OPM Disability Retirement Lawyer: The Recurrent Nightmare

Perhaps it is explicit, of images which repetitively beat the drum of constancy; or, sometimes, despite every effort, one cannot recall the harrowing particulars of a nighttime of eternity filled with dissipation of fear and loathing.

Restorative sleep is lacking; whether from pain, nightmares or paralyzing panic attacks; and the medical designation of insomnia, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, or psychiatric conditions of Generalized Anxiety Disorder, intrusive nightmares; or perhaps it is much more direct and simple:  pain which prevents getting into a comfortable position in order to drift off into the dreamland of serenity, and where the sharpness compels one to awaken with a scream, only to find that it is the silence of one’s aloneness which permeates the quietude of the voice which no one hears.

The next morning, the profound fatigue and exhaustion, beyond the mere ache of tiredness, with residual cognitive dysfunctions,follows one throughout the day, like a scent of undefinable and unidentifiable aura, always there but never quite connected, either in location, distance or substantive content.  For Federal employees and U.S. Postal workers who experience a semblance of such a state of being, it becomes like a recurrent nightmare, and work becomes impacted in so many different ways.

In physical-intensive jobs, in the greater potentiality for mistakes and accidents; in cognitive-focused positions, in analytical miscues and inability to focus and concentrate.  Perhaps it all becomes reflected in one’s performance review, or one becomes placed on a “Performance Improvement Plan” (a PIP); or even be handed an Agency’s Proposed Removal; whatever the cost, for the Federal or Postal worker, it is time to consider preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits, whether the Federal or Postal worker is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS Offset.

No, Federal Disability Retirement is not the “be all” and “end all” of solutions; but it is an option which should always be considered when once the recurrent nightmare engulfs the Federal or Postal worker with consequences of adverse actions imposed upon a fragile state of being ready to crack under the weight of a chronic disease or medical condition of such seriousness and sufficiency as to have impacted one’s capacity to perform all of the essential elements of one’s positional duties.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

 

OPM Medical Retirement Legal Representation: Laconic Latitudes

Brevity of words often reveals otherwise unnoticed characteristics through silence; being concise, while important in conveying specific information, can interrupt the natural flow of linguistic rhythms; and, as with music, it is the silence and the pause between notes which create for the beauty of a piece.

In preparing an effective narrative, the essayist, the novelist or the biographer must set a tone in order to draw the reader into the web of verbiage, and like the opening to a secret entranceway leading to the cavernous dark of insular worlds, a light must shine in order to invite the way in. But if the traveler is mired in confusion, how can the journey into a pathless narrative allow for any sense, logic or directed discourse? Even Science Fiction and Fantasy genres must have some relational connection to the world we know; otherwise, it is merely relegated to the private musings of insanity extricated.

The laconic dialogue often requires greater concentration, precisely for the lack of words, where silence and large tracts of pauses mandate implications and inferences.

Federal and Postal employees who suffer from a medical condition are often mired in the confusion of the process of seeking security and a pathway for their future.  In the midst of such confusion, they are asked to fully comprehend the entirety of the administrative process recognized as “Federal Disability Retirement“. To prepare, formulate and file an effective Federal Disability Retirement application is to have foresight, mental acuity, intellectual capacity and physical stamina to embrace a complex bureaucratic process, and all the while deal with major medical problems.

It would thus be understandable if a laconic Federal Disability Retirement application was prepared; but unfortunately, from the perspective of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (which is the singular agency which makes a determination on all Federal Disability Retirement applications), rarely are pauses and silences taken into account.

While there is always some latitude in reviewing an OPM Disability Retirement application, regardless of whether the Federal or Postal employee is under FERS, CSRS or CSRS-Offset, the time for brevity and implied latitude should be replaced by concise verbosity of a longitudinal perspective.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire