Long Term Disability for Anxiety and Depression

Insights into Long Term Disability for Anxiety and Depression by Tim Louis

Long Term Disability for Anxiety and Depression

A claim for long term disability benefits may be made if you are disabled from work as a result of Anxiety or Depression. Both of these conditions can result in an inability to work. Many of my long term disability clients ask me what is the difference between Anxiety and Depression.

What is the difference between Anxiety and Depression?

Both Anxiety and Depression are types of mood disorders. Neither is necessarily disabling in the sense that if not severe, the individual may find that they are able to continue to work with either or both of these conditions.

However, both of these types of mood disorders can render an individual unable to work.

Anxiety can create feelings of worry, nervousness, or dread. Depression causes feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and reduced energy.

Although these two conditions are different, an individual can have both at the same time. In fact, depression and anxiety often occur together. Roughly 60% of people with anxiety also have symptoms of depression, and vice versa. The conditions themselves can also amplify the symptoms of the other, causing the symptoms to worsen or last longer.

Common Questions about Anxiety and Depression and Long Term Disability

Common questions clients of mine suffering from anxiety and/or depression ask me are:

Is long term depression and/or anxiety a disability?
The answer is yes. The federal government has long recognized these conditions as disabilities. Long term disability insurance companies also recognize these conditions as potentially disabling. However, a mere diagnosis does not in and of itself qualify you for long term disability benefits. Your condition must be so severe that it prevents you from working.
Can depression cause permanent disability?
Unfortunately, the answer is yes. Sometimes, although luckily rarely, depression can be so long term and extreme that it is permanently disabling. In this case, an individual will never be able to go back to work. Your medical team will be just able to let you know whether or not your depression is likely to be treatable or is permanent.

Suffering from Depression and/or Anxiety?

If you are suffering from depression and/or anxiety to the extent that it is preventing you from working, then in order to make a successful claim for long term disability for depression and anxiety, you should make every effort to bring your family doctor up to speed. They would need to know how your mood disorder is affecting your ability to work.

An example of how depression could affect your life could be an inability to get out of bed due to your depressed mood and fatigue forcing you to call in sick. Your symptoms might cause other problems such as inability to focus, concentrate, or pay attention during meetings or phone calls. Lack of interest in things you once enjoyed due to low energy and feelings of hopelessness can make even the most mundane tasks seem like mountains to climb.

On the other hand, with anxiety, it can affect your life in a completely different manner. You might feel so anxious that you feel physically ill, making you unable to go in to work. You might have panic attacks due to immense feelings of worry and fear. You could have social anxiety, meaning that social interactions themselves can cause you great stress and fear. There are many types of anxiety disorders, and each of them can impact your life in different ways.

Both of these mood disorders can put your life, career, and relationships in disarray.

It is also very important that you are aware of the fact that you are not eligible for long term disability benefits if your mood disorder is caused by the unique workplace environment of your current job. If a change of employers would likely leave you now no longer disabled, but rather able to work, then you do not have a valid claim for long term disability for anxiety and depression. It is for this reason that your application for long term disability benefits should not suggest that the root cause of your mood disorder is your work environment.

Making a Claim for Long Term Disability for Anxiety and Depression

Making a claim for long term disability benefits is relatively easy. Your employer will provide you with the form that needs to be filled out. One of these forms, the Attending Physician Statement, will need to be completed by your family doctor. If you are seeing a specialist such as a psychiatrist for treatment, you may consider having the specialist complete the Attending Physician Statement.

If you have been denied long term disability benefits and do suffer from depression and/or anxiety, contact me immediately for a no-fee consultation. 778-855-3494.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Long-Term Disability

by Tim Louis

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is considered by some to be an orphan illness. This is because there is no cure for the disease and because there is no accepted medical test to diagnose it. In fact, many doctors do not recognize it. However, for the individuals suffering this debilitating condition, it is very real. Even what they call it is in dispute. Most patients prefer “myalgic encephalomyelitis,” or ME. However, the medical literature uses “chronic fatigue”.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is profoundly disabling. It renders individuals unable to get out of bed for days at a time. Sleep is no longer ever refreshing. It also strikes very quickly – one day the individual is healthy, and the next day the individual wakes up with the sensation of a bad flu. However, the “flu” never goes away. In some cases, it is so disabling as to paralyze a limb or even cause temporary blindness.

It is not unusual for individuals to believe they are going crazy when they first get Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Figures for Canada are not available, but it is thought that CFS afflicts between 836,000 and 2.5 million Americans.

For many years, a number of doctors believed the disease was all in the patient’s head.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – Denied Long-Term Disability Benefits?

