Can you get disability for bipolar depression
Getting Social Security Disability Benefits for Depression or Bipolar Disorder
Social Security should grant disability benefits for depression or bipolar disorder to those who have the symptoms and limitations listed in its listing for depression or bipolar disorder.
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Depression is a common complaint made by individuals trying to obtain Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability benefits. Depression can cause symptoms of poor concentration, low energy, problems sleeping, and suicidal thoughts. If you have bipolar disorder (formerly known as manic depression), you may have depression mixed with periods of manic behavior with rapid speech.
To receive disability benefits, you will need to show proof of more than just a diagnosis of depression or bipolar disorder. You will need to present evidence that your depression or bipolar disorder is so severe that you are unable to work or function well. According to Social Security statistics, about two-thirds of applicants who apply for disability on the basis of major clinical depression or bipolar disorder end up getting approved (many only after having to request an appeal hearing).
Following is a list of important issues the Social Security Administration (SSA) will consider when evaluating your claim, and tips for how you can increase your chances of obtaining benefits.
Length and Levels of Depression
Your depression or bipolar disorder must have lasted or be expected to last for at least a year, and must be at a level at which you would be unable to perform a job on a consistent and regular basis.
The SSA does not require that you be depressed every day of the month, but you must show your depressive symptoms occur frequently enough to prevent you from working.
Quite often, your medical treatment records for a particular visit will say that you are "feeling better" or that your depression has "improved." The SSA might use these records as a reason to deny you disability benefits. If your medical records include such notes, you can explain at a hearing before an administrative law judge whether you have good days and bad days with your disorder, and how often each occurs.
Meeting a Disability Listing for Depression or Bipolar Disorder
The Social Security Administration will automatically grant disability benefits for depression or bipolar disorder if you can show you have the symptoms and limitations listed in its official disability listing for depression or bipolar disorder. The SSA will consider treatment notes from your doctor or psychologist, mental status evaluations, psychological testing, and any reports of hospitalizations.
Symptoms. To qualify for either disability benefits on the basis of depression, you must show you have at least five of the following symptoms:
- depressed mood
- decreased interest in almost all activities
- poor appetite or overeating resulting in a change in weight
- insomnia or oversleeping
- difficulty concentrating or thinking
- feelings of worthlessness or guilt
- thoughts of death or suicide, and/or
- a slowing of physical movement and reactions.
To qualify on the basis of bipolar disorder, you must have at least three of the following symptoms:
- unnaturally fast, frenzied speech
- quickly changing ideas and thought patterns
- inflated self-esteem (usually with false beliefs)
- decreased need for sleep
- distractibility
- involvement in risky activities with painful consequences that are not recognized, and/or
- increase in physical agitation (such as pacing or restless busyness) or in in goal-directed activity (such as taking on new projects).
Limitations. For either disorder, you must show that you also have a loss of abilities, either an extreme limitation in one of the following areas or a "marked" (severe) limitation in two or more of the following areas:
- adapting to change or managing oneself (controlling behavior, having practical personal skills like paying bills, shopping, and practicing good hygiene)
- concentrating on and finishing tasks
- interacting with others using use socially appropriate behaviors, and/or
- understanding, remembering, or using information (the ability to understand instructions and learn and remember new things).
Alternately, if you can't show that you currently have this loss of abilities because you have been living in a highly structured or protected situation or undergoing intense therapy, you may be able to qualify for benefits if you can show that you have minimal capacity to adapt to changes in your environment or demands that are not already part of your daily life.
Consideration of Your Residual Functional Capacity
If the SSA says you don't meet the disability listing, the SSA will consider what you can do. It does this by writing up your mental residual functional capacity (MRFC). An MRFC is a description of what tasks you can do in a work setting; it explains your communication skills, your ability to relate to others, your ability to speak to the public, and whether you can be reliable in showing up to work.
For instance, say you have bipolar disorder and there is evidence in your medical records that you have moderate impairment in your social functioning caused by mood swings and you have a moderate level of difficulty with concentration. Your RFC might look like the following: you have no limitations in walking/standing/sitting, you are unable to work with the public, and you are limited to simple 1-2 step instructions. This RFC would prevent you from working in many occupations, but you still would not be found disabled since there are simple unskilled jobs that do not require working with the public.
