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SSI and mental disabilities...question??!!

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luvinmomofone1



Joined: 26 Oct 2007
Posts: 40
Location: oklahoma usa
SSI and mental disabilities...question??!!

i would like to know your feelings on poor americans on disabilty ssi for mental disorder of bi polar. i am a disabled..for the last 15 years i have collected ssi. i never worked and paid into the system..i am on the welfare kind of disablity i guess you would refer to it as. now that i am older i am afraid i will lose my beneifits before i die and at this time i am less able to work then years ago. i could never work full time my feet and back would not handle it but they are not counted on my disabity..its something that has just started in the last few years! i am bi polar tho. i have not been in the hospital in over 8 years for intensive treatment! i have been more or less stable on medication with the bi polar..still have episodes of uncontrolled mania but actions from mania are kept in control. just dont sleep for days and get a little strange...lol. oh and dont give me money! no control. but as i have stated in other places in the forum i have no sex drive because the medications i take have what i refer to as chemically castrated me. i had a total hysterectomy years ago on top of that but that was the icing on the cake..

do you think a person in my place deserves the benifits they get? should i recieve them til i die based on the fact as i get older i am less able to work for other reasons as well as too used to getting a steady check to change and scared on top of it! i know its a mixed issue but it is one that being in this issue am curious about. i am asking for a theological dissussion so will not take any offense at all to anything you opionionize. my sister herself thinks i should be thrown in a bldg and locked away either work or die! shes very right wing conservative! i am very liberal lefty. we DONT agree AT ALL, on nothing!! lol. what do you feel in your honest opionion..i would love a debate on this subject..just because i am interested in your opinions about it! i know its a hot topic and i am part of it so i would like to hear all your opinions..i respecit them..in the little time i have been on this forum i have found very eloquent writers of opinion on many touchy subjects..i have enjoyed reading them all..this is the first subject that really involves me as the main character...its kinda neat...

OPINIONS PLEASE!!!!!!
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~welcome to my world! grab a cuppa and have a seat~/

Post Sun Oct 28, 2007 2:13 pm 
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Eiregirl



Joined: 21 Jul 2005
Posts: 10230
Location: Chasing a pink bunny


Ok…here is a start and may have more later Smile


Hugs luvin tight mmmmm I love a good debate Smile

Not knowing you personally or anything about your situation and taking nothing other than what you have said in this post I will make my comments generalized and not directed toward you.

First I would like to say that if you feel you are wrongly going to lose your SSI benefits then you should contact a disability attorney. Here are a couple of websites…your profile says you are in Oklahoma so I restricted my search to that state.

www.disabilitysecrets.com/oklahoma.html
www.oklalawyer.com/oklahoma_socialsecurity.html

I know you posted this mainly about disability benefits but I will touch on a few other issues that relate to social security and welfare benefits.

I was raised under a belief and raised to believe that a person takes care of themselves first and then their family and after their family if they wanted to they could help other people. Once I got older I thought about that and came to realize that is the way it should be. People should take care of themselves first because if they cannot take care of themselves how will they be able to care for a family or anyone else. Once the family is cared for then if you want to help others…financially or otherwise you know that you can do it without compromising yourself or your family.

My own opinion is that if a person is able to work and can work then they should at least try to find a job even if it is only a part time job. I know that working could affect any benefits they get from the government but I strongly believe that working should not affect those benefits more than the after tax money made while working. There are enormous contributions to society that a disabled person can give and it does not matter what that disability is there are still things they can contribute by working or just giving something back such as spending time at an orphanage reading to children. (You would be amazed at the effect that could have on you)

I know there are people on full disability who can work a full time job but they are only “milking” the system because they see it as a free ride. Social security and the entire welfare system was not set up for these people. It was set up to help people in need of assistance. The system that was set up in 1935 - 1936 was not to help people who did not want to work. It was set up to help those who had worked all their lives with little to nothing to show for it. It was also set up for those who are unable to work or can not find work.

Here is the outline of the social security act that was established in 1936.
Preamble
Title I- Grants to states for old-age assistance
Title II- Federal old-age benefits
Title III- Grants to states for unemployment compensation benefits
Title IV- Grants to states for aid to dependant children
Title V- Grants to states for maternal and child welfare
Title VI- Public heath work
Title VII- Social security board
Title VIII- Taxes with respect to employment
Title IX- Tax on employers of eight or more
Title X- Grants to states for aid to the blind
Title XI- General provisions

The preamble itself gives the main purpose of what this system was set up for.

