Federal and Postal Disability Retirement: The Depressed Ground

A huge sinkhole in Guatemala City: This one was estimated to be 60 feet wide and 300 feet deep

The term itself immediately implies the clinical concept of a psychiatric condition; but, of course, it can also mean that there is a geological sinkhole, of a stretch of land, small or large, sunken in comparison to the surrounding area.  A rabbit’s nest can create a depression; excessive rain can loosen the soil and depress the land; and depression can overtake the healthiest among us, sending us down a course which envelopes the emotions, mind and soul with loss of energy, overwhelming sadness, and lethargy of life so overpowering that physical manifestations, profound and intractable fatigue, and an unwavering sense of hopelessness and helplessness pervades.

Sometimes, the two distinct but complementary concepts can intersect: the depressed grounds only adds to one’s depression. The former usage, of course, only metaphorically speaks to the physical characteristic of description; the depression of the ground is not literally a physical sinking of the land, but implies a dilapidation of the neighborhood; while the latter refers to the mental state of an individual exacerbated by the solitary degradation of the environment.

It is when the two distinct conceptual constructs intersect and are combined, that the impact upon the Federal or Postal worker may be felt.  For it is precisely the vicious cycle of “feeding upon itself” that the Federal or Postal Worker experiences — of the depression in a clinical sense, combined with the depressed grounds of one’s workplace — when change of scenery may become necessary in order to travel towards the path of restorative health.

Mental illnesses can affect persons of any age, race, religion or income: Here a young woman listens to her psychologist

Federal Disability Retirement benefits, filed through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, is available for all Federal and Postal employees who are under FERS or CSRS, when the intersection of a medical condition and one’s inability to perform one or more of the essential elements of one’s job, comes to the fore. It is there to be eligible for all Federal and Postal employees, when the depression (in the clinical sense) impacts the depressed grounds (in the sense of the work environment).

Thus, when the joy of life is depleted, and the hallowed grounds of sunlit mornings and the cool breeze of dusk transforms into a universe of regret and remorse, Federal Disability Retirement benefits for the Federal and Postal employee should be a serious consideration; as it may become necessary to leave the depressed grounds of yore.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Postal and Federal Disability Retirement: Workplace Stress

Stress symptoms are not always visible

Stress is that pernicious aura, neither visible nor definable, with a spectrum of tolerance particularized by individuals, and which pervades silently and invisibly but for the manifestations through physical reactions. It can lead to both physical ailments as well as psychiatric turmoil, requiring medical management ranging from prescription medications to hospitalization.

Who among us knows where the “breaking point” is, for a coworker, Supervisor, etc.? Are there signs of stress where one could have predicted the actions or reactions of another? As a silent killer of incremental gnawing, stress impacts different people in variegated ways, and can often be the primary foundation for multiple medical conditions, but rarely diagnosed as such.

OPM may dismiss your stress claim as being situational: “But it only happens at work” (they may argue)

Stress in the workplace, of course, carries over into personal lives, and conversely, people who experience exponential quantification of stress in one’s personal life, will carry it into the professional arena despite monumental efforts to contain it.  Stress can be the exacerbating force in compounding and complicating already-existing medical conditions.

While stress itself, standing alone, becomes a problematic issue in which to base a Federal Disability Retirement application upon, because it points to the potential of being “situational” and therefore contained within a particular work environment; nevertheless, stress can be, and often is, a part of any Federal or Postal Disability Retirement submission.

Federal and Postal employees can become eligible for OPM Disability Retirement benefits, whether under FERS or CSRS, if it can be shown that one’s medical condition prevents you from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s job.

Stress may even affect the way we present our legal cases

What role stress plays in such an application; how it is characterized; the manner in which it is presented; where in the compendium of medical conditions it should be stated — all are important in the complex narrative presentation of a Federal Disability Retirement application, for any Federal or Postal employee who is considering filing for the benefit of Federal Disability Retirement.

In the end, however stress is described, one thing is certain: it plays a large role in everyday lives, and pervades as oxygen and toxins alike permeate the atmosphere of the air we live in and of which we breathe.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement: Sometimes, It is the Wrong Question

If the question is asked, “Is it difficult to get Federal Disability Retirement benefits based upon a Stress Claim?” — within the context of the poorly-worded question, you may get a wrong answer.  This is because it is the wrong question to begin with.

The concept and term “stress claim” is more appropriately formulated in the context of an OWCP claim.  It implies that one is claiming for compensation based upon a situation — a hostile work environment, a harassing supervisor, etc. — because the origin and inception of the medical condition generically characterized as “stress” implies that it is the workplace which is the originating responsibility for the very medical condition claimed.

Such a question would thus imply a multitude of irrelevant considerations for purposes of filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS, such as the causality of the claim, whether the cause is merely situational (is it the supervisor causing the stress?  If so, if a Federal or Postal worker moved to another office or agency, could he or she work in the same job?), or contained within the context of the workplace.

The problem with using the term “stress” in a question is that, whether as a noun or a verb, it implies too much while revealing too little.  If expanded upon (e.g., while stress may be the origin, is the medical condition Major Depression, anxiety, panic attacks, etc.), then the entire question takes on a new form.  Sometimes, the problem begins with the question asked which is poorly worded; and to a poorly worded question, a wrong answer might be given.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement: Life Changes

Major life changes occur at some point for everyone —  new births; deaths; marriage; major illnesses.  The trauma of a life-changing event such as a medical condition which impacts one’s ability to perform all of the essential elements of one’s job, is further exacerbated because of the financial impact that such a life-event can have upon a Federal or Postal employee.

While Federal Disability Retirement benefits do not fully make up for the loss of income (for FERS employees, it pays 60 percent of the average of one’s highest three consecutive years the first year, and 40% every year thereafter until age 62, at which point it gets converted and recalculated to regular retirement; while the Federal disability retirement calculation for CSRS employees is slightly more complex), it is at the very least a point of security — a base amount of income in which one can rely upon.

This is important, because with a major life-changing event, it is essential to focus one’s energies upon resolving, attacking, or otherwise handling that life-event, and not have the worries or distractions which take one’s energies away from focusing upon the one life-changing event.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire