Depression and anxiety

Hey, I'm sorry to hear. I am not sure if I'm the best person to give you advice, mainly because I'm not that old, but I really get what you are saying. Living knowing that you have something that will restrict you from many things can get to you and it makes you feel as if you aren't good for much. But I'm telling you, keep yourself surrounded by people that make you happy and try and keep yourself occupied in things you can still do to keep your mind off it. Like I said, my advice may not be the most amazing but I have been through some upsetting stages in my life and I think if its better if you stay away from medicines because it could clash with other things you take and it actually might come to a point where you can't live without them.

M, I can empathize completely with your situation. I was there back in 2004. First let me tell you this tidbit. A psychologist cannot write scripts for medication. They are not licensed for that. Any medication will have to come from a medical dr.. In my case I had a bad meltdown one day on my way to work. I started crying & could not stop for very long. By 4:00 my boss showed up & hauled me to my PCP. There was no if, ands or buts about. My PCP had known me for a long time & knew a lot of my history. He put me on an antidepressant with the condition that I see a psychologist for talk therapy. I cannot remember which medication I was put on but remember I felt a little draggy for like 2 weeks & then it went away. I have been on several ones over the years when I would start to get in trouble. Please do not worry about one interacting with any of your meds, that is for the dr to work out. The best way I can describe it, was the medication helped smooth out the rough edges, boy did I have a bunch of them. My psychologist was a life a saver. Yes, it was awkward at first, but by the 2nd visit I wasn't ready to bolt. The longer I went the better the sessions went. If you get with a psychologist that you cannot connect with after 3 visits, find another. Don't waste time with one you cannot connect with.

Prior to 2004, I had several others health issues I thought I was dealing with fairly well. But the crohns, was out of control & was I. I will never forget the day my gi looked at me & said I am going to recommend that you take a medical retirement. I looked at him & said what do you mean retirement? He said do you have any disability through your job, of course I did not. He said fine, apply for SSD & I will provide all of the documentation & any special medical report that is needed. He said understand that I feel everyone you should work, I have only retired one person in all of my years of practice. But, he said you are very sick, you have been fighting the battle for 2 years & it is winning. I worked in a super high stress job, I loved it, but the added stress was not helpful at all.

Don't sweat the LTD, especially since you are already on STD. Be concise with your forms. Be sure to add the depression & anxiety as part of the claim, this is perfectly reasonable. At some point LTD will require you to file for SSD. They will also help in any way to help you get approved for SSD if it comes down to it.

I hope I haven't overloaded you with stuff. The point is, be thankful you have the disability to fall back on so you can get your health taken care of. You need to come first!!

M, I understand the paperwork process. It is daunting to say the least. I am sure that you have copies of everything from when your STD started.

You are right, you need to heal in more ways than one. I too felt so defeated, that is normal. I waited 3 months before I finally contacted SSD. I kept saying to myself you are going to get past this. The only person I was fooling was myself. I was very much aware that getting SSD approved could take up to 2 years by the time I went through the process. When I worked, we handled SSD claims on some of our clients. I knew that process well. As it turned out, I was approved within 6 months & did not have to go through the appeals process.

You have not failed or lost the battle. You are a fighter, you would not have made it this far if you weren't a fighter. Hopefully, once the medication kicks in & the talk therapist gets going, you will start feeling better. It took me a while but I eventually got there.

Some recent examples... I get to thinking about long term disability and it not getting approved so I go back to work but end up getting fired for making a mistake or poo4 performance. The o5her was I got all worked up over my younger son not let his apartment complex know he is moving so now he has to wait another sixty days to vacate. Meanwhile his rent which I am paying went up over $400 per and I am out on short term disability.