“An act to provide for the general welfare by establishing a system of Federal old-age benefits, and by enabling the several States to make more adequate provision for aged persons, blind persons, dependent and crippled children, maternal and child welfare, public health, and the administration of their unemployment compensation laws; to establish a Social Security Board; to raise revenue; and for other purposes.”

In essence what does our governmental social services do? They pool a portion of the money that the people of the country earn and then distribute it out to people who “claim” to “need” it. I will grant that the majority of those who “claim” to need that assistance actually need it. But there are those who receive their checks every month who do not need it…they only get it because they are 1. “entitled to it” but do not actually need the money 2. because they are cheating the system to get a little extra (basically they could get money but they commit fraud, legally or otherwise to get more) 3. because they are committing fraud and there are other ways to get the money but those are in my opinion the top 3.

I will address the first one by saying there are people who collect social security benefits who do not need them. There are millionaires who get their check every month…I would hope they could live without it. Some of them never file for social security but many of them do and they collect every month enough to keep a family of 4 happy for a year and maybe more.
The number 2 and 3 reasons I gave above in my opinion has probably hurt the system the most. That and bureaucratic blundering.

I believe in helping people who need it because it is something I do because I want to do it not because the government says, “I am taking some of your money and giving it to them because they just don’t want to work” but I am ok with the government doing that as long as they do it responsibly and this may surprise you and a lot of other people…I think they are doing a decent job of it. They try to keep the fraud to a minimum and they try to help as many as they can. There are people who actually need the help but do not get it and there are people who get the help but do not need it and I would love to see those two things switched so that all who need it actually get it and those who do not need it don’t get it.

The social security and welfare systems were not set up to help those who did not need the assistance but over the years many people took advantage of the system…now look at it. Many people born this year will be lucky if the system survives long enough for them to receive any of the benefits of it. Unless there are some changes made to keep it solvent then I doubt it will last another 50 years.

I do not believe people should get a free ride simply because they are able to manipulate the system and there are a bunch who do manipulate it simply because they can get that free ride. There are many people who say that illegal immigrants come to the United States to do jobs that Americans will not do…that is a bunch of BS. It is not that Americans will not do those jobs it is because Americans don’t have to do those jobs and do not want to do them as cheaply as an illegal immigrant and there are Americans who will take that handout if they can get it even if they are able to work.

A single person on SSI could get a little more than $600 a month and could earn (before taxes) a little more than $1300 a month without it affecting their benefits (if my information is correct). In today’s world that is not a lot of money to live on. SSI is not meant to be all a person lives off of. It is meant to be a “supplement”. It is meant to help someone who has a low income…not to be the total income.

I am a person who is all for helping other people especially people in need of help. I love it when I see a person who needs some help and they get it and end up being able to take care of themselves and no longer need the help but are able to pass that along to another person who in turn passes it on to someone else…that is wonderful to see. If that person is not able to help themselves and does not have family that is able and capable of helping them then that is when society as a whole should render aid for as long as it is needed.

What I hate seeing are people who thinks they are entitled to it but will do nothing to help themselves when they are capable of doing so but have no intention of doing it.

Now to comment on some of the things you said…
You asked whether or not you deserve the SSI. Like I said I don’t know you so I really have no direct comment to that other than…you know whether or not you truly deserve it. I think some of what I said above will answer the question if you take what I said and apply it to yourself.

Should you receive the SSI until you die? Yes…if you need it and have no ability to help yourself but not simply because you are use to getting the help and scared to help yourself. If you truly need it then yes you should get it.

Eiregirl Arrow
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All poems and stories posted by Eiregirl are Copyright 2005 - 2008 Aoibhegréine These literary works are my property under copyright. If you wish to use my work for any purpose please ASK FIRST.

Post Sun Oct 28, 2007 10:24 pm 
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awnidea



Joined: 13 Oct 2007
Posts: 40
Location: 3rd planet from our Sun



quote:
Should you receive the SSI until you die? Yes…if you need it and have no ability to help yourself but not simply because you are use to getting the help and scared to help yourself. If you truly need it then yes you should get it.



Then ofcourse, luvimomofone1, simply because you ARE a human being with a "self awareness notion" and still able to contemplate your own "fortunes" and "misfortunes", you may also choose to question ... the "healthyness" of some "systematic practices".



quote:
Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps, for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are and what they ought to be.
- William Hazlitt



Wonder, where do human beings with a disability severe enough to NOT have notion of BOTH these aspects of awareness and are somehow still, in a "position to work" ... fall, in the "systematic practices' equations".


The Spartan society comes to mind, where children born with a disformity (disability), were cast over from the top of the highest mountain.


