Disability for depression? please read the comments before you answer.?

Question

My son has been diagnosed with chronic fatigue, depression and borderline personality disorder. He says he wants to work as he is young and has 3 years of college behind him. Right now though we kicked him out because he got arrested for possession of pot. Will evidence of drug use rule out any chance of disability?

Answer 1

my brother had the same problem and still was able to get disability.

Answer 2

If there is evidence that the mental illness existed before the drug abuse, then yes. But if they think the drug use came first, it might be a real battle with social security (SS is an uphill battle as it is.) It's very true that the majority of people with major mental illnesses do in some way, at some point, abuse substances. In my opinion/experience, there is a very desperate need to stop the emotional pain immediately and I very much believe that people try to self medicate that pain away.

I'm bipolar and have bpd. I learned the ins and out of the social security system in the 4 years it took for me to get SSI (6 to get SSDI) - I hired and fired two different lawyers and finally ended up representing myself and getting approved. (4-6 years is a bit excessive, but in the majority of cases it takes at least 18 months - you most likely will get a denial the first time and then have to appeal-which I suggest you do immediately upon getting the denial.)

Some people do get lucky and get approved immediately, but this happens very infrequently and doesn't actually seem related to what type of disability the person has(I've heard of blind people being denied the first time!) In my case, the mental health providers were not providing the information social security kept asking them for, despite the fact that I had almost 20 years of records that supported my claim and clearly showed the extent of the disability. Very frustrating!

Answer 3

SSI will look at his criminal background but it has no bearings on weather or not he will be accepted. I too am bipolar and have borderline personality disorder and I am on SSI I too am young only 26 and marijuana is the #1 drug that people like me turn to to escape from the chaos on our heads. I know that you and your family are going threw a lot but please know he needs you now more than ever, the bipolar by its self it easily manged but the borderline personality disorder is a up hill struggle that is never ending. I don't know what I would have done if my husband would of thrown his hands up at me. But he didn't he stuck in there threw the lies and the adultery and because of him even though it has been a 5 year battle I am now a competent 26 year old mother of 3 and a wife and I have my certified nurses assistant certificate and I am currently in school to further my medical career. My thoughts are with you and your son I wish you nothing but the best of luck! One last thing I was approved for disability in 3 months from submitting my application and I was 24 years old so don't give up hope, it is easier for a "Crazy" person to get disability than a person with brain cancer I know my uncle had brain cancer and they denied him and approved me. The system is screwy there's no doubt about that.

Answer 4

I have a friend whose husband is bi-polar and commonly uses marijuana. He is trying to get disability as we speak. From what I know from his situation, it's common for people with mental disorders to resort to drug use. In people who are bi-polar, they are usually on medication to keep them from having manias as well as from having depression. As a result of all the medication they take to control their emotions, they sometimes have no emotion at all. This can lead to drug/alcohol abuse as they are trying to find something that can give them a "good" feeling. I don't think the drug use should create any problem with the disability since it's a fairly common situation. It just shows that your son truly has a problem. One warning though: it's very difficult to get disability for anyone under the age of 50. My friend's husband has already been turned down once due to his age and this is someone who is unable to work and has been hospitalized 3-4 times in the last two years, either for inpatient psychiatric care or inpatient substance abuse. Your best bet is to find a great psychiatrist for your son and have him/her help you in obtaining the disability. Good luck.