Based on the folks I know, I can confirm that. If you get psych disability on the first try, you’re looking for your marbles, not a job. Being a basket case myself, I say that in the most understanding and playful way possible. 
To clear up some confusion:
There are two federal disability programs: SSDI and SSI.
Social Security has two aspects to it: old age benefits and disability benefits. Both of these aspects are linked to work the applicant has done. You must pay into the system a specific amount before you are able to collect either the old age benefit or the disability benefit. The amount you get is based on the amount you paid in. This disability benefit is SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance).
If you paid in enough but not very much, or if you have not paid in, there is a program called SSI, or Supplemental Security Income. The maximum you can get from SSI is $710 a month. If you are receiving SSDI and you paid in so little that they give you less than the SSI maximum, SSI will kick in and cover the rest up to $710/month.
SSA uses a five step process to determine if you are disabled.
- Are you working? (If yes, not disabled. If no, move on.)
- Do you have a severe impairment? (If no, not disabled. If yes, move on.)
- Do you meet one of the listings? (If yes, disabled. If no, move on.)
- Can you go back to a previous job? (If yes, not disabled. If no, move on.)
- Can you do any other job that is widely found in the national economy? (If yes, not disabled. If no, disabled.)
The burden of proof is on the claimant through most of the steps, but it switches to SSA at the last step.
The last two steps are where the claimant and SSA each attempt to show what level of work the claimant is actually able to do. This gets pretty complex pretty quickly, so I won’t go into it unless someone has actual interest, but step 5 does include age, educational level, ability to speak English, sit, stand, walk, bend, grip, think, remember, deal with others, understand orders and instructions, show up to work, care for basic personal hygiene, etc. Because all of this is complicated, the gov’t came up with a set of guidelines called “the grids” which take some of these factors into account and provide a starting point for determining who is disabled. If you are 60 years old, do not speak English, never graduated high school, spent your entire life being a gardener and now can’t walk so are limited to sedentary occupations or less, you will get disability. If you are the same but 20? You probably won’t. (I haven’t actually looked at the grids for this hypothetical. Just trying to paint a picture.) Why? Because the SSA thinks it’s harder for unskilled laborers to start over at 60 than at 20.
It is not sufficient for a doctor to say, “Gosh, you’re disabled” and then you get a check. (That is, for the federal programs. My understanding of state programs is extremely limited, though I believe General Relief in LA County works pretty much that way for people to be able to remain on GR for a full year rather than the 9 month limit for those who can work.)
I wouldn’t class cerebal palsy as a “psych disability”, it’s a range of problems with motor control rather than any sort of cognitive dysfunction.
Sorry this was a response to deltasigmoid’s post
The SSA categorization of Cerebral Palsy is 11.07 under Neurological Impairments.
Sorry? I don’t really know anything about cerebral palsy, so I know I didn’t say anything about it. 
There will always be people with differing abilities. It is in everyone’s best interest that if an individual is able to work in any way, that person should have an incentive to work in that way. The more people working, the more productive the society, the higher the standard of living for everyone involved.
Here’s a good counter-point to the TAL piece.
Also, while the interview doesn’t bring it up, the first graph in that link is interesting. While there’s some cyclical change in the percentage of disabled workers due to the economy, averaged over time the rate of age and sex adjusted workers being disabled looks pretty close to constant over the last 20 years or so.
So absent economic fluctiations, the growth in the program is pretty much due to an aging population and woman joining the workforce (and thus qualifying as disabled workers).
Good article. Thanks for bringing it in.
The way the SSA makes disability determinations is very complex, as I tried to show in my post above. There’s a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation out there, and it sounds like the NPR piece just added to that.
Where I went to University, they did something like this. There was a man who worked 10+ years for the school on the landscaping/outdoor maintenance crew. He was involved in a car accident and was no longer able to do manual labor. He wanted to work, he just couldn’t do his former job and didn’t have the training for a “sit-down” job. The university re-trained him for a data entry position.