To conclude, I agree with "your own ability to help yourself" and urge, to help yourself ... to the benefits disabled persons are so deservingly, worthy of.


my truth

Smile
awnidea
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" ... 'what distinguishes the men from the boys, is the size of their toys' ... what distinguishes women from girls, is the size of their decisions ... " - Noetis

Post Sun Oct 28, 2007 11:55 pm 
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luvinmomofone1



Joined: 26 Oct 2007
Posts: 40
Location: oklahoma usa


this is great!! a real converstion about things tha tmatter to me and other ppl! it is only on forums like these where i can ask my devils advocate questions. now as i said i do have a small learning disability and i am the most best typo and backspace queen...you will have to pardon my spelling sometimes and i know my puncuation sucks too, i have never been to colege other than an 8 month course for cna back like 17 years ago. i got my GED in 88 so its been a looooong time since practiced with proper language skils printed on paper! usually slang or talking...

the story more or less is as follows..i was having mental health problems since childhood . never found a medicine that worked, had behavior ..sexual and physical abuse as teenager . very into drugs for man years starting at the age of 13 ending at the age of 25. a couple weeks before i got pregnant with my son,.i was a pure up right junkie when i quit. i had a 2 gram a day methamphetamines habit and i shot up and used coke and even heroin sometimes..i was on my way to killing myself. having my son changed all that but also all the hormone changes that come from being pregnant came together with hte major withdrawl from the drugs while pregnant that after i had my son i went thru postmortem depression and was very suicidal. the first year and half of my sons life was in and out of child crisis centerd..i was in adult crisis centers for mental health and hospitals for mental health...i had at that time a diagnosis of depression...abnormal depression. i got my cna degree and worked for over hmmm 3 years before things began to get so bad i couldnt keep down a job.thats is when i applied for ssi. i hada bf at the time who supported me financially and so i could do the wait time you have to do not working to get it! well my case was a big case..it was a big case becasue i claimed ot be drug free for like at the time.....6 years. by the time i got into court for ssi took about 3 years!! but i still admitted to smoking marajuana. only becase back then with my past drug history noone would give me valium or xanax or something lke tht which i really did need!!

well , needless to say after being questioned by the govt. commitee and judges on the board for many hours they came to the conclusion that drugs had no factor in my being disabled and that i was granted a full disabilty check and a back check of full pmts for the last 3 years! i bought my first home in oklahoma wiht that money ...but thats another story!! now i owe around 2500 dollars to the federal govt. for a defaulted student loan for the last 18 yers but never heard about it til i applied for school here at the college! remember that when kyle was born mesa community college put me thru cna triaining paid by the govt. so now i cannot go to school til that is paid off! no grants , no loans , no nothing..so i have no skills. i have been in a way i feel hobbled by the system,,over the years i have worked jobs part time, fast food , cashiering ect...but never could hold one past a year and every years older i have more physical problems that add to being able to work but are not entered into my disability claim because it is mental not physical..

now i never said i was gonna lose my benefits...what i said i was afraid i would lose my benefits before i die and would have to go fro collecting an actual check eveyrmonth of for sure gonna be there money to being old and unemployable and having to support myself and not be able too..i am scared of this! i myself believe that i should keep getting my benefit til i die..not to beat the system or because i am afraid but because my disabity goes away but never goes away forever..it always comes back..some times more insiduous than others! next to schitzophrenia bi polar..real bi polar is a major problem..not just to the person who has the disease but to the public and support of and around the person themselves.

now with these facts can you debate what your feelings are on this subject. i went to court for my benefits in front of many judges and a committee because they were trying to prove that my diablity was CAUSED by my drug use..........not that my DRUG USE was caused from my disability..my childhood records helped out in this matter! i wait with baited breath for opinions on this subject!!
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Post Mon Oct 29, 2007 1:29 am 
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Eiregirl



Joined: 21 Jul 2005
Posts: 10230
Location: Chasing a pink bunny


Luvin,

Your story brings some light to the shadows but it does not change my opinion any and everything I said above still applies.

If a person qualifies for the SSI then they should get it and you clearly qualified and there is no debate to that.

If you are asking me if I think you should get the SSI until you die then my answer is…as long as you qualify you will get the SSI.

I am a person who does not like relying on the government for anything and I don’t like the idea of the government sticking its nose into my life. If you want and qualify for the government assistance then you have the ability and the right to apply for it and receive it (of which you have done) and if you really need it and feel you have no other long term avenue that you can depend on then by all means continue on down the road you have chosen. Your have said and the government has agreed that your disability/disabilities are not in anyway related to your past drug abuse so they granted you the assistance in the form of your SSI and as long as you qualify you will get it unless you opt out of it.

