The Ritualistic Void Found in Postal and Federal Employees Who Continue Working in Jobs That Further Deteriorate Their Health

It is precisely the repetitive identity which provides for comfort.  Thinking is an endeavor which requires effort; ritualistic actions require merely attendance and presence, and the mechanical motions of responding.  When the mind becomes bifurcated from the task at hand, whether from being “lost in thought”, ruminating upon problems afar, or disengaged because one is contending with physical pain or psychiatric anxieties and lethargy, ritualism becomes a zone of comfort because the physical body can engage while the mental processes can embrace a parallel universe.

This ritualistic void is often what becomes of work when a Federal or Postal employee suffers from a medical condition, such that this health condition begins to prevent one from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s job.  How long one can continue in such dualism of actions is often dependent upon the type of Federal or Postal job which one holds.  Being a Letter Carrier or a Mail Processing Clerk while in progressively agonizing pain will often compel a stoppage of work, precisely because the pain directly and intractably interferes both in the physical actions of ritualistic behavior, as well as in the dissociative mind to deal with the pain.  Office and computer work can sometimes delay the inevitable.

Filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits for the Federal or Postal employee, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS or CSRS, is a decision to be made resulting from the cessation of the ritualistic void which occurs.  Federal Disability Retirement is a benefit accorded to all Federal and Postal Employees, and is filed through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. When the tripartite coalescence of work, health and capacity begins to crumble and disintegrate, it may be time to reassess the ritualistic void presented by a job which no longer offers significance and meaning, but further contributes to the daily deterioration of one’s health.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Attorney

 

Disability Retirement for Federal Government Employees: The Healing of Time

Time is a peculiar phenomena; if it is based upon the movement of objects or thought, then the entity oblivious to one’s surroundings remains unaffected.  For the human animal, the reliance is based upon a societal norm of sequential and linear movement, with multiple tracking devices including mechanical and digital clocks, watches, etc.

Does time heal?  When one is in the midst of a crisis or calamity, one rarely thinks of the extension or duration of one’s focus upon the dimension and context of one’s condition; but afterwards, in retrospect, it is often a period characterized by blurred and obscured images in the mind of one’s subconscious eye.

For the Federal and Postal employee who is suffering from a medical condition, such that the medical condition is impacting the ability to pursue one’s chosen career, time often becomes an enemy and adversary; for, the agony of time in the office or in the field; the time away from one’s office to attend to one’s medical conditions; the “time” it takes to accomplish tasks previously done without thought; and the time it requires to recuperate from the exhaustive efforts to continue in one’s job.

Federal Disability Retirement is a benefit which must be submitted to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, for those Federal and Postal employees under FERS or CSRS.  If time has become an adversary, it may be the appropriate moment to consider filing for OPM Federal Disability Retirement benefits.

As for whether time ever heals; it is perhaps the memories which fade, and the intrusion of life’s everyday busyness which forces former issues of importance to fade over time; but in the end, it is not time which heals, but the imposition of future challenges which rearranges the priorities of our lives, to rescue us from our own ruminations of ruin.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Early Medical Retirement for Disabled Federal Workers: Cocoons

A cocoon both insulates and protects; it allows for the entity inside to feel a sense of security, and provides a veil which prevents “outsiders” from seeing in.  Homes for humans provide a cocoon; thoughts hidden in the recesses of one’s mind constitute a metaphorical cocoon of sorts; and the conscious and deliberate covering up of a medical condition will allow for a temporary preservation of one’s privacy, until such time as manifestation of symptoms can no longer be concealed.

For a time, temporary measures can be effective:  writing short notes to oneself can compensate for short-term memory problems; taking leave in targeted ways, allowing for 3-day weekends so that one may have the recuperative period in order to recover from impending exhaustion and profound fatigue can alleviate and be a palliative measure; timing the ingestion of pain medications and other prescribed treatment modalities can insulate and provide the cocoon-like security of privacy.  But in the end, the progressively deteriorating medical condition will often require a choice; for, even the inhabitant of the cocoon must leave the relative security of the insulation at some point, or perish by remaining.

For Federal or Postal employees needing to file for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, the choice to take the steps necessary to begin the process will often be delayed so long as the cocoon can be maintained. Waiting too long, however, can have detrimental reverberations.

