FERS Medical Retirement: Indicators and the Berkeley Problem

Are other people’s private thoughts different from ours?  Or, is “existence” defined as Berkeley attempted to clarify it?

George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, was a brilliant 18th Century Metaphysician who effectively criticized Descartes, Malebranche, Locke and others; and, although he is often considered a “second-tier” philosopher, was logically sound in his defense of Idealism.

His famous precept — Esse est percipi (“To be is to be perceived”) — is often simplistically attacked by arguing thus: “So, what you are saying is that, once I leave the room, the room I left no longer exists because I am not perceiving it, anymore.”  No, not quite; no more than a person’s thoughts no longer exist once the conversation ends.

Berkeley’s conception of “existence” encompasses not only the worlds we directly perceive, but also the ones which we have perceived and can potentially perceive.  And his philosophical approach is more relevant today than ever before, as we insulate ourselves on computers and Smart phones, where “reality” is almost entirely encompassed by the confined universe of the surreal and virtual meta-universe of the Internet.

For many Federal employees and U.S. Postal Service workers who are considering filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under FERS, the indicators and the Berkeley Problem persist: For many, whether psychiatric conditions or chronic pain, the “reality” of such medical conditions are “subjective” — meaning, they do not exist because they cannot be perceived.

But “perception” encompasses the conceptual arena of “feelings”, as well, and while OPM may attempt to dismiss your claims for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, they are clearly unaware that this attorney — the one writing this blog piece — wrote his Masters’ Thesis on the Berkeley problem — and is well aware of how to counter OPM’s lame arguments.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

OPM Disability Retirement Law: The Skewed Perspective

Watching a television series — say, a crime story set in a certain town or suburban enclave — can bring about a myopic viewpoint about a county, a city, a state — even a country.

From watching such a series, one might conclude a number of things, including: A. Most people in that part of the country are bad people, B. That part of the country represents much of what it is like in the rest of the country, and C. The country as a whole is like that; therefore, I am moving to another country.

Now, one should be cautioned as to taking such drastic steps as stated in C above; and even A and B may be a perspective which fails to reflect reality.  First, murder-mysteries must normally involve — by necessity — a bunch of bad characters, and thus represent an extreme microcosm of moral failures within a narrow, compacted group of characters.  Second, stories told on television — whether in one episode or via multiple seasons — are based upon abbreviated biographies of individuals, and rarely represent a true picture of the greater community surrounding the murder-mystery.

Most of the people in the community likely live boring, uninteresting lives, and thus would not be brought into the storytelling within the context of the television show.  Thus, just as when you are telling a story at the dinner table to your friends and family about some interesting thing that happened to you, you will likely leave out the detail about how many times you went to the bathroom during the incident related; so, in parallel fashion, a television series will leave out many details which are monotonous and unrelated to the main plot.

It is the consequences of having a skewed perspective that is most troubling, of course — of “C” above, where you make a drastic decision based upon an untrue belief based upon a fictional depiction of an event.

Not filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS is somewhat like that.  You might have the wrong — skewed — idea about the process — that “no one ever gets approved” or that your specific medical condition somehow “doesn’t qualify”, and so therefore you don’t even try, and instead continue to devastate your health because of wrong assumptions.

On top of it all, the medical condition itself often contributes to the skewed perspective.

Contact a Federal Disability Lawyer who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and don’t let a skewed perspective undermine the reality of a life which is actually available to live.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill
Lawyer exclusively representing Federal and Postal employees to secure their Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

 

Federal Disability Retirement Law: Of What Others Say

It can become an obsession, of sorts; of what others say, the gossip mill grinding out the tidbits of misinformation relayed in corners and hallways of offices; and the furtive looks that raise eyebrows and suspicions beyond the imagination that goes wild with unfettered fears abounding.  Of what others say can be disconcerting, dismaying and disturbing; and while some can purport to remain unbothered by it all, most have a baseline of sensitivity which is jostled by the whispering negativity of others.

Of what others say — it can ruin a reputation, delay a promotion or dismantle a friendship, all in the swooping cupful of a comment thrown, a statement carelessly (or carefully) lobbed, and like a javelin piercing the hardened earth beyond, directed with precision so that the one who hears will have an implanted seed which grows from doubt into a full-grown tree of suspicion.  Whether true or not, the words whispered can travel far and wide, and can become dispensed indiscriminately amidst the rumor-mill of destructive conclusions.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal employee from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, filing an OPM Federal Disability Retirement application through — first one’s own H.R. Department (if you are not yet separated or, if separated, the separation has not been for more than 31 days) — the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, it is important to consider the timing of one’s filing, as well as who to inform, what to inform, and how to inform.

Rumors are bound to abound; and of what others say can often be countered with effective legal representation, where the very entrance of an attorney can set the record straight.  Consult with a Federal Disability Attorney who specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law, and let the things of what others say become a whisper of nothingness that silences the gossiper’s stammering lips.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Disability Retirement: Happiness Lasting

Can the precipice of elation last for long?  What of contentment — a seemingly “lower-level” joy that pervades and remains for the duration of a season?  Does evidence of its durability depend upon a smile frozen upon one’s face, or can it continue to establish its existence with gleaming eyes and a perpetual grin that seems never to go away?  Is glee in youth different from a winter’s discontent followed by a summer of joy, and does a period of happiness fostered by nostalgia the same as two young lovers who proclaim the currency of an unfettered passion for life?