In my own opinion based on everything you have said and without seeing your medical records (of which I do not want to see because they are your personal records) and without personally interviewing you I feel they made the right decision in granting you the disability. You are getting it and will continue to get it as long as you qualify for it (or as long as the government has the money to pay it).

Your question about whether or not you should receive the SSI until you die is really a mute point because the answer is based on whether or not you continue to qualify for it and from what I know of your situation and the problems you have that qualify you for the SSI are not going to simply go away and will most likely get a little worse as you get older so therefore you will continue to qualify for the SSI.

I feel it is sad that anyone has to rely on the government for any kind of welfare assistance especially when none of the welfare programs are intended to provide a person with everything they could ever want or need nor should the government do that…it is not their job to provide all the people with everything they need. It is the governments job to make sure we continue to have the freedom to choose for ourselves how we wish to live our lives. Are there people who do not have the ability or capacity to choose for themselves…of course and are these people in need of help from the whole of society (basically meaning the government or other organizations)? Yes and when these people do not have a family that can provide for them then we as a society should provide some assistance to them. Should we as a society provide them with everything they could ever need or want? No…we should however make sure they have what they need.

That is my opinion.

I still hate the idea of this country leaning more and more toward a socialistic society and in some aspects a communistic one.

Hugs,
Eiregirl Arrow
_________________
All poems and stories posted by Eiregirl are Copyright 2005 - 2008 Aoibhegréine These literary works are my property under copyright. If you wish to use my work for any purpose please ASK FIRST.

Post Mon Oct 29, 2007 8:09 am 
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luvinmomofone1



Joined: 26 Oct 2007
Posts: 40
Location: oklahoma usa


it was never really a question of if i should recieve be efits til i die..the question really is do you think they will still have benefits til i die? or am i going to be old somewhere eating cat food and sleeping on the streets cause i am too old to work and dont know any other way to get an income...that was my main question about recieving benefits til die. about the benefits issue to begin with ..i am appreciative of your input...i wish i had others to input from too...i am curious how the normal american views my life no t the ones who share in the collction of benefits like i do! my sister is a deffinate right wing conservative and she feels there should be NO welfare or disability system in place..either work or die..that is how alot of ppl feel..i just like that i can read these debates you have on these hot issues and say to myself...hey ...i agree with that or hey..i dont agree~

i myself am scared that they benefits will run out way before i die and leave me in a lurch...with no way to support myself! i know that they wont be around for my son and his kids and their kids. i wouldnt mind being taught a trade i could use if i could go back to school to learn one! but that is my problem and one of these days i willl take care of it!!RIGHT now me and my son ..who is a high school dropout and has his ged..who works all he can to help put food on our table is in the conundrum. he wants to go to college but at this ttime we cannot finacially let him got as we need his income at full time work to make ends meet.. he wants to better himself and our situation in life..but he also needs to get out there on his own and try to make alife for himself! i think he will end up living at home for many years to come tho..yes my bi polar gets worse with age, yes i feel i should keep recieving my benefits, but yes i am afraid of life without them..i have been trained by the govt. to be pooor and on the govt. welfare system for many years and dont know how to do anything else..i would like to but every avenue opened to me gets shut in my face. its almost like they kick you when your down then hold you down iwth their boots so you cannot get back up. one day i would like to walk down the street with my head held up high and say..i am independant and i did it all myself!! i dont see this happeining anytime in the near future..but its a nice dream!!
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Post Mon Oct 29, 2007 2:34 pm 
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luvinmomofone1



Joined: 26 Oct 2007
Posts: 40
Location: oklahoma usa


is there anyone out there willing to give thier take on the situation?i think this is a relevant issue even if i havent posted in a long time! i am sorry bout that rl and that i lost the addy kept me from here or i would have been chattering your ear off! i am on disablity, i get a total of 683/month and medical which is not veyr much but more than nothing. i agree with alot that was said above that they need to be more strict about how they pic out thier disabities to get benefits and follow them up ot make sure hte person isnt really lying and can and is able to work a full time job. i have ot have surgery on my feet sometime in the next week. i am very very nervous about this. my stress level is thri the roof. but my feet have gotten so bad i cannot hardly walk on them most days. i am keeping pretty much ot my little bit of overweight thing. cause i cannot walk i cannot do most exercises i know. wanna get an exercise ball. could be fun...lol. i have diabetes and so far my sugar is under good control but for hte last few months its been a little higher but still low. i hope someone comes here and tells me thier opion on this subject
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~welcome to my world! grab a cuppa and have a seat~/

Post Sun May 11, 2008 3:15 pm 
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