Starting the rest of your life with a severe mental illness is a difficult thing. Advocates say just the process of getting coverage for treatment can be a Herculean task. Mike Glancy works as a paralegal to help the mentally ill who can't work receive Social Security Disability Insurance.
"I try to comfort them and commiserate. What can you say to a desperate person who is chronically ill and in pain and mentally ill and have to deal with that. It's hard enough. But then they have to deal with all the financial concerns and worries, it's agonizing."
Getting on disability is a lengthy process. It starts with filing a claim including medical records to prove illness or injury. Only one in four claims are approved off the bat. The rest have to file an appeal and go through a hearing before finally getting the okay for benefits. Glancy says it's a process that often stretches for months on end.
"They're calling me that they're about to lose their house, their car's been taken or whatever because they have no way of paying for it."
The audio is available online.
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