Disability
Related: About this forumMy son received his 2 year disability update form. I am his rep payee and help him with these.
He is 47 and diagnosed as bi-polar and has been on disability since 2004. We moved to Montana from Oregon and he had a hard time getting scheduled with doctors. He finally found a psychiatrist he liked but he traveled back to North Carolina for half the year and the person who replaced him was not acceptable to my son. They had him on an amazing amount of medications. He was on adderall and clonazepam and lexapro and about 6 other drugs that I don't know the names of or the uses for, at the same time. He really was a mess. When his doctor was gone he would have a really hard time getting his meds, several of which are addictive and he would go days without them. I actually think she was one of those people who doesn't believe in people using addictive drugs and she made a habit of making it hard for people to get those medications. During those times he would drink. What a nightmare. At any rate, one day he just quit everything. He has not taken any medications for 2 years and he has not seen a psychiatrist for 2 years. I have to say he is better.
He still has the issues with mood swings and bouts of depression. He still has problems with managing his temper. He has a number of health issues that are mostly caused by heavy drug use both illegal and legal when he was younger. He is totally incapable of dealing with the public. He lives in a trailer on my property. He is barely capable of dealing with me, my husband, his kids, etc. He has anger management issues.
I am just wondering what is going to happen when he reports that he is not in counseling and not on meds. He did try for about 6 months when he quit his former provider to get another one and the mental health services here are backed up at least a year. He got really discouraged and just quit looking.
So does anyone know what will happen? Should he start looking now and would it make any difference if he found a provider (not very likely given the backlogs here). Any insight would be helpful. Thanks.
XanaDUer2
(14,628 posts)My understanding from my lawyer was I need to keep seeing my drs. Not sure about meds, but to me, it seems like our glorious country loves to kick sick ppl off SSDI. So, I keep buying my expensive meds and seeing my drs. Its a shame and testament to this countrys lack of mental healthcare. There are now no local Drs accepting new patients where I live.
Please correct me someone. Take care and good luck.
mysuzuki2
(3,554 posts)SSA will schedule a consultative exam with an appropriate medical professional. Just so you know, medical reviews are required by law for people on disability. It does not mean that SSA thinks he is not still disabled or they are trying to kick him off. The far overwhelming percentage of people are found to still be disabled
XanaDUer2
(14,628 posts)I hope the OP and son stay okay.
ratchiweenie
(7,949 posts)ratchiweenie
(7,949 posts)After 47 years of doing it I am starting to give up.
IbogaProject
(3,799 posts)I believe he needs to have some kind of therapist or mental health councilor and he might need to be under the care of a psychiatrist. He can be "prescribed" something and just not fill or get filled and just not take it. This is from the perspective of keeping the disability case open and under active treatment. Every state has vocational rehab departments, who deal with those on disability looking to reenter the workforce. I think having a case open and active with them can put Social Security review on hold. My friend did it here in NYC for awhile so I could ask for more details about that aspect, as she went to work there after being a client a fluke as she had the LMHC credential, so she has seen both sides of that. Here is the one in Oregon, https://www.oregon.gov/odhs/vr/pages/default.aspx