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Understanding Your Disability

Understanding and coping with these feelings and emotions is an important part of returning to your highest level of functioning and activities. It is normal to feel depressed and scared at the initial stages of your disability. How you manage this transition in your life will determine your ultimate personal success.

You probably aren't working right now. Whether you loved your job or had a normal degree of discontent, it gave you somewhere to go, a social circle of friends and acquaintances, a sense of usefulness and productivity, a regular paycheck. Even if you didn't love your job, it provided structure, daily activity, problems to solve, interactions with others. You were part of "the big picture".

When first coping with your disability, your time is filled with new and different challenges - doctor and therapy appointments, things to learn about your insurance and benefits, and people from work stop in or call to check up on you.

As the weeks and months go by, things begin to change again. The doctor and therapy appointments may not be as frequent and the friends from work get back into their usual routine. Concerns may start to surface about finances. Your family structure may change because you are no longer the provider and they have to care for you. Your medical situation may be causing you a great deal of pain and you are left with figuring out how to handle it. You may have many restrictions that you didn't have before. You begin to worry that you may never be productive again.

Everyone's situation is different. Your may still be recovering, but it's not too early to set time frames for your return to work and eventual productivity.

But it might be an entirely different situation as well. You may no longer have an employer or job to return to. You may not be able to return to the kind of work that you have done in the past because of your restrictions. You might have a high level of pain that you are going to have to learn to live with.

So, a disability can be a temporary setback or it can be a totally life changing experience. How you choose to cope with it will make the difference. We are all different in our psychological makeup so the nature or the severity of the disability matters little in your individual ability to cope with it. We all know people that function "normally" and have happy and productive lives despite the fact that we know that they are sick or in a great deal of pain.

Remember that your feelings are very unique and whatever you are feeling is normal because of the big change that has occurred in your life! But there are times when you may not be able to see "the light at the end of the tunnel" and feel more depressed, sad or confused. Don't be afraid to seek professional counseling to help you through this challenging time.

Your disability insurance carrier usually offers Vocational Rehabilitation services to qualified benefit recipients and there are many public services available for counseling and financial help if you are unable to pay for this yourself. All of the States have a federally funded Vocational Rehabilitation agency that can assist you in dealing with your disability and associated issues and your return to work. The Social Security Administration offers income assistance, medical coverage, and many other services to qualified candidates.

Remember that you are not in this alone, despite your unique situation, and there are many resources available to help you to adjust and become productive again.

Table of Contents
Understanding Your Disability
Talking To Your Doctor
Managing Your Benefits
Planning Your Return To Work
Job Search Tips
Accommodating Your Needs
The Americans With Disabilities Act
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