I guess I am having a hard time understanding why anxiety disorder is something that should get a person disability payments.
I understand paralysis, MS,cancer, brain damage, etc.- but anxiety disorder?
It also seems to me anxiety disorder can be easily faked.
This is why the system- well intentioned when it started- is now going broke.
Never seen anyone in a full blown attack have you? My first attack was like a stroke. I lost all sense of where I was at, what I was doing, how I got there, where I was going, etc. I was on an interstate driving BTW. My last night at work I went into one of those attacks that lasted nearly two days. Many if not most anxiety disorders except when related to traumatic events have an underlying NEUROLOGICAL cause. The problem is many doctors do not go through the trouble to pin it down and shrinks sure won't.
IOW anxiety is a secondary disorder or a symptom produced by a medical disorder as in my case. In this case it can not be treated by a shrink nor by conventional text book meds used such as antidepressants as that only makes it worse. It took me a while to even find a doctor who could treat it. Xanax is my medication friend. A God send for someone like me.
This also greatly effects my concentration. I was a maintenance mechanic when this hit. I was trained and experienced in Commercial Electrical, HVAC, and boiler operations. Before I had to quit I was having serious problems with concentration. IOW I could have gotten myself or others killed. I was working on equipment 460 volts three phase as well as operating boilers when I wasn't repairing other equipment. I wasn't a typical maintenance man this was in a commercial health care facility environment. Now I'll show you part of what I'm talking about by letting a doctor explain some of it. Cognitive Aspects of Vestibular Disorders
I got a lot further in life with this simply because I got help when I was about 12. I spent two years in physical rehabilitation. There I learned to get by till my mid thirties when my sensory system began to fail. My attacks are complicated by Myoclonic Epileptic Seizures which occur at the same time.
Stress also complicates this. I don't just sit around drawing a check. I am a full time 24/7 caregiver. By caregiver I mean I am a trained medical care giver. I don't get paid for it. Familiy does not get paid for taking care of family. I've done it 25 years including the years I worked a full time job.
Can it be faked? The onset of MS can be faked so can brain damage. Sure anythings possible. I have 16 years documentation of my disorders. I suppose my wife could be faking her quadriplegia also. Man if I ever catch her up and walking is she ever in trouble /sarcasm.