Look at the insect world; they offer greater wisdom than what we give them credit for.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

FERS & CSRS Disability Retirement for Federal and USPS Workers: The Respite

Then there is the story of the office worker who was called in to discuss certain matters with the boss, and during the course of the conversation, boasted proudly that he had not taken a vacation in five years, thereby intimating his commitment and dedication to the company.

The boss became silent, shook his head gravely, and promptly fired the man on the spot.  In shock and dismay, the young office worker asked in exasperation why the boss would do such a thing, and the older man replied:  “Two reasons.  First, you need a vacation.  Now you have one.  Second, the company cannot afford to keep someone who fails to understand the needs of a human being.”  And so the irony of the young office worker reveals the self-contradiction of so many circumstances.

For the Federal and Postal Worker who suffers from a medical condition, the one truism which stands out is that those who are beset with a progressively deteriorating medical condition, can never take a “vacation” from the condition itself.  Thus, for those who are healthy, we often take for granted our state of existence.

Federal Disability Retirement from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, allows for the Federal or Postal Worker to have a period of respite, away from those very work activities which continue to exacerbate and compound the problem of the medical condition itself.

It may be that, in the end, there is little or no choice in the matter.

For, either the work will continue to suffer and the Federal agency or Postal Service will terminate the Federal or Postal worker, or the medical condition itself will dictate the terms of work cessation.  In either event, thought should be given to the future, and to a time of recuperative distancing from an activity which cannot continue forever.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

FERS & CSRS Disability Retirement for Federal and USPS Workers: Incrementalism

Gradual decline or ascendancy is a concept which is difficult to grasp, precisely because one’s training to render judgements is based upon viewing an object or issue in its entirety.  Darwinian evolution is a paradigm based upon minute, incrementally selective alterations, imperceptible in any slice of time, but which slowly and progressively alters the genetic make-up of a species.  The question of consciousness and the Cartesian mind-body problem also involves the idea that, beyond the compilation of complexities inherent in the human brain, there is something more in existence than merely the physical in the wholeness of man.

Such concepts are also applicable in the administrative process of a Federal Disability Retirement claim submitted to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS.  For, on the one hand, the very reason why many Federal or Postal workers remain in the position at their agency is precisely because of incrementalism — in progressive decline, or in hopes of ascendancy.

Often, medical conditions are characterized by a gradual decline, increasingly debilitating, and imperceptibly deteriorating over time.  If one views one’s medical condition at the beginning of the year, then again at the end of the same year, the progression may well be noticeable; but on any given day, because of the incremental nature of the disease, one may perceive the condition as merely static.

Conversely, the hope of ascendancy — that “tomorrow brings a new day” — is likely an evolutionary paradigm built into human nature for survival benefits.  But the reality is that most people who suffer from chronic and progressively deteriorating medical conditions need to reach a period of rehabilitative rest in order to get better.

Recognition of the subtle but insidious nature of incrementalism is vital to survival.  It may be time to consider thinking about filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS before it is “too late”; for, while time passes in gradual ascendancy, the deterioration and decline of the human body and mind waits not for a better tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

OPM Disability Retirement: Respite and Reflection

Sometimes, it is a positive thing to have a period of respite, in order to engage in a reflective mode of thought.  The “to-do list” is always extensive and pressing; the need to advance, to accomplish, and to complete the pending projects is always in the foreground; but a period of respite and reflection — a pause in the action of life — is a welcomed break.

For those Federal and Postal employees who are contemplating filing for disability retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, it is often merely an extra day in which to recuperate one’s energies in order to go back to work.  If the Federal or Postal employee finds that the period of a few days off are merely a palliative form of treatment in order to drag one’s self back to the identical state of affairs at one’s Federal position — whether because of chronic pain, or profound, overwhelming fatigue; or perhaps an intractable state of cognitive decline and depression — it is probably time to think about filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits.

One can “fight the good fight” only for so long.

At some point, the coalescence of the medical condition, the limitation of human capacity, and the self-destructiveness of continuing in a position which is detrimental to one’s health, will come to fruition.  Preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, is perhaps what one should reflect upon during the respite of life.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire
OPM Medical Retirement Attorney

 

Federal Employee Medical Retirement: Pushing the Reset Button

Preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, is like the proverbial phrase of pushing the “reset” button.  While the phrase is overused and in many ways has lost its useful meaning, the conceptual underpinning implies that it allows for a fresh start.

