The person on the phone whom was talking about my disability review said “It looks like you’ve been working” with no indication from me that I have been working. I then said I’ve tried to get back to work but couldn’t.
I feel like these people are going to throw me under the bus over this small admission.
I have a feeling they’re trying to kick people off of disability and now I get to go through the mill.
What do I say?
I have negative symptoms that hurt my motivation but I can hold a conversation. Its like jesus christ do I need to be brain dead to get disability?
Do they think you were actually working? Or that you are just trying to get back to work? If you’re applying for jobs they may think you don’t need disability. If you specify you haven’t applied for work lately (like in a few months) and you tell them you think you are getting worse and you don’t think you can actually work then that might make clear to them that you need disability.
Yeah, it’s not a personal thing, they go by the facts that you give them, and if you give them the wrong idea, that can hurt your chances of being granted disability. Careful what you tell them. You shouldn’t lie but you can make your case stronger by emphasizing how schizophrenia symptoms cause you to be disabled.
Don’t worry about looking bad. When I first applied by myself back in 1980 I didn’t want to look bad so when they asked me the reason I was applying for benefits I said “emotional problems” instead of schizophrenia. Needless to say, they don’t give disability benefits for “emotional problems” and I got denied. When they ask about your disability don’t get into long, intricate delusions or don’t go into minute detail about everything but get your point across how bad schizophrenia (or whatever you’re diagnosed with) affects your life.
Don’t pull any punches: if you are hallucinating then tell them. Tell them some weird delusions (but not a page full.) Tell them how extreme your faulty perceptions are. Tell them how your disease makes it almost impossible to hold a job and socialize.