Registering for Disability in the US (PTSD and Tinnitus)

Does anyone in the U.S. have experience in registering for disability? I’m weary of the top few google query results and don’t want to give my information away to just anyone (obviously).

I have PTSD which prevents me from driving a car and intrusive tinnitus that is exacerbated by loud noises which keeps me from performing my job as a strength and conditioning coach.

 

Wow, I was just talking to my wife about this today... hope you get some answers. I honestly feel I can't do my work properly anymore. Something tells me there's no disability for tinnitus. Doctors thinks it's all in our heads. Damn right it is and it's extremely debilitating. I'm actually in bed writing this when I should be at work. Had to leave because the screeching was so bad I became sick to my stomach and unproductive.

 

Here’s the site:

https://secure.ssa.gov/RIL/SiView.action

You can find it somewhere here @Autumnly.

 

Don't want to be negative, but unless you got it while in the military, I don't think you'll be able to collect disability for tinnitus.

 

It's a good question and I don't know the answer but my feeling is that governments award a very limited percentage of disability for hearing reasons, and basically for being totally deaf. Governments are so stingy with hearing issues because this is going to be an epidemic soon. There are more and more cases of tinnitus and what we consider "hearing within the normal range" nowadays probably was equivalent to being almost deaf in the Middle Age... but doctors will dismiss this saying we live "in a urban society" and that "everyone is losing hearing" or... "hearing is normal for your age group" (but the patient has hearing loss).

 

Well, I have PTSD too and cannot drive a car or be in loud environments, so for someone whose entire education was in exercise science (undergrad and master’s) if I’m not eligible for a JOKE of assistance of $891/month, and my conditions do not get better, my future is extremely bleak.

I cannot believe the effect that one elderly driver can have on someone who was just about to break into the strength and conditioning field who was armed with a solid education and undying passion for performance enhancement. I cannot believe what my life has become.

 

@mrbrightside614 @Cape crusader -- Yes, I've registered for SSDI, and ended up qualifying for it (back in the late 1990's). I was told my chances of getting it were very slim, but I had/have CFS, and I was going through a period where I literally could barely make it from my bed to the bathroom upon waking in the mornings. I would usually crawl, and sometimes have to rest for several minutes half way there before making it.

CFS was controversial at the time (and still is), with many doctors believing it is nothing more than depression (they know much more these days). Part of the application process is that one has to go through a routine psychological evaluation. After going through my first overall evaluation, I was denied benefits. But this apparently happens to literally everyone who applies. So I was prepared for that.

When I re-applied, I was told there was disagreement as to whether I should be eligible for benefits. There was apparently a discussion, after which they took an unusual step and decided to send me to another psychologist for a 2nd psych evaluation, someone who had a reputation for being somewhat of a "tough cookie". That is, somebody who could flesh out whether or not somebody was being honest.

This guy was fairly aggressive, but I kept my composure, which I was determined to do before even going in. I answered every question and concern he had with complete honesty. I don't recall a lot of the details, but he ended up advising that I be eligible for benefits. His conclusion was that I either did have a health condition called CFS which prevented me from working. Or I had some kind of somatoform condition, that would also prevent me from working. Either one would make me eligible for benefits.

In the end, they approved me for a somatoform condition, as there was little scientific understanding of CFS at the time. Somewhere along the line I learned that when somebody has a condition that is relatively misunderstood, they have a better chance of getting benefits because of depression (or somatoform) that is caused by it--such as tinnitus--than for the condition itself. For somebody applying because of tinnitus, from my experience, it would seem having a sympathetic psychologist for the initial psych exam would be paramount.

 

@Cape crusader -- I've noticed very few people on this forum use the word "screeching" when describing their tinnitus. But that's how I've always experienced it. And I too can become sick to my stomach, though it's better now than in the first few months, when I often felt on the brink of vomiting.

 

You will NEVER get disability the first try (unless you are severely physically manged). Most people need an attorney for paperwork. If you get denied five times in a row you are f*cked. Don't get an attorney the first try or you will give away that you know how the system works.

The first try is planned failure. The second try should be with an attorney.

 

I can relate to this description of the sound, I often describe my tinnitus as a horrible screeching noise, and I have actually thrown up because of it. I have also suffered from severe vomiting due to hyperacusis, so glad that this has settled.

 

Does it take 4-6 months to review the application each time? Hoping my personal injury lawyer can maybe help me out for disability claims now...

 

I seem to recall it was over a year before I was finally approved, and I only went through one appeal. My understanding is that many others go through several appeal processess. But these recollections are from 20+ years ago; things may be different now.