Read more about how the SSA makes this decision in our article on how the SSA evaluates an RFC for disability.
Tips on Getting Disability for Depression or Bipolar Disorder
Here are some things to keep in mind before you apply and while you are waiting for a decision.
Medical Opinions About Your Depression or Bipolar Disorder
You will need a statement from your treating doctor or a psychologist regarding the severity of your depression. For example, your doctor might give an opinion that you would miss several days of work each month due to your depression. Make sure the doctor provides an explanation for this opinion.
Continue to see your doctor or therapist during the waiting process for benefits so that you can amass a long treatment history in your medical records. The SSA cannot easily deny the opinion of a therapist who has consistently found you to have a severe mental disorder and who has clinical signs supporting this opinion. If you cannot afford to see a doctor or therapist on a regular basis, the SSA may send you to a consultative examination with a psychologist.
For more information, see Nolo's article on getting a doctor's report for disability.
The Importance of Getting Treatment for Depression
The SSA will review your medical records to determine if you have been prescribed any medication for your depression or bipolar disorder and whether this medication effectively controls your symptoms. If you have never been given medication, the SSA might consider your condition to be mild and not disabling.
In addition, if your doctor has recommended therapy or medication for your condition and you chose not to follow the doctor's advice, the SSA might find you in "noncompliance." You can be denied disability benefits for not complying with your doctor's treatment recommendations. However, a good reason for not following a doctor's recommendation is if you are financially unable to pay for therapy sessions. For more information, see Nolo's article on being denied benefits for failing to follow treatment.
Drugs and Alcohol and Depression
If you have been diagnosed with drug or alcohol dependency, then you have a major roadblock to obtaining disability benefits for depression or bipolar disorder.
An examining psychologist might assume that your symptoms result from drug usage and not from your underlying condition. It is your burden to show the SSA that you would be disabled by your depression bipolar disorder regardless of your use of drugs or alcohol. In these situations, it is helpful to have a period of sobriety in your medical records during which you still have been diagnosed with severe depression or bipolar disorder. Also, you can try to request a statement from your doctor stating that drugs or alcohol are not the cause of your mental condition and that stopping use would not make your condition improve. For more information, read Nolo's article on how drugs and alcohol can keep you from getting disability.
Bipolar Disorder and Social Security Disability Benefits
Bipolar Disorder - Condition
Bipolar Disorder is a mental health condition characterized by cyclic mania, or periods of extreme euphoria followed by bouts of severe depression. This mental disorder is not a mood disorder alone, but a category of several mood disorders.
It is a condition that is prevalent in both men and women.
The chances of getting disability for bipolar disorder is 2 out of every 3 applicants.
Is Bipolar a Disability?
Bipolar disorder can be considered a disability if you meet the work and medical requirements outlined in the Blue Book by the SSA.
For the SSA to consider your bipolar disorder as a disability, you will need to meet both the work and medial requirements. In order to meet the work requirements to qualify for disability, you will have to have earned enough work credits while working.
Work credits are calculated by your age and how long you have worked. Generally, you need 40 credits to get disability benefits, 20 of which were earned in the last 10 years ending with the year you become disabled.
Once you meet the work requirements, you will also need meet the medical requirements outlined by the SSA for bipolar to be considered a disability. To qualify for SSA with bipolar disorder, your diagnosis and medical evidence to back it up needs to match the SSA’s Blue Book listing for bipolar disorder.
The SSA does consider bipolar a disability, so if you can match the SSA’s listing, as well as meet the work requirements, the SSA will considered you disabled and you can earn SSDI benefits with your bipolar disorder diagnosis.
Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder
Signs of the depressive phase of this mental illness include:
- persistent feelings of hopelessness
- anxiety
- anger
- guilt
- sadness
- isolation
- fatigue
- irritability
- lack of motivation
- chronic pain
- morbid suicidal ideation
- self-loathing
- depersonalization.
In severe cases, individuals suffering from this disorder can even become psychotic. Bipolar Disorder symptoms typically manifest sometime between childhood and late adolescence.