That’s great that the university did that. Most employers wouldn’t or, really, couldn’t do that. Most employers don’t have the resources in the first place, and when you think about it, the university had to use resources to train, and then resources to employ in this different job.
The SSA has identified (I think) 200 jobs that are unskilled sedentary (sit-down jobs). The SSA assumes that if you are unable to do your previous work like landscaping but you are under a certain age and you can sit for 6 hours a day, and stand or walk for 2 you can do sedentary work. In other words, even if the jobs aren’t really there, or even if he can’t get one, the theoretical job that he could do is unskilled sedentary and there are unskilled sedentary jobs in the national economy, so he’s not disabled.
I have a family member on SSI. He started it when he was in his late 20s. He was able to get a diagnosis of “anxiety disorder”. He always had a hard time functioning in a regular job, so when he got this diagnosis, and started on SSI, he no longer had to worry about income. He is in his 40s now, and it is clear to me, and to him, that is life is not very good. He has nothing to show for his time here. He has not evolved or matured. He suffers from a bucketfull of mental illnesses and hang-ups, and gets hospitalized once or twice a year, like clockwork. He does not live an extravagant life, but does have a computer, cell phone, and is able to take care of his health and feed himself. He does not drive or take public transit, no substance abuse, no smoking. He is a landlord’s dream - steady income and no vices.
One of the problems I percieve from my discussions with him is there is no incentive for him to find a job and/or improve his lot in life. If he takes a job, then his state income and benefits are adjusted, and if the job does not work out, then it is a hassle to get everything restored. For someone with motivation issues to start with, making the change is too much trouble. As stated up-thread, the reliability issue is evident for him (and would be for an employer, too). He’s thinking “Why bother”.
Ironically, he is really angry at all those illegal immigrants who come here to sponge off the system. They are competition for him. When I pointed out the irony of his anger, and that some people think people like him are sucking off the public teat, he got angry at me, but asked a good question - “What are people like me supposed to do?” I don’t really know.
True. But what if they are living with another person on disability? And making money under the table? In some cases, it’s probably not that bad.
This isn’t to discredit those who truly need it. But if I could count on receiving $650 a month, I’d call that a nice back up. Most people who lose their jobs need to find another or they are going to be flat broke.
Unfortunately the fraud (or perception of fraud) is strong enough that applicants with obvious impairments get turned down and have to struggle financially while their applications are under appeal. Such was the case with my brother.
He was 27 years old and working as an over-the-road truck driver. He had a high school education and previously worked delivering pizzas. He got the necessary training and volunteered as an EMT while he was waiting on an full time paid opening.
Knee pain led to exams and an x-ray resulting in a bone cancer (osteosarcoma) diagnosis. Leg amputation (AK) followed. Only after the cancer metastasized did he apply for SSDI. He was rejected. Twice. Then his paperwork seemed to vanish into a black hole. It was only with the help of a US Senator’s office (props going out to former Sen Fred Thompson R-TN) that the paperwork was found and a court hearing scheduled. Social Security was still fighting his claim.
Court day came and there were two problems. First, the judge was a family friend. His kids took piano lessons from my mother. He and his kids had been to our home many times and the judge knew my brother personally. Second, my brother could not attend the hearing due to medical treatment.
The hearing began and Judge Mac asked casually where my brother was and how he was doing. I explained that he was, at that moment, in the operating room and surgeons were attempting to cut out the metastasis. Judge Mac turned to the counsel for SS, calmly explained his potential conflict of interest and then inquired, “That’s not going to be a problem. Is it?” The expected answer was understood. After a short hearing and review of medical paperwork Judge Mac approved by brother’s claim. That was 14 months after it was first filed.
I see now that my brother’s condition is listed on the Compassionate Allowances Conditions list. Hopefully that designation has improved the situation for others similarly situated since my brother went through the system.
I am on disability.
