Adele's Story

Finally, someone understands what it's like. If you've never experienced depression, it's hard to imagine how it affects people. My mother's depression ruined my parent's marriage and pretty much took away everything they had built together.

It was hard on me to see the changes in my mother. On the outside, she still looked the same, maybe a little older and probably a little slower. But she seemed numb and completely distant, even to me, her own daughter. By the time I finally got her some help, she was spending most of her days in bed or curled up on the couch in a blanket unable to perform even routine tasks or take pride in her appearance.

Of course she lost her job at the university where she had worked in the cafeteria for years. She used to enjoy being around all those young people until her depression got the best of her. As I saw her situation deteriorate, I finally forced her to see a doctor, who immediately referred her to a psychiatrist. The first round of medication made her jumpy and irritable and the next round put her back on the couch for most of the day. Finally, she was hospitalized for almost three months while they tried different kinds of medication and therapy.

During her hospitalization, I decided to try to help my mother get some assistance to pay for her expenses and help with her enormous medical bills. I looked into disability and tried to talk with her about it, but she had little interest. Then I heard about disability legal assistance and I called to find out some information. I was so thrilled to learn that the attorney I contacted had experience working with other psychologically disabled people and felt my mother had a good chance of winning benefits. It was great to finally have someone take over this aspect of my mother's care—and someone who obviously knew much more about it than I did.

It was difficult to try to get all the information together and help prepare my mother for her appointments and eventually the hearing. But the patience and level of concern my mother and I experienced from the legal team helped us get through it all.

If you've got a tough case with your parents or someone you love, let me tell you how much you will appreciate professional experience and advice. The payment taken out of from my mother's back benefits to pay the attorney was absolutely worth it. Believe me, I would be happy to do a commercial any time to encourage people to hire a disability attorney. The results for my mother were better than I ever expected and have really helped her get the care she needs.

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