[kkrrhh]

Hi! First I wanna apologize, I know these kinds of threads or questions might be posted a lot. I'm just overwhelmed, and I've tried looking some of this stuff up, but it's overwhelming.

I'm applying for disability/SSI online. Most likely I'll just be getting SSI, since I'm in my 20's and don't have much work history.

I've given the basic information it asks for on the application, but I'm unsure about the "remarks" section. It basically just asks for any additional information after I give basic info about medical history and work, and gives a field up to 2000 characters. When I googled it, some people talked about using the remarks section to explain their issues and functioning, but I'm not sure. I'm surprised there isn't a spot for explaining functioning, since I've heard of that being used when people applied in person, and I don't feel like the application has asked for enough info to really fully explain things, if that makes sense. Still, I don't want to just throw it in there if that's not what it's supposed to be for, and I'm not sure what to do.

On the medical records section, for each doctor it asks if they ever prescribed you meds, but then when you click yes it gives fields to enter "medications you are prescribed" by them, or something like that. Some doctors I saw a few years ago may have prescribed me meds, so the answer is yes, but if it only wants current meds then of course there aren't any from the doctors I don't see anymore, and I'm pretty sure it won't let you leave the field blank. I'm a little confused, should I enter all medications they prescribed for me in the past, or do they only want to know any that I'm still taking?
For a few of the things on the medical records section, I'm sort of just estimating dates and things like that, and may be off on some of them. Some of them I just can't remember nor find any records I have to know specific dates, and I'm giving my best guess but since my memory's horrible I might be pretty off on 1 or 2. Do I really, really need to be accurate, or will they pretty much figure it out and not mind? Also, should I mention the fact that an office has closed down in one of the text boxes, or is that just unnecessary?

Also, the site says that you can just submit the application and they'll request your medical records from the doctors you've provided, but I saw some people mention that you should have all of your records before applying. Is it different if I'm applying online, and wouldn't be going to an SS office right now to bring records with me anyway, or is there any other reason I should have the records first? Or anything else I should do first? I did mention to my psychiatrist that I'm going to apply, but other than that I haven't really spoken to any doctors or anything, just put the contact info on the application. I'm not going to contact a lawyer, at least until the appeal which I'm sure I'll have to do. I want to get the application submitted soon, and my plan is to pretty much just fill it out and submit it asap. But I'm worried I'm overlooking something, or there are things I should know or do before submitting it. I'm probably overthinking a little, but I don't want to do anything wrong and mess up.


Does anyone have any advice? If you've applied, are there any other little things you wish you knew when you applied that you know now?

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Rose76]

Here's my advice. Call around to some law firms that specialize in disability claims. The nationwide firms that advertise on TV are just fine. See what they think about your chances of getting approved. Even if you decide not to use a law firm, their feedback can help you see how realistic you are being in thinking you might get your claim approved. If the lawyers are eager to represent you, that means you've got a pretty strong case. I would, then, turn it over to a law firm. That's what I did, and I got approved in 3 months. (Which meant I paid the law firm nothing, since my claim was not backdated.)

There are a lot of ways you can foul things up for yourself, by doing it yourself - as I think you are learning.

If the law firms are not too interested in taking on your case, then your case is probably kind of weak. Two things are against you: You are very young, and you are obviously well-educated. The SSA will tend to think that, with treatment and the passage of time, you could make yourself employable. They don't really care what your diagnosis is. They want to know: How does that make you unable to work? They will figure that you obviously got through school alright, so the ability to do that suggests you could hold down a job. But you might be able to make a good argument against that. Watch some videos on youTube of lawyers explaining how it works.