Ordinarily, a Bipolar Disorder diagnosis is based on an individual’s self-reported experiences, along with behavioral abnormalities reported by friends, family members and colleagues.
These indications are often corroborated by secondary symptoms observed by a social worker, psychiatrist, nurse or other clinicians involved in a clinical assessment.
Assessment of Bipolar Disorder is usually performed on an outpatient basis. An inpatient facility admission is usually only considered necessary if an individual poses a serious risk to his/herself or others. A preliminary assessment may consist of a physical examination by a doctor. Generally, examinations are not repeated for relapse cases unless there is indication of a specific medical need.
Can You Get Disability for Bipolar?
You can get disability for bipolar if you meet the requirements outlined by the SSA.
If you are looking to apply for Social Security disability insurance (SSDI), you need to meet the list the criteria outlined by the SSA for bipolar disorder located in the SSA’s Blue Book.
Bipolar disorder listing is in section 12.04. You also need to have enough work credits as SSDI is workers who can’t work full time anymore because of a disability like bipolar disorder.
If you meet the medical and work criteria, you will be able to get disability for bipolar in the form of SSDI benefits. You can get disability for bipolar in the form of SSI benefits if you meet the medical criteria outlined by the SSA.
In order to get SSI benefits for bipolar disorder, you need to meet the financial requirements outlined by the SSA. Since SSI is a needs-based program, you need to have very little income and resources.
Information on the financial limitations for SSI is located on the SSA’s website. If you meet both the medical and financial requirements outlined by the SSA, you get disability for bipolar in the form of SSI benefits in the form of SSI benefits.
Filing for Social Security Disability with a Bipolar Disorder Diagnosis
If an individual’s Bipolar Disorder is constant and impairs all ability to function in a work environment, that person may be entitled to Social Security Disability benefits. Any individual with Bipolar Disorder can be eligible for disability benefits if he/she meets the evaluation criteria listed in the Social Security Administration’s Blue Book, and if he/she has received a medical vocational disability endorsement based on the person's residual functional ability, education and age.
Impairments that Qualify for Bipolar Disorder Disability Benefits
The Social Security Administration has established that a claimant with Bipolar Disorder must have a history of consistent symptomatic manic episodes, depressive syndromes, or a combination of both. Additionally, the claimant’s bipolar disorder should result in two (2) of the following restrictions:
- severe limitation of daily activity,
- inability to interact with others in a normal way, or
- recurring episodes of decompensation, which last for an extended period of time.
If a claimant does not meet the aforementioned criteria, he/she may still qualify under a section in the Blue Book, which states that any individual with a medical history documenting at least two years of any chronic affective disorder, including Bipolar Disorder, can be granted disability benefits, despite the support of medication, if the impairment or ailment has resulted in:
- limitations of the capacity to perform basic work action, even when symptoms are controlled with psychosocial support and medication.
- the claimant’s condition must lead to persistent decompensation periods, or
- the residual illness process has caused a subsidiary adjustment that even a nominal boost in mental demands would cause the claimant to decompensate.
Furthermore, a claimant must have been incapable of functioning outside a supportive livelihood for any foreseeable time period. If an individual meets or exceeds these qualifications, there is a good chance of eligibility for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
If a claimant still does not meet the aforementioned criteria, he may still apply for disability based on his remaining functional capacity, education and age. If mental residual functioning is very limited and one is not capable of meeting the demands of basic routine repetitive activities, it is still possible to qualify for a medical vocational disability allowance.
Because applying for disability benefits with a Bipolar Disorder diagnosis can be a complex and intimidating process, hiring a qualified Social Security Disability lawyer or disability advocate may be in a potential claimant’s best interest.
Your Bipolar Disorder Disability Case
Because Bipolar Disorder is listed in the impairment listing manual of the Social Security Administration, a person with Bipolar Disorder who wishes to file for disability benefits can win by satisfying specific criteria. If you are planning to apply for SSDI/SSI disability benefits, you should bear in mind that all Social Disability claims will be granted or denied benefits based on medical records.
You should strive to keep a consistent treatment regimen before and during the Social Security Disability application process, and if your SSDI/SSI application is denied, you should be prepared to file a disability appeal. In many cases, a Social Security Disability lawyer or advocate can provide invaluable help by guiding you through the application and appeals processes.
