Back to Work

Alas, fun is over. Back to work.

I have a secret: I am a procrastinator. Specifically, I am a procrastinator over disability paperwork. It is terrible. Imagine, you give your doctor these papers because you need money, but she sits on them and does nothing. (For the record, I think my turn around time is still excellent, far better than primary care providers.)

There are a few different disability paperwork out here in sunny (except for today) California. There is the State Disability paperwork, which in general is fairly painless. For people to claim this disability, they have to had paid into it within one year. Which for my salaried job, is unlikely.

The most common form I have to do is the Social Security Disability paperwork. I hate this stuff. Usually, I can get by without writing anything and just send the entire chart.

There is also General Assistance. Again, not too long but tedious.

Of course, for my chronically out-of-work people, the State has been scrutinizing all these applications and more often than not, I get additional paperwork. I HATE THIS STUFF!

Especially the part that requests my opinion about how long this disability is going to last. Well, for a woman with a personality disorder, I am thinking life. However, the form specifically says that 'forever', 'unknown', and 'indefinite' are not accepted answers. So, I usually write for about 3 months. Knowing, that in 3 months, I will have to do the same, stupid, lame, time-consuming, paperwork again. ARGH!

Besides, all those forms are biased against psychiatry. My patients are all able bodied, they can push 30 pounds, they can stand, they can use their right hands, and their left hands. What they can't do is to get along with people (usually the reason why they are out of job in the first place). Which box do I check off?!

Besides, the economy is so bad that even 'healthy and normal' people can't get jobs, what possible jobs are left for my patients?

Sometimes, like today, I work in vain.