OPM Disability Retirement: Those Days of Mental Clarity

One often remarks that we live for such days; when energy, motivation, clarity of mind and enthusiasm for life surges through our veins; one’s outlook is positive, the mystery of life is resolved, and no challenge is too onerous to overcome.  But then the mundane monotony of repetitive thoughtlessness returns; and life is back to the normalcy of day-to-day living.

Do we really live for such moments?  Or is it actually the opposite effect — that such days are mere reminders that living constitutes a linear course of relative quietude, interrupted by interludes of awakenings, like dreams impeded by nightmares in the solitude of self-contained solace.

Medical conditions have a similar impact; days of chronic pain, of lethargy and depression; and the cycle of becoming momentarily pain-free reminds one that there exists a plateau of health where the negation of illness or loss of wellness is the actual normative lifestyle, but where a medical condition reverses such a state of consciousness such that we adapt and come to accept a life of pain and chronic illness.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers, the daily pain and impact of psychiatric conditions, including depression, anxiety, PTSD, stress-induced somatic disorders, as well as lesser-accepted physical conditions of Fibromyalgia, unspecified cognitive disorders, etc., can be the foundational basis of a Federal Disability Retirement claim.  OPM Disability Retirement is a benefit which is available to all Federal and Postal workers who are under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset, once the minimum years of Federal Service is met, and the preponderance of the evidence proves that the Federal or Postal employee is no longer able to perform one or more of the essential elements of one’s positional requirements of the job.

Like those days of mental clarity, the necessity of filing for Federal OPM Disability Retirement benefits becomes a reality at some point in the evolution of one’s career, in the struggle to maintain sanity of health in a world which allows for chaos in this bureaucratized phenomena called the Federal system of government.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal Worker Disability Retirement: Reality, Fantasy, and the Medical Condition

One often reads about sociological studies which purport to show a corresponding significance between the genres of movies made, and the particular time period, economic circumstances, and general societal mood, anxieties and concerns. Thus, in times of economic hardships, there may be an exponential explosion of fantasy-based movies produced, reflecting a need to escape the harsh realities of day-to-day living; or in times of war, movies about fidelity, valor, value-empowering men and women, perhaps revealing the self-questioning of whether one’s country is engaging in a moral choice in waging war, etc. Pseudo-Freudians enjoy the interpretive challenges of such a thesis, and successful academic careers are often based upon such intellectual studies.

Beyond movies, however, each individual walks around daily within a self-contained fantasy world; whether in daydreaming a specific set of thoughts; or of a self-created image which one carries with you in the depth of one’s psyche; such worlds of escape are often healthy mechanisms for surviving the harsh realities of daily drudgery. The bifurcation between reality and fantasy, so long as they are contained within appropriate spheres of thought-processes and are not mistaken in daily application, are harmless and allow for mysterious smiles from total strangers. But some in society are unable to have the luxury of daydreaming, or of phantasms of momentary escape; for, when an individual suffers from chronic pain, or medical conditions which daily aggravate and impede either cognitive abilities or physical movement, then the capacity to possess a private chamber of escape becomes an impossibility itself.

For the Federal or Postal Worker who suffers from a medical condition, such that the medical condition prevents one from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s job, the consideration of filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, whether under FERS or CSRS, should be entertained. Daily struggles aside, the inability to enjoy the fantasy of one’s imagination merely magnifies the hardship. Beyond that, if you can’t even go to a movie because your medical condition impacts you so severely as to prevent you from sitting through a couple of hours of escaping, then it is time to begin preparing, formulating, and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Medical Retirement for Federal Workers: Burning Bridges and Walking Away

When a Federal or Postal worker suffers from a medical condition — often, silently, and without complaint — and such medical condition(s) impacts one’s ability to perform the essential elements of one’s job, there is often a tendency to engage in desperate acts, such as resigning, walking away from the job, etc.

After so much time has vested, and has been invested, by the Federal or Postal employee in the pursuit of a Federal or Postal career; and after so much stress, anxiety, sometimes intolerable working conditions are endured; or, having expended so much loyalty and exerted so much effort in doing an excellent job for one’s agency, it is a self-contradiction to simply walk away from the Agency without filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, especially when such laws governing Federal Disability Retirement were set up precisely for the type of Federal or Postal worker who has performed well, but has come to a point in his or her career where a medical condition has impacted one’s ability to perform all of the essential elements of one’s job.

Perspectives are often “out of balance” when one suffers from a medical condition.  Before taking steps of “burning bridges” and resigning, it is best to consult an attorney and see what the possibilities are for preparing, formulating, and successfully filing a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire
Postal & Federal Disability Lawyer