Modernity celebrates the cult of youth, and it is thus assumed that happiness is the sole possession of those who look and declare youthfulness; but in the end, is it just wasted energy that dissipates because the young have no knowledge of how to handle such emotional turbulence?  What does it mean to “be happy”, and should it ever be considered as a worthwhile “goal” as opposed to a byproduct of a life well lived?

When a person feels elation, should the advice be: Temper it, for such a spectrum of heights will never last and you will find its opposite and negative effect at the end of it all — of dread and dismal desolation.  Or, should one just enjoy it while it exists, and deal with its opposite when it comes about?

Aristotle’s approach of finding the middle ground — of a moderation of temperament and approach to life — may allow for happiness lasting precisely because the height and depths of the spectrum of human emotions are never allowed to consume us.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition such that the medical condition prevents the Federal or Postal worker from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, the idea that happiness lasting can no longer be attained is a pervasive feeling because of the medical condition itself and the effects upon one’s life and career.

Filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS may not be the “solution” to attain happiness, but it can be a process where intermediate goals can be achieved — of what to do during the pendency of one’s medical condition; of how to change careers; of how to attain a sense of stability for the future while attending to one’s own health and well-being.

It is a means to an end, where happiness lasting can be seen in the short-term goal of securing one’s future by filing for, and obtaining, a FERS Disability Retirement annuity before the next set of challenges in life’s fulfillment of changing circumstances must be faced again.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Lawyer Representation for OPM Disability Claims: The Crafted Statement

The crafted statement is the one which is thoughtfully delineated, carefully constructed and put forth with logical force of persuasive content.  It is not the one written in a panic of time-constraints, nor the one rushed with the background admonition screaming in one’s mind that it “must be finished!”

The crafted statement takes into account the evidentiary basis, evaluates the strengths, carves out the weaknesses and applies the legal precedent in appropriate and effective ways.  While repetition is a tool utilized (because, after all, we are dealing with seasoned bureaucrats at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management who are quite used to repetitive content), it nevertheless does not apply such a tool without sound reasoning behind each word of redundancy, but instead places the cadence of words within a rhythmic sentence wrapped in a paragraph of argumentative methodology of persuasive content.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who are putting together one’s Federal Disability Retirement packet, to be submitted whether first through one’s Human Resource Office at one’s agency (if the Federal or Postal worker is still an employee, active or not, or if separation has occurred but not for more than 31 days) and then to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management — or, alternatively, if separation has occurred and 31 days or more has passed, but not more than 1 year, then directly to OPM at Boyers, PA — the crafted statement is a “must” in completing SF 3112A, Applicant’s Statement of Disability.

But that is not the only place where the “crafted” statement must be prepared.  Long before SF 3112A is completed, or even contemplated for completion, SF 3112C and its confusing instructions had to be dealt with.  Physicians are not known for their writing abilities; rather, they are (hopefully) great at providing sound medical care, but as for the well-crafted statement, well…some guidance and input from an attorney who  specializes in Federal Disability Retirement Law is the first step in putting together the crafted statement.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

Federal Employee Disability Information: Future anticipatory grief

It is the creativity of the human imagination that both excels and dissipates.  But for it, we would not have the advances attained; but because of it, despair and angst presides and dominates.

Other species grapple with the present existential circumstances directed by one’s appetitive nature bundled up by needs and current desires.  Human beings, while embodied by those same animalistic sensations, nevertheless can transcend them for momentary respites of creative endeavors, and engage in constructive, intellectual activities and engagements surpassing the mere needs of present wants and desires.

But that same projection into the future — of what can be achieved, of planning for it, anticipating it — can also rob us of the present pleasure by anticipating that which may never occur, and present a current state of grief that can lead to despair and anxieties needlessly overwhelming despite every logical analysis that the future anticipatory grief may never come to the reality of a person’s present circumstances.

Put in more plain terms, we often worry about things that never come to fruition, but in doing so, we fail to appreciate the pleasurable moments that stand before our very eyes.  Chronic medical conditions tend to do that — of increasing the level of worry for one’s future, one’s ability to sustain that which we have achieved in the past, etc.  Worry, grief, despair and an overwhelming sense of angst and anxiety; these are the ingredients of an anticipatory grief that leads to uncontrollable despair.

For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who suffer from a medical condition, where the medical condition begins to prevent the Federal or Postal worker from performing one or more of the essential elements of one’s Federal or Postal job, there comes a point where it becomes clear that one cannot sustain the current environment and circumstances; where there arises an inconsistency between one’s positional duties and the ongoing medical conditions being suffered.

When that point of clarity is seen, then that is the time to begin preparing, formulating and filing an effective Federal Disability Retirement application, to be submitted to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset.

Instead of engaging in future anticipatory grief, it is best to consult with an experienced attorney who can allay some of those unfounded fears, and begin to guide you through the great morass of the administrative process called “Federal Disability Retirement Law”.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire