let anyone ever convince you that you don't need or deserve treatment when you do.

This way, if a few years on down the line, you just can't make it in society due to mental illness, you will have plenty of documented evidence to help you.

[Rose76]

That is excellent advice above from CopperStar. Even if you can't get disability now, build a "paper trail" of evidence that you are having a very hard time. That could make all the difference in the world in years to come. It's hard to think now about what might help 5 or 10 years from now. But those years will go by, and you will still be coping with your difficulties.

[(JD)]

It's important to get onto SSDI before age 22 (I think that's the later cutoff for extra considerations)... so apply now even if you're denied. Once you are accepted, if for the same thing you now apply, then the benefits will be retroactive (unless the bill changes).

Keep copies of EVERYTHING...and notes from phone conversations etc.

Get others involved in the decision and effort.

[Rose76]

Originally Posted by (JD)

It's important to get onto SSDI before age 22 (I think that's the later cutoff for extra considerations)...

I'll bet very few people have ever got "onto SSDI before age 22." (if anyone has at all.) Most people would not have worked enough to be eligible.

What is this "later cutoff for extra considerations?" I never heard of a "cutoff" or of any "extra considerations."

[neverending]

Your IRA could prevent you from getting Medicaid as they take assets and savings into consideration.

[fallsfall]

If you are diagnosed with a disabling condition before the age of 22 then when your parents start collecting Social Security you can use their work record to determine how much you will collect on SSDI.

My daughter is on SSDI, she is 27. She was diagnosed before the age of 22, but right now she is collecting based on her work record (working at the movie theater in high school and one internship in college). You need to have a certain amount of income to qualify for SSDI, but if you are very young they don't require as much. But they also don't give you much for a monthly benefit.

When my husband or I start taking Social Security (either old age or disability) then she can use our record and will get more each month.

[Rose76]

Originally Posted by fallsfall

You need to have a certain amount of income to qualify for SSDI, but if you are very young they don't require as much. But they also don't give you much for a monthly benefit.

Thanks, falls. I didn't know that how many work credits you needed varied according to your age. Indeed it does:

"If you are younger than 24 years of age, you may qualify for SSDI payments if you have earned 6 work credits in the 3-year period that ended when your disability began.

If you are between the ages of 24 and 31, you may qualify if you have credit for working half the time between the age of 21 and the time you became disabled. For example, if you became disabled at age 25, you would need credit for 2 years of work (8 credits) between the ages of 21 and 25.

If you are older than 31 years of age, you must have the number of work credits outlined in the chart shown below. As a general rule, you must have earned at least 20 of the credits during the 10 years immediately prior to your disability onset."

From: Find out If You Qualify for SSDI Benefits

[Shaly78]

Psychosis NOS and what else? Other dx? Okay well, I'm on both I'm 37 years old. Is it your therapist suggesting disability? Maybe they know with the condition it can get worst before it gets better. I would go ahead and apply if I was you. I had a therapist tell me in session that she hasn't always worked. It was during a time I was job hunting, but now looking in retrospect I wish she had a told me what I was in for instead of would coulda should of's.......I'm now disabled because I had no clue they was trying first for one to debilitated me using external people then secondly that is was already terrible enough without the extra testing (making sure the other dx was accurate and not just an in session problem). Basically, some therapist where I live know how to use people using some form of magic therapy techniques to make it worst....I would say in the disability conversation do what your therapist told you to do. Now, your situation may not be as extreme as mine, but this is how seriously I take the talk of disability and mental illness! You decide tho.

[junkDNA]

Originally Posted by Rose76

I'll bet very few people have ever got "onto SSDI before age 22." (if anyone has at all.) Most people would not have worked enough to be eligible.

What is this "later cutoff for extra considerations?" I never heard of a "cutoff" or of any "extra considerations."

i did not have near enough work history when i got disability. what i get is called SSDI survivor's benefits. since my dad died before i was 18 i get the money he put into the system. there are people who get disability at a young age. i got it when i was 23.

[Rose76]

Yes, junk. That is one way to get it. Also, falls explained that young people don't need as many work credits as older people, which I didn't realize.

[cakeladie]

Well I can tell you my son has been approved for ssa he did not have enough work history for SSDI. I was told that he would have had to be a child star to collect SSDI. Anyway he was approved for SSA. But he currently does not get any money from them. He is able to hold a job 25-30 hours a week I turn in his paycheck stubs to the ssa office. It keeps his case open.

[Rose76]

SSA? Cakeladie, do you mean SSI? I think that is the only alternative when a young person lacks the work credits for SSDI.

That's great that he is managing part-time work. At some places of employment, 32 hours is considered full-time and gets one full benefits. I'll bet your supportive involvement helps him cope and get to where he's gotten.

[LukaDiamondSIxx]

I've always avoided disability. Although the way I've been feeling lately, I think I might need to consider it. I've been out of work for six months. Before that it was 6 years. I do not qualify for Obamacare (too expensive) and Medicaid.

If you can do a temporary disability, which may be 1 year max, i would consider it. It is hard enough to deal with mental illness as it is, but it is harder being on disability.

Do what you have to do for YOU to survive and find a stable place!

[(JD)]

SSID is bankrupt and might very well be revamped after the elections (or before if Congress can get r done)... so do your best for now, get what you can, apply at least because even if you're turned down once you are approved the benefits are retroactive to when you first applied.