Mental Illness and Disability Claims – Do I qualify?

By Matt Lalande in Long-Term Disability on May 11, 2018

Mental Illness and Long-Term Disability Claims – Do I qualify?

3 Minutes Read from Denied Long-term Disability Lawyer Hamilton

We are Hamilton long-term disability lawyers that service clients all over Ontario.  As a part of our practice we routinely see claimants who suffer from mental illness, psychological or psychiatric disability that either need to apply for or who have already applied for and have been denied long term disability benefits.  Many of these people are unfortunately  left to deal with the complicated process of speaking with experienced disability adjusters and piloting through their disability claims alone and without help.  The odds of getting your disability benefits approved are much greater if you work with an experienced disability lawyer. Our Hamilton long-term disability claims lawyers assist disability insurance claimants with mental illness through all stages of a claim for disability insurance benefits.

When mental illness symptoms are severe, people with disorders have trouble staying in touch with reality and often are unable to handle daily life – let alone deal with a disability claims adjuster, especially if the disorder is not properly treated and the claimants is not properly medicated. When employees or individuals are suffering from mental illness and are unable to think clearly, lack proper judgment, respond logically, communicate effectively, understand reality, and/or behave appropriately –getting through the long-term disability process is incredibly difficult.  Over the years, we have helped many claimants suffering from mental illness at all stages of the disability process obtain their monthly income, including claimants that suffer from such illnesses as:

• Schizophrenia
• Major Depression Disorder
• Major anxiety disorder
• PTSD that is unbearable
• Bipolar Disorder Type 1 and Type 2
• Unidifferential schizophrenia
• schizoaffective disorder bipolar type
• Schizophreniform disorder
• Paranoid subtype Schizophrenia
• Disorganized subtype Schizophrenia
• Catatonic Schizophrenia
• Residual Schizophrenia
• Schizotypal personality disorder
• Delusional Disorder
• Acquired or Traumatic Brain Injury
• Panic Disorders
• Mood Disorders

Mental Illness in Canada

How prevalent is mental illness in Canada? The statistics are quite staggering. It has been reported that 1/5 Canadians will unfortunately suffer from mental illness at some point in their lifetime, with much of it being attributed to stressful work environments. A large amount of Canadians spend most of their day at work which, in many cases, can give rise to mental health problems and illnesses if the work environment is chaotic, stressful, tense, controlling, belittling, condescending or patronizing.   It has been noted that every week in Canada, 500,000 people will not go to work due to mental illness.[1] Many employees affected with mental illness will unfortunately fail to seek treatment or not communicated their mental state to their employer out of fear that they will be negatively labelled, lose their employer’s respect, lose their job, lose a promotion, feel shamed by colleagues.

Am I entitled to long-term disability?

Overall, it has been reported that approximately 30% of long-term disability claims in Canada are attributed to mental health illnesses, both psychological and psychiatric. It is no doubt increasingly common for claimants to be accepted as totally disabled due to a mental illness. Most policies in Canada contain a common provision: that in order to be received long term disability benefits for more than two years, you must be unable to work at any occupations for which you are reasonably suited by reason of your education, training and experience. If you are considered totally disabled medically, by proper health care professionals, after undertaking as much treatment and rehabilitation as reasonably possible, you will be entitled to disability protection until a maximum of 65 years of age.

Medically Documented Conditions and  your Long Term Disability Claim

In a long-term disability case you are the plaintiff and you have the ultimate burden of proving your injuries – and to do this you will no doubt need medical evidence and/or medical providers to provide the appropriate clinical evidence to support your case. In other words, you will need to establish objective proof of your diagnosis.  When you hire Lalande & Company, our law firm has access to the best experts that will be able to summarize your conditions and provide a formative expert medical opinion that is unbiased and impartial to assist in clinically supporting your claim for ongoing long-term disability benefits. These highly specialized experts would not only summarize and provide a medical opinion on your future prognosis concerning total disability, but they would also support your claim by providing expert opinion evidence at trial.

Call our Long-Term Disability Specialists today.

If you suffer from a mental illness and you need help applying for or answering a dispute in relationship to your long-term disability, our Hamilton lawyers can help. We have litigated against every different insurance company in Canada.  We do not charge you anything to meet us and talk about your case, rights and option. If we decide to work together, we will never ask for money up front. We only get paid when we win your case. Please call us at 905-333-8888 or speak to our live char operator to book your appointment today.

[1] https://www.mentalhealthcommission.ca/sites/default/files/2015-04-29_workplace_webinar_-_eng_-final_0_0.pdf