Long Term Disability – Common Disabling Conditions

By Matt Lalande in Long-Term Disability on August 01, 2018

Long Term Disability
Common Disabling Conditions

4 Minute Read from Hamilton Long-Term Disability Lawyers serving Ontario

When your life has been impacted by a serious illness, injury or accident, you expect to rely on your long-term disability benefits to help assist with replacing your income when you cannot work. Policies are typically purchased privately or through group insurance at work as a “piece of mind” – i.e. knowing that income replacement is there to protect us in the event of an injury or disability.  While none of us anticipate becoming incapacitated to the point that we can no longer work, the reality is that thousands of people in Ontario find themselves seriously injured or ill each year.  The following is a list of physical and mental conditions that commonly result in claimants  filing for long term disability income benefits.  This list does not include all of the illnesses that can limit a person’s ability to perform their own occupation or any occupation.

CANCER
Cancer is a dreadful disease that mostly affects Canadians that are over the age of 50, but it can happen at any age.  Breast cancer is the most common among women, affecting 1/8 women. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer diagnosis among men, affecting 1/7.  Lung, breast, colorectal and prostate cancers accounted for half of all cancer cases in 2016.  In Canada, lung, breast, colorectal and prostate cancer are the most common types of cancer over the age of 50.  Among people under 25, testicular cancer was the most common type for men, and thyroid cancer for women.

DEPRESSION
Depression as the leading cause of ill health and disability not only in Canada, but worldwide. Depression is a major cause of long-term disability claims for income replacement.  In Canada, depression is the second most debilitating chronic medical condition outside of cancer. Depression is a personal experience that takes on many forms and emerges from many causes. Although depression occurs on it’s own, depression also occurs at high rates along with many other chronic medical conditions, for example, with serious and chronic injuries.   Depression has been shown to unfortunately worsens other medical illnesses, interferes with ongoing pain management, and amplifies the detrimental effects of pain on health-related quality of life.

MENTAL ILLNESS
Mental illness is also a leading cause of disability claims in Canada. Common types of mental illness that can cause an applicant to apply for long term-disability are:

• Schizophrenia – schizophrenia is a mental disorder which includes delusions, hallucinations, trouble with thinking and concentration, and lack of motivation.
• Schizoaffective disorder – schizoaffective disorder consists of schizophrenia along with mood disorder, such as bi-polar disorder or symptoms of paranoid delusions.
• Severe bi-polar disorder (Type I and II) – bi-polar disorder is a characterized as interval periods of depression and mania.
• Severe PTSD – Post traumatic stress disorder is a mental health condition that’s triggered by a terrifying event — such as a near death experience, witnessing death, shell-shock, combat stress, witnessing the loss of a spouse or child or being involved in a terrible accident. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event. Extremely serious PTSD will cause emotional numbing, prevent a victim from returning to normal daily activities, constant intrusive memories, negative changes in mood or thinking, avoidance, hopelessness or consistently reliving a traumatic event.

DISABLING BACK PAIN 
Severe back pain may impair your day-to-day functioning and can hamper your ability to walk, bend, lift and move, crouch, stoop, kneel, run, ascend stairs ect.   Back pain can often be catalyzed by experiencing trauma, trauma surgery or by disc degeneration, damaged discs or mechanical disfunction that is severe enough to cause fusion surgery.   Other types back pain that can caused a claimant disability includes  scoliosis, nerve root compression, foraminal stenosis, spinal stenosis, inflammatory conditions including rheumatoid arthritis and spondylitis.

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE
Cardiovascular and heart disorders include coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, heart attacks or arrhythmias can make it extremely difficult to return to work or perform your day-to-day tasks. Living with a congenital heart condition or life after heart failure or a transplant can be exhausting. We regularly assist those with heart conditions in obtaining long term disability benefits. We understand the complexities involved and why many insurance companies will deny long term disability claims.  Providers often expect people can return to work immediately following heart surgery.  What is harder to articulate in a claim, is often with heart disease, stress can significantly impact a cardiac condition.  By modifying lifestyle, people can often control their symptoms. Sometimes, returning to work can put someone at a substantial increased risk for relapse or cardiac symptoms.

Have you been denied long-term disability benefits?

Dealing with a long term disability claim denied or having income benefits cut off can be challenging for claimants who rely on this monthly income. Our Hamilton long term disability lawyers represent claimants Province-wide.  If you are suffering from a long-term disability, illness or injury, our Hamilton long term disability lawyers  represent  disability insurance claimants with private policy and group disability plans who have been denied or cut-off their long term disability benefits.

Please call us at 1-833-4-LAWFIRM or (905) 333-8888, fill in a contact form or chat with our live operator 24/7 who will be happy to set up an appointment with our Hamilton long-term disability lawyers to discuss your long-term disability case.