This is going to be complicated, but it's important. If you aren't up for this right now, get some help. Somebody needs to do these things.

Whether you've not yet seen a psychiatrist or you've already seen several over the course of years you need to keep all your medical records, psychiatric and non-psychiatric, nice and organized for in case you need to apply for a company, state-run and/or Social Security Disability program.

 

If you're going to apply for SSDI / SSI you need to have your medical records together.  Keep everything together anyway, because you never know if you're going to need short-term or long-term disability. Depending on the severity of your illness you don't know how long you won't be able to work, so start saving the information about your illness now.  You need all the evidence you can get for any disability claim. It's a Catch-22 when it comes to disability claims.  You have to be together enough to keep your head straight to collect all this paper work and fill out these forms to prove that you aren't together enough to do simple things like fill out forms and keep records.  Huh?  You may need someone else to keep the records and fill out the forms for you.  That's OK.  Get help. There's no way you'll be able to complete the forms required to the company's / state's / SSA's specifications without having your medical records handy.  Obviously you can request your records from your doctors, but by the time you get them (and pay through the nose for them in some cases), the deadline for sending the forms back will have elapsed and you'll have to start all over again. What the SSA and the State of California (I don't know about other states) asks for is what I document in the Talking to your Doctor section. As long as you keep a record of how you feel (besides "like shit"), what meds you're taking, their effects and side effects you'll be ready to photocopy your documentation and attach it to your disability claim.  Bureaucrats love that sort of thing as it makes their lives easier. When you're interviewed for SSI / SSDI, you'll have to bring in your current meds.  Although there's no place on the forms for what your dosages and dosing schedule is for current and previous medications, they'll ask you about this.  It helps them if you provide them with this information before hand and have it with you for the interview.  The more meds you've taken that haven't worked, the better your claim looks.  But you need documentation for that, because in the world of the burreaucrat, it's not real if it hasn't been documented.  If you said you've taken a gazillion meds it doesn't mean crap unless you have proof you've taken a gazillion meds. Every hospitalization, every suicide attempt, every run-in with the law, they're all like points on your insurance policy.  Keep a copy of whatever official document you get regarding these events and include them with your application. If you get a fancy brain scan I like did, include copies of those pictures as well.  Pictures help people make sense of mental illness, as these are otherwise invisible injuries.  Unless you're a neurosurgeon or pathologist, nobody every sees your brain.

Why You Need To Do This  Taxes  Talking to Your Doctor

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Hey, did you find this page all by itself through Google or some other search engine? Great! But to really appreciate the entire site, you need to start here.

 

Created Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Last updated Saturday, May 15, 2010

 

 

Copyright © 2003, 2004 Jerod Poore. All rights reserved.

All material on this site is copyright © 2003, 2004 Jerod Poore. Except, of course, the PI sheets, that are the property of the drug companies who developed the drugs the sheets are about.  And any documents that are written by other people which may be posted to this site will remain the property of the original authors.

All rights reserved. No warranty is expressed or implied in this information. Consult one or more doctors and pharmacists before taking, or changing how you take any psychiatric medication. Consult a lawyer about any legal matters.  Your mileage may vary. What happened to us won't necessarily happen to you. I am not a doctor, a lawyer, nor a pharmacist. I don't portray any of them here or on TV. Only a doctor can diagnose and treat an illness. Only a lawyer can offer real legal advice.  Some doctors tend to get pissed off by patients who know too much about medications, so tread lightly when and where appropriate. Diagnosing yourself from a website is like defending yourself in court, you suddenly have a fool for a doctor. Don't be a cyberchondriac, thinking you have every disease you see a website about, or that you'll get every side effect from every medication. All information on this site has been obtained through personal experience, the experiences of my friends, the experiences of people reported on online support groups, and from sources that are referenced throughout the site. As such the information presented here is not a substitute for real medical advice from your real doctor, just a compliment to it.  No psychiatrists or pharmacists were harmed in the production of this website. All brand names of the drugs listed in this site are the trademarks of the companies listed after them in the pages about the drugs, even though those companies may or may not have been acquired by other companies who may or may not be listed in this site by the time you read this. Always read the PI sheet that comes with your medications and never ever throw them away.  If you didn't get a PI sheet, demand one.  No information about visitors to this site is collected or saved. Although from time to time I do look at search terms used to find it in an effort to make the information I present more relevant. Use only as directed. Void where prohibited.

 

"Everything is true, nothing is permitted." - Jerod Poore