Faith and hope: how an Orthodox Christian woman with bipolar disorder lives
Due to illness, I lost hope in God for the first time
– Now there are many jokes about “bipolar”.
You open the Internet, it seems that every second person has this disorder. Such is the "fashionable" diagnosis. How about really?
- I dropped out of two colleges, graduated from the third with grief in half and tried three times to get a higher education, without success. I stayed at each workplace for an average of a month. She was in a psychiatric hospital. Got a disability. No, jokes about “fashionable bipolar” do not seem funny to me! nine0007
I have Bipolar Affective Disorder (BAD) type II - it is dominated by depressive periods, and manias are not very bright (they are called hypomanias - mild manias).
Depression can be of different depths, it's a spectrum. It happens that everything seems to be fine, but the head does not work, you have to deal with purely everyday things or kill time on the Internet. Such days are painful, you begin to blame yourself for being relaxed. It happens that you can’t even go outside, at best you sleep. Or you sit, swing, wander around the apartment.
You don’t remember what was better, and you don’t believe that it will end. nine0007
This summer was very difficult. I did not feel alive and did not see the point in my torment.
“Everyone who is dear to me will die, I will die, why then all this?” - the sick mind told me. I was as if driven into a trap and from impotence could only cry. It was the first time in my life when, due to illness, I lost hope in God, and it was very scary.
I was in the hospital. Thanks to the doctors who were there and brought me out of this hell. In general, in depressive episodes, patients often have suicidal thoughts and intentions, and I am grateful to God that I never had them. nine0007
Depression in bipolar disorder is replaced by mania. People take out huge loans, spend a lot of money, drop everything and travel, engage in promiscuous sex - in the hospital I met girls who manifested their mania in this way.
I have hypomanias, they are easier - general excitement, a lot of ideas, creativity, passion, a lot of energy.
But this is only in words everything is great, but in practice there are a lot of “buts”: you jump on top, nothing is brought to the end, one idea replaces another, and there is no result as such. Well, the ideas themselves are far from always adequate and realistic. For example, in my dacha I wanted to move a giant boulder that even my dad would not have lifted, and make a flower bed around it. I slept for a couple of hours, at night I came up with ideas for books and wrote notes, at dawn I walked with a camera. In this phase, I have a great need for communication, accelerated speech, a tendency to rash purchases. nine0007
Sometimes, if I feel like I'm going to be carried away, I give my bank card to my mother - "you'll return it in a week."
I came to a psychiatrist by chance, and my confessor advised me to go to the hospital
– How did it all start? Did something foreshadow illness?
– I had mood swings, trouble concentrating at school.
And for the first time I got to a psychiatrist by accident. At the age of 16, something happened to my jaw, my mouth did not open completely, I got to the maxillofacial surgeons, and they treated me for six years: braces, plates, washing the joints. When they tried everything, they said: “In our department, nothing can hurt anymore, this is probably already psychosomatic.” And by the hand they took me to a psychiatrist. I was then 22 years old. I also read that some kind of trigger situation can trigger the disorder, and I experienced psychological abuse a couple of years earlier. nine0007
The following process was going on in parallel. I went to the temple since childhood, and at the age of 18–20 I almost stopped. Kind of a belated teenage rebellion. Much in the church (not in the faith!), began to confuse, it seemed a formality.
At some point, my mother began to think that my condition was due to the fact that I did not go to church. I began to go to the temple again, but then it became clear that these were just health problems.
The psychiatrist said that I had mild depression and prescribed an antidepressant. I drank it for only a few days, because because of it, as I later realized, I had a manic rise. The drug was changed, a few more “light” ones were added. But then I had a feeling that the pills made it worse. It was as if they opened some kind of floodgates inside me, and what was hiding inside broke out. And this is the worst thing for me - to lose control of myself. nine0007
Then I became interested in psychiatry and began to read articles and books. Self-diagnosis is a thankless task, but I decided that my condition was similar to cyclothymia. The doctor, oddly enough, confirmed my suspicions. Cyclothymia is, as it were, a mild form of bipolar disorder, when the amplitude of mood swings is less (and some experts consider it a variant of the norm).
