4 ms·
I would wager most of those people are disabled, but for psychological reasons. As you point out, the level of stress caused by financial insecurity during any
by s_q_b 10y ago
I would wager most of those people are disabled, but for psychological reasons. As you point out, the level of stress caused by financial insecurity during any period of disability is extremely high.
A lot of white collar workers in the US end up in a particular catch-22: their jobs are making them sick, but because they are sick, they can't leave their jobs. They become psychologically disabled because of the pressure to return to work before they are well, the stressor of battling the insurance companies, and the suffering from the cultural shame of not actively working.
Finally, after the 12-week FMLA requirement is exceeded, absent any policy, state law, contract, a company can fire an employee for absence after returning from, or even during, disability leave.
In conclusion, there is no doubt that there are some true "fakes" scamming the system. Afterall, the largest cause of disability is Generalized Anxiety Disorder, followed by several other "invisible" disabilities that cannot be objectively verified.
That makes me very upset, given that I sufferered a massively disruptive neuropathic pain disorder that only recently subsided enough to start coding again.
During those few months, I had to hear constant negative feedback from friends and relatives, usually telling me the equivalent of "Tough it out like a man."
This false perception was further compounded by the fact that I didn't look disabled. Every photo on Facebook caused a barrage of "I thought you were sick" comments, not realizing that my medical orders were to learn to resocialize despite the pain. Then that snapshot becomes people's vision of your illness, not realizing that the quiet dinner with your friends was the one hour you spent out of bed that day.
These skeptical responses are certainly due to the widespread deception by some, as you describe. I am just grateful that I had a "hard" medical diagnosis upon which to rely.
But some people really do need the disability insurance, which they have paid to obtain, in order to survive, not lose their homes, and pay for medical care during periods of tremendous suffering.
Everyone, please remember that not all illnesses present to the naked eye, or even to physical examination. We do not fully understand how either the human body, or more importantly, the human brain functions. Without that knowledge, it is almost impossible to tell the genuine afflictions from the false claims.
- VLM 10y ago"In conclusion, there is no doubt that there are some true "fakes" scamming the system." The system scammed them. "Do what your teachers say and collect pieces of paper from academics and 100% of you will get a guaranteed lifelong meal ticket with great bennies" So now they have to suicide, taking their families with them, because no job means no food no shelter no medical care ... or they can scam the system right back, just like the system scammed them. "For my whole life, did everything I was told no matter how hard or stupid it sounded, to get that lifelong real job meal ticket, they took it away from everyone in my community to save money, guess I'll just collect a lifelong disability meal ticket instead, its a lot of work and BS but the process selected for people good at putting up with BS so I'll surely get mine" In modern America disability is our only long term unemployment system. You get pain pills for phantom pain then sell them for extra cash. The system screws you, you screw it right back. Isn't their fault they were born into a system that tossed them away like human trash. The system is faulty, not them.
- ashark 10y ago> the stressor of battling the insurance companies This (and the related and similarly-inevitable-if-you-have-anything-worse-than-an-ingrown-nail battling hospitals and various other health care providers) is truly one of the worst parts of the US healthcare system, and one that doesn't get enough attention IMO. For any significant interaction with that system you can expect 3 different things that are or appear to be bills for 20 different services, from 10 distinct organizations each with their own payment cycles and billing policies. Then another couple of documents from your insurance for each of those. Even with the money in the bank and the best of intentions it's easy to end up in collections for one or more of them just because it gets lost in the shuffle. And you have to watch like a hawk to make sure the providers aren't over or double billing you, and that insurance is paying what it should. Chances are high that one or the other, or both of those, will happen. Then they'll try to send it to collections while you're disputing it, so you have to watch for them pulling crap like that. It's insane.