Monday, December 04, 2006

Bipolar Disorder, Social Security Disability, and Mixed states

Bipolar Disorder, Social Security Disability, and Mixed states

I'm currently doing a bit of reading on Bipolar Disorder and for this purpose I've purchased half a dozen books. I suppose I come by my interest in this malady honestly. As a former disability examiner, I saw bipolar disorder as an allegation on quite a few cases (though, in all honesty, I don't seem to remember seeing as many bipolar cases at DDS a few years ago as the statistics for my website indicate there must currently be.) But aside from my site and my former occupation, I am (I just posted this same information in a comment-response to someone else's comment) connected to several individuals who have bipolar disorder.

One is my mother-in-law who was only diagnosed at the age of 60 and who had had a history of incredible shopping sprees (a prime symptom of bipolar manic behavior). The second individual is my brother-in-law who was also diagnosed late in life with the condition and has been (sounds unbelievable, but this is true) on out-patient shock therapy for about 2 years. And the third individual is my own step-son who has given everyone close to him one heck of a ride, though this is not (I honestly believe) due to any fault of his own.

read more

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are very bold for being so honest. I have been struggling with bipolar disorder for 18 years. The medications that helped me years ago have stopped working. I am no longer able to keep a full-time job due to the extreme energy shifts. I am still hoping to find a good combination so that I could seek a full-time job. Currently, I am unemployed but I am seeking a part-time position. In the meantime, family members keep telling me to go on SSDI to alleviate the financial burden. I am so ambivalent about it since I feel I'd be giving up. It's not easy on either side but your article is an eye-opener since you have worked as a disability examiner. This disease is awful, it takes away your life without you being aware of it. When you are stable, you are always trying to catch up with the (usually large amount) lost time-that in itself can lead to despair again.

Godsdragon said...

that is just a blog I picked up it is not my own writing...