I remember, during my first hospitalization, I read Masha Pushkina's book Bipolar People and thought, "poor people, how hard it is for them, it's good that I don't have this.
" But I myself had exactly “this”, they just “forgot” to tell me when I was discharged that they had diagnosed me with bipolar II disorder. nine0007
I thought that the pills were picked up, which means that everything is over and you can continue to live a normal life. I just have cyclothymia! A year later, when I was hospitalized for the second time, I already suspected that I had BAD, but again I was told about it only when I asked myself. So for sure I found out my diagnosis only two years ago.
Mental hospital and disability: not so scary?
– People are usually very afraid of “going to a mental hospital”. What is it really like to be in a psychiatric hospital? nine0006
- Coming to a psychiatric hospital - what could be worse? I thought so too. From the first appointment at the clinic where I am now being observed, I was advised to be hospitalized. But my mother and I were not ready for this, stereotypes interfered, although we could not pick up pills on an outpatient basis.
Confessor helped me to decide on hospitalization. He said that the hospital is very good, you can take laptops and phones there: “If you lie down, watch a movie, everything will be fine,” and I agreed. nine0007
Before that, all I had heard about psychiatric hospitals was that they strip you down to your underpants, give you a hospital gown, and you go there for several months. Turns out it's not like that everywhere!
I am not in the acute department, but, one might say, in the lightest one. The situation there is like in a sanatorium or pioneer camp. The atmosphere is friendly, everyone communicates when someone leaves - they take pictures, hug, exchange contacts. There are a lot of teenagers there. There are restrictions, for example, there are no plugs in the dining room, but there are sockets in the wards, showers according to a schedule, walks according to a schedule and with the doctor’s permission, periodic “search” of things in the wards, you show everything that you brought from the street.
Yes, it hurts you a little as a person, but you quickly get used to it. nine0007
Since mid-October I have had my first remission in a long time. Slowly I forget how bad it was in depression. When I remember - just God forbid back into it.
Mental disorders are the same diseases as physical ones. They are also from the word "pain". Only when the soul hurts, you can’t hide from it anywhere, and no painkiller will help.
– Applying for disability due to mental illness is also a difficult step. Was it difficult to decide? nine0006
- I did not refuse this opportunity, because my parents are pensioners, I do not work, and the status of a disabled person gives me the right to free travel, medicines (and they now cost about 15,000 a month) and a pension - all this won't bother us.
Disability is registered through the district neuropsychiatric dispensary. You need to be observed there for at least six months, go to the local psychiatrist every month, so that the doctor sees that you really can neither work nor study.
At the same time, I am treated by my doctor, and I am only observed in the PND. And then - a lot of papers and commissions. nine0007
Psychiatric disability does impose some limitations. They definitely won’t give permission for a weapon and, it seems, a driver’s license, but this is not at all relevant to me now.
Life with a diagnosis: resentment against God, then acceptance
– And after you finally got the diagnosis, did something change in your life? Have new restrictions appeared or, on the contrary, has it become easier to live, knowing what is happening?
– I began to treat myself more carefully, to listen. I know where I can go and where I can't. Study, work - this is not for me yet. nine0007
Strangely enough, even though I know that I am sick, the feeling of guilt or “it just seems to me” does not disappear anywhere. You still blame yourself for everything, even when you have a diagnosis, disability and everything else.
When I first heard the diagnosis of bipolar disorder from a doctor, I was stunned. This is a terrible, difficult, life-long diagnosis! “What, does that change anything?” the doctor asked. And I realized, but really - no. The disease did not start a minute ago, in her words. I have been living with her for a long time. And somehow I manage. So, I can continue to cope, and nothing terrible has happened. nine0007
When the diagnosis was made, at some point there was resentment against God. I thought that the disease had robbed me of the life I dreamed of, cut off opportunities. But then I saw that it was the disease that helped me to open up, to become myself.
The diagnosis gave me the right to vote. I became part of the community and could now speak on its behalf and do something good, help, enlighten. When I found out about BAR, I had about 800 subscribers on my blog. And the first thing I did after calling my mom was to write a post about my bipolar disorder.