The decision itself is often the largest hurdle to overcome; once made, it allows for a goal-oriented outlook on a different course of action, and often compels the Federal or Postal worker to manage one’s “life-affairs” with greater determination and incentive, perhaps because one is provided with another proverbial gift:  the “light at the end of the tunnel”.  For, the darkness which pervades is often characterized by the morass of daily pain, the chronicity of the pain, the endless and incessant meaninglessness — of the vicious cycle of coming to work only to survive; then to go home only to recuperate in order to turn right around and go into work for another day of survival; and, often, to an agency which eyes the Federal or Postal worker with suspicion and with little or no loyalty, compassion or sympathy.

Federal Disability Retirement is meant as a mechanism for recuperation from one’s medical condition — a medical condition which prevents one from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s particular kind of job, but which will allow for future work in another vocation.  It is the ultimate “reset button” — to allow for the beginning towards a different tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Federal Disability Retirement: “And the Holidays Are For…”

And the holidays are for (in sequential order):  Celebration of an event; time away from one’s daily routine in order to revitalize one’s health, both mental and physical; enjoyment in the company of one’s family, friends, neighbors, etc.; time to pursue other interests and diversionary delights; and secondary reasons which are just as valid as the primary ones, with the order of priority interchangeably reflecting the time, age and life-phase of each individual.

The one factor which almost always invalidates the previous statement, however, is a medical condition which is chronic, severe, progressively debilitating, and one which prevents one from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s job.

In preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, that is one of the focal points of consideration for the Federal or Postal Employee — for, if a “day off” is merely another day to recuperate from the toil and degenerative crumbling of one’s health, where daily work is a struggle just to appear, and home is not where the warm hearth occupies the quietude of one’s life, but rather a place merely to pause in a linear continuum of a treadmill, where dread and anxiety are not conceptual constructs but daily realities; then, a “holiday” will not do.

It is time to consider filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits from OPM.  The old adage that life is too short to toil in a constancy of dread and despair is not just a pithy saying by French existentialists; it is a truism which must be confronted and constructively applied in one’s daily life.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

OPM Disability Retirement: The Three-Day Weekend

For Federal and Postal employees contemplating filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS, the 3-day weekend is a time of respite, recuperation and intermediate period of temporary time-out, in order to regain the energy and sustained endurance to go back to work.  

Pain is a chronic state of being which results in profound exhaustion and fatigue just to fight against it and to attempt to minimize it on a daily basis.  For psychiatric medical conditions, Major Depression, Anxiety, panic attacks, and a host of other conditions and symptoms, are not something which one can simply “will” to overcome.  

Often, the question still is posed whether or not psychiatric conditions are denied by the Office of Personnel Management at a greater rate of consistency than physical medical conditions.  Fortunately, the stigma of psychiatric conditions has diminished.  Whether for physical medical conditions or psychiatric medical conditions, the standard to be met in preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS is the same applicable standards of proof.  

For the 3-day weekender, however, the standard of proof is an irrelevancy, because the time of recuperation is merely temporary, and the cyclical requirement to return to work in a state of exhaustion, pain, or cognitive turmoil must begin anew with another work day.  It might be time to consider filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS if you find yourself in that state.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Disability Retirement for Federal Workers: The Weekend Recuperator

Is the weekend merely the intervening time in which to recuperate from your chronic medical conditions in order to drag yourself into work?  Is Friday the day which “releases” the pent-up exhaustion and profound fatigue as the body attempts to tolerate the fifth day before the intervening weekend?  It is indeed amazing how the body (and the mind) can tolerate the palliative attempts to regenerate itself as it suffers through a chronic and often progressively deteriorating medical condition.  

While the Office of Personnel Management systematically argues that pain is a subjective condition and persistently (but wrongly) makes the conceptual distinction between “objective” medical evidence as opposed to “subjective” medical evidence, the fact is that pain is a physiological mechanism in which the body is trying to “inform” the pain recipient that something is wrong, and that something needs to be attended to.  

Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS is a benefit in which a Federal or Postal Worker can receive a base annuity, in order to allow the pain and chronic medical condition to begin to repair itself.  Under the law, the medical condition must last a minimum of 12 months — and, indeed, it will take that, and many more years for most people, in order to recuperate.  The present period of weekends used to recuperate is never enough.  The body and pain receptors are speaking.  The Federal and Postal employees are receiving such “messages” for a reason.  It is time to listen.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire