>>16934190
i am in the same boat yet on it (at least in my cuntry) sorry but i don't know how burgerland's payment prerequisites, good luck anon.

>>16934190
I recently got awarded disability for mental health stuff. I am in the US so I can speak about that, but idk about other countries. Where do you live?

>>16935266
I'm not OP but also in the US and I feel like I'm about to get fired from work because I've been missing so much due to anxiety. How difficult is it to be on disability for depression/anxiety? I've had it for years but there's no way to prove that since I didn't see any doctor until last year.

I am >>16935266, posting for whoever in the US is reading:

The whole process took about 2 years. Most times, you will apply, get denied, appeal, get denied, request a hearing, and hopefully the judge sees things your way and you get approved.

I ended up hiring a lawyer. Fortunately there are disability lawyers out there who don't get paid unless you win. So if it comes to that, look for one of those. I did the initial application on my own, got denied (of course), and then hired the lawyer to manage my appeal. We ended up requesting a hearing and won the hearing.

To win a disability case, you want the biggest paper trail you can possibly get. If you're not seeing a shrink *and* a therapist, start now. Go through your county human services dept. or mental health dept. if you can't afford to go to a regular clinic. Explain that you've had this condition for a long time and that it's wrecking your employability. IDK about other counties/states but in my part of Minnesota you could get a mental health caseworker free of charge if you were using county mental health services. They are good for helping you wade through paperwork. While you're there, stop by the financial assistance office and start looking at what benefits you might be eligible for. You will need them.

Start a record, even if it's just a list of dates and a few details, of things like:
>work history, including date of hiring/firing/quitting and reasons for leaving if it's related to the disabling condition
>same for school/college
>docs/therapists you've seen for the condition, their diagnoses, and approximate dates of previous and upcoming appointments
>hospitalizations or visits to crisis centers for the condition
>arrests or other disciplinary action for things that happened as a direct result of the condition

continued

>>16935321
Keep in mind that they'll mostly be looking at medical records from after you became disabled or stopped being able to work. I had dropped out of college due to a breakdown, then worked for several years, then had another breakdown and couldn't work. The date of disability was listed as when I stopped working, but they did take the college breakdown into consideration because it showed a repeating pattern of dysfunction. That is basically what you want - to show that you have made multiple attempts to function but that your condition keeps fucking it up.

Don't malinger/fake symptoms, but don't minimise them either. If some days you're more or less ok, but other days you're too much of a wreck to work, then you are too much of a wreck to work. Don't ever say to anybody "well...sometimes I'm just fine," say "some days I function better than other days but I can't maintain it on a day-to-day level and a lot of times I just function minimally/not at all." They're the same thing, but the first sounds like "oh it's not so bad" and the second sounds like "any given day I don't know if I'm even gonna get out of bed/get dressed/make it to work." We all already know that employers only want people who can *consistently* show up, do their job, and maintain appropriate comportment for work. If you can't do it consistently and on a full-time basis because of your condition, then you are not fit to hold a job and you are disabled. Therefore when you're filling out the paperwork for Social Security, always place the emphasis on what you *can't* do rather than what you can.

I say "consistently and on a full-time basis" because the SSA will still consider you disabled if you're able to work part-time but not full-time. On paper, you still qualify for benefits. But if they see you successfully working full-time, then into the trash it goes. Personally I wouldn't do anything that even remotely resembles working full-time once you've started the filing process.

continued

I go on a chatroom full of mentally ill people who are on disability. http://theircvillage.com/chat/

There's a process, but it's a doable one. It does take an average of two years, though, IIRC.

>>16935385
Also wanted to mention that if you have enough work credits (idk how to calculate that shit) you will get SSDI aka RSDI which will be based on your former income. If you don't have enough work credits or if your SSDI is below a certain figure ($700/month I think? idk) you will get SSI which is supplemental income. Your caseworker can help you with that.

So to get the ball rolling, you will want to
>see your shrink if you have one
>start seeing one if you don't
>seriously, see a shrink
>you should see a therapist too
>but the SSA will give much more weight to a medical opinion with an MD after it so SEE SOMEONE WHO IS A MEDICAL DOCTOR
>call or visit your county government offices and see what they can do for you in terms of case management
>get yourself a caseworker
>start looking for good disability lawyers in your area
>try not to feel like a leech - remember all those income taxes and sales taxes you pay? that's what they're for
>get used to being poor
>if you're already poor, get used to being poorer

Best of luck. Will lurk in the thread a while if anybody has questions.