Then I also wrote psycho-activist posts, and people reacted very interestedly, supported me. I realized that such a blog can be useful. But then I deleted everything. When I am severely depressed, it becomes uncomfortable for me that information about me is on the Internet. So I created and deleted many blogs already, but like a phoenix revived them from the ashes. I hope that the current blog will still be the last one. nine0007
I am also writing a book. This is an insider novel about the everyday life of a psychiatric hospital, which we look at through the eyes of a young patient diagnosed with bipolar disorder and bulimia. This is autofiction based on my experience, but the heroine is not me. In writing courses, they said that such a book is very necessary, I hope that everything will work out with it.
Of course, there are downsides to my position. For example, on medications, I gained 20 kilograms in just a couple of months and still have not come to terms with the “new” me.
It is also very difficult to plan something with BAR: meetings, vacations, training courses, and so on. You never know when depression will hit you. Well, do not forget that bipolar disorder is considered one of the most dangerous mental illnesses. nine0007
Bipolar disorder is the 12th most common cause of disability in the world
Bipolar affective disorder (BAD) is a mental disorder characterized by alternating
patient's two phases of mood: manic (or
hypomanic) and depressive.
Such phases are called affective, that is, bearing signs of affect -
manifestation of emotions beyond control.
In the International Classification of Diseases ICD-11, bipolar disorder is distinguished I
type and bipolar disorder type II.
In case of BAD type I, during the course of the disease there are necessarily pronounced manic phases
, when the patient feels high spirits, motor
excitement, and acceleration of thinking. Behavior becomes impulsive and often
reckless.
Until the 1990s, this type of disorder was known as manic-depressive psychosis.
In bipolar II patients, manic episodes are smoothed out, they are called hypomania
(mild mania), and the depressive phases are deeper and longer. nine0115 Bipolar disorder is the 12th most common cause of disability according to the World Health Organization. BAD is considered one of the most dangerous
mental illnesses. Between 20 and 60 percent of patients with bipolar disorder have attempted suicide.
Now I am learning to live with BAD, trying to be useful to society and people like me. This is a very important experience for me, this is my way, my voice and my way of talking to the world.
– And what, besides drugs, helps to alleviate the condition? nine0006
– Psychotherapy helps a lot. I recently discovered it for myself, before I doubted it. Well, expensive, of course. Now I see the result, because most of the psychological problems that worsen my condition are not directly related to bipolar disorder.
These are some kind of traps of thinking or everyday trifles when you poison your own life. Two things that run like a thread through my therapy are the inner critic and personal boundaries.
I also use an app on my phone, a mood diary. You mark the mood for the day, plus you can additionally enter your state or feelings - anxiety, drowsiness, and so on. This helps to notice the beginning deterioration or to trace the effect when changing drugs. nine0007
I also want to try support groups, I'm going to visit one at the Just People Foundation.
Depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia fund guide
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“You make everything up!”
– Is it easy to relate to people with bipolar disorder? How do friends and relatives accept the diagnosis? Can they help with something or is it better not to touch a person when he feels bad?
- It's hard to communicate in the depressive phase, but friends know that if I "merge", it means that I'm just "not in the resource" at the moment.
At normal times, I'm always happy to meet and chat. And you can help a depressed person in simple ways - bring groceries from the store, cook something, take a walk around the yard.
If a person has opened up to you, this is already a very big step for him. Try not to hurt him, do not devalue his problems.
In depression, a person sometimes does not have the strength even to brush his teeth, but this is not a reason to blame him. This is the most important thing for friends and family to remember - do not blame. The disease is not his fault, although outwardly it looks like laziness, or a person may seem rude or something else. It's hard and painful for him. He, like a sick person with a physical ailment, deserves compassion. nine0007
My relatives are very supportive. Mom is just a hero, she went through a lot with me. In the summer I was in the hospital for two months, and every day she came to walk with me in the hospital park for an hour.
True, sometimes my mother says that I am her cross. And I don’t want to be a cross, I want to be support and support for my loved ones.