I was diagnosed with Progressive Multiple Sclerosis. I am no longer able to walk, bath myself or dress myself.
I can no longer work at any job. I wish I could.
However, I have worked a full-time job since I was 15. I stopped working at 50, the Social Security office said I had “more than paid my share”.
I was approved within 60 days with back payment from the date of my diagnosis.
I also am on the state Medicaid, which has arranged to modify my house to be wheelchair accessible.
I feel grateful for all the help I’m recieving. I am sad for those who abuse the system. But it basically works.
nm
When I had a disabling TBI 12 years ago my boss told me not to go on disability, he’d pay me just to show up and sleep everyday while I worked things out. I’ve learned new skills over the years and been able to support myself, not because I’m brilliant or gifted but because I’m a stubborn sonofabitch who hates the idea of taking anything from the dang damn dog guvment. I had a long painful day at work today but I by god earned my own bread with my own sweat, I guess that makes me an idiot…
No, it makes you a hard working human being who is also incredibly lucky. Most of us would love to have a boss who’d hire us to sleep everyday until we work things out.
I had a similar problem but it happened when I barely in grade school. The thing about brain injuries though as compared to say bipolar disorder or even clinical depression is that a) you understand what things are supposed to be like, b) you’re motivated to work toward your rehabilitation and c) it’s actually possible for the brain to rewire itself - as anyone who has ever know a stroke victim will understand.
The rewiring part is also true to some extent with other psych issues. That’s been shown with anxiety disorders for example, even OCD (which isn’t anxiety based btw) and ADD/ADHD. But it’s never going to work as a primary means of treatment because these are neurochemical problems not behavioral.
Many people will be able to receive treatment and lead mostly normal, productive lifes with full time jobs, yada, yada. But there will probably always be some fraction who won’t be helped by whatever techniques and meds are available at the time. Those people have to be regarded, at least until modern medicine has something for them, have to be considered truly disabled.
Let’s go back to 1995. It was the year my depression became disabling and my brain quit on me. I wanted to continue college. I was convinced I could pull out of it. My parents disagreed. My student loan covered tuition. But, without my parents’ help I couldn’t cover room and food or anything else.
I went back to a job at FutureHealth, a small company that manufactured and sold medical sensors and software. The boss rarely showed up. The pace of work was slow. It still became impossible for me to do the job.
I applied for disability. My therapist and psychiatrist wrote letters and filled out the appropriate forms. They turned me down. My father, who worked 37 years for the department of defense and was a whiz with forms and red tape, tried to help. We finally went to a lawyer. During the initial consultation, it turned out I’d finally been approved.
About 3 years ago, I started attending a day program for the mentally ill. Things started getting better. I’m reasonably sure most of the other patients are on disability as well. Some of them are incapable of living on their own. Some go to every local job fair and hustle to get any job they can.
Personally, I’m torn between my horrendous fear of failure and the self-loathing that comes from being on disability.
I need this kind of help, SSDI, but mental and physical health care wise I’ve always just maneuvered the best I could to cover for my issues. Going from working with the public and doing heavy dangerous work to working behind the scenes more to cover for my increasing inability to be around people to, even though being the highest seniority guy, maneuvering myself into the worse split off shift position just to cover for my inability to work with people and my increasing health and performance problems. For several reasons I just sucked it up and went without treatment for all but the most routine things. Eventually I just had to stop. I couldn’t function mentally or physically and couldn’t hide it any more. I worked alone at the end of my career and accidentally hurt myself and made some other scary near mistakes that would never have happened in the years before. Retiring early even though I could barely afford it. Now, I don’t have the “he’s crippled” type of records and I can’t hardly afford to see a doctor at all. I would spend much of the little I have left to see the right doctors to get the right words written to make my chances of getting SSDI better. I can’t afford to just pick people out of the phone book. I live in St. Clair county, Michigan, USA. If anyone reading this can give me a real lead you may literally be saving my rapidly deteriorating and very sorry ass. I am truly lost. PM me.