Faith and BAR
: “In the temple I can rest from the struggle”– How to live in the Church with BAR, isn't it hard to go to church, pray, fast? nine0006
– Due to BAD, sometimes I don't go to church for a month. It’s also hard for me in crowded places, so on Christmas and Easter, if I feel bad, I don’t go to the night service. I need to take medicine four times a day, so I don't go to the temple in the morning on an empty stomach. But I have a very understanding confessor. In general, I feel good in the temple, this is a place where, as if there is no time and you can pause, take a break from the eternal struggle with yourself, with the disease.
Otherwise, I'm not much different from other parishioners. I read prayer rules, when I can’t read, I listen. Progress works wonders, there are audio prayer books! There are usually no problems with fasting, food restrictions do not affect my mental health, but here, I think, this is an individual matter.
nine0007
I try to understand and accept my limitations. For a long time I considered some weaknesses as sins, but then it turned out that you just need to come to terms with this.
I regard BAR as an experience, painful, difficult, but sent to me for something, and therefore necessary and necessary. It gives me a different vision of the world. But not in the moment, but when you step aside.
It's like a tattoo or wood carving. When you are depressed, you get a tattoo, it is painful and unpleasant, but when everything is over and you look at it from the side, you will see a drawing. nine0007
"Shameful questions about mental disability"
"Shameful questions about mental disability"
"Shameful questions about mental disability"
What is mental disability anyway? Is that a polite name for mental retardation?
Mental disability is a disability caused by a mental disorder.
Mental disorder in itself does not necessarily lead to disability. Mental disorders differ from each other: some do not last long and do not have serious consequences for the patient's life, while others become chronic and significantly change a person's life. nine0007
Disability is a social concept. It is assigned if, due to illness or injury, a person cannot (or can, but with difficulty) independently move, study, work and communicate. Panic attacks, depression, and in some cases schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder (BAD) may not affect the above abilities - in such cases there will be no basis for establishing disability.
Do people with mental disabilities understand that they have a mental disability? nine0006
Most people with a mental disability understand that they have been assigned a disability group. Some people with mental disorders do not understand that they are people with disabilities. But, as a rule, these are patients with a markedly reduced memory and intelligence (for example, with dementia), and in their case, a lack of understanding of their social status is the least of the problems.
How should you behave when you communicate with such a person?
A mental disorder will not necessarily be noticeable when communicating with a person. The same applies to disability. But if you know about the disability of the interlocutor or his relative, it is better to postpone inquiries about this until a closer acquaintance, so as not to create a situation in which everyone will be embarrassed. nine0007
It is also not worth asking why a healthy-looking person with a disability does not work. Chronic mental disorders often develop in people at a young or adult age. A person may appear to be physically healthy, but the decreased willpower and thought disturbances of schizophrenia, for example, impair the ability to work just like any other serious illness or injury.
Do people with mental disabilities understand that they have a mental disability? nine0006
Most people with a mental disability understand that they have been assigned a disability group.
Some people with mental disorders do not understand that they are people with disabilities. But, as a rule, these are patients with a markedly reduced memory and intelligence (for example, with dementia), and in their case, a lack of understanding of their social status is the least of the problems.
What are the options for public policy in the world in relation to such people? What is the best approach? nine0006
One social assistance option is supported employment. Disability is not always associated with a complete loss of the ability to study or work. A person with a severe or chronic mental disorder involved in the labor process simultaneously trains social skills and experiences a sense of his own need, inclusion in society, which is important for the well-being of any person.
Does mental disability mean total disability? nine0006
No, it doesn't. Incapacity is a legal category that means a person's inability to direct their actions or understand their meaning.
It requires proof in a special order - through a court session and a forensic psychiatric examination.
In itself, disability due to a mental disorder, even the first group, does not mean automatic deprivation of legal capacity. And not every person with a mental disability can be deprived of legal capacity. nine0007
Are people with mental disabilities dangerous?
Research shows that mentally ill patients are more likely to be victims of crime than criminals. Patients with mental disorders and those who have received a disability are a vulnerable social group that needs the protection and support of society, and not additional control of law enforcement agencies.
In itself, disability due to a mental disorder, even the first group, does not mean automatic deprivation of legal capacity. And not every person with a mental disability can be deprived of legal capacity. nine0007
How to offer help to a person with a mental disability without being intrusive?
As with other people, it is important to show your willingness to help.