I have represented many individuals suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. When denied the Long Term Disability Benefits they are entitled to, they hire me to sue their insurance company. One thing I noticed is that “good days” were always followed by “bad days”. In fact, because the “good day” was a gift from heaven, my client would do everything she or he wanted to do on that day. The sad result is that they would then be much much worse the following day. The trick was to always limit their activities on “good days” to half of what they felt they could do. This would result in a much better day the following day.

Long-Term Disability Benefits for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Denied?

Long Term Disability insurance companies typically reject applications from CFS patients because the patient is unable to objectively prove the presence of the condition. I address this problem head on. I rely on witnesses who give evidence as to my client’s day to day activities. If my client has witnesses that confirm an inability to get out of bed for days on end and an inability to carry on a normal life, then my client’s lawsuit is much stronger.

I also warn all of my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome long-term disability clients that their insurance company will almost certainly hire a private investigator to capture them on video on a “good day”. Insurance companies think this will be devastating at trial. However, as I mentioned above, witnesses who give evidence that my client simply has good days and bad days, will usually outweigh the video evidence.

I have encountered this many times, representing Chronic Fatigue Syndrome long-term disability clients. In one case, one year into the lawsuit, the insurance company hired an actress to knock on my client’s door. When he opened the door, she told him that her car has stalled in front of his house. He willingly agreed to her request that he push her car out of the way. Unbeknownst to my client, all of this was captured on video by the private investigator. Fortunately my client’s landlord was an RCMP officer who was witness to the fact that my client literally spent days on end in bed. The case settled out of court with the insurance company paying my client over $300,000.

If you have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and your Long-Term Disability insurance company has denied you the benefits you are entitled to, call me for a free initial consultation. I have been suing Long Term Disability insurance companies for over three decades.

Learn More about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

What is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?

What is myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)?

Chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia in Canada

Long-Term Disability Claim

by Tim Louis

Long-term disability insurance is designed to protect you in the event of serious injury or illness. If your psychological or physical condition prevents you from being able to work, the insurance company should pay out a monthly benefit. This is designed to provide some financial support for your care and treatment.

However, Insurance Companies Deny Long-Term Disability Claims

Unfortunately, the reality is that insurance companies deny long-term disability claims. Sometimes rehabilitative therapy for people suffering from a long-term disability can be helpful, but it is not always the case. Permanent disability can sometimes be the result as well. However compensation of long-term disability benefits is the least you should expect if you have insurance.

Dealing with insurance companies can be very difficult, particularly if you are dealing with a serious illness or condition. Having a lawyer, like Tim Louis, to guide and protect you through the process is the key to getting the compensation you deserve. If your long-term insurance claim has been denied, call Tim Louis at (604) 732-7678 for a free consultation.

Long-term Disability Claim Denied

H.G. contacted me just over two years ago. She was referred to me by a previous long term disability client of mine who was very pleased with what I did for her. H.G.’s long term disability insurance company had just denied her claim for LTD benefits. H.G. had lost the ability to work at her very physically demanding position. She had developed Activity-Related Soft Tissue Disorder (ASTD) with myofascial injury to her cervical spine and shoulders. She had also aggravated her pre-existing degenerative disc disease.

She suffered from chronic joint and muscle pain, muscle spasms, numbness, neck pain, shoulder pain and pain and stiffness whenever she would bend, lift or walk.

I immediately obtained a copy of her insurance policy and then filed her lawsuit in the Vancouver Registry of the Supreme Court of B.C. Her insurance company filed a boilerplate response. They actually denied that she was disabled!

Insurance companies take me seriously and so it did not surprise me that fairly soon after the lawsuit had started they began to make offers of settlement. With my client’s instructions I rejected offer after offer.

The insurance company then conducted an Examination for Discovery of my client. At this step in a lawsuit there is no judge present. There is a court reporter who takes down a transcript of all the questions asked by the opposing lawyer and all of my client’s answers. I always prepare my clients extremely well before this step in the lawsuit. With H.G., this was no exception. While H. G. was a credible witness, I knew the insurance company lawyer might try to get her confused and then take advantage of the inevitable inconsistencies as she spoke.

A few days before the Discovery, I engaged her in a mock Discovery so she could practice what it would be like to be under a bit of stress. She did very well at the Discovery. H.G. came across as a likable, believable and reliable witness. After the Discovery, she told me how helpful our preparation together had been for her.

Shortly after the Discovery, the insurance company lawyer asked if we might be agreeable to Mediation. I recommended to H.G. that she accept the insurance company’s suggestion of mediation. Mediation is off the record, that is if settlement is not reached during mediation and the lawsuit proceeds to trial, nothing said at Mediation can be used against the client.

Mediation is a process whereby the parties engage in active negotiation with the assistance of a trained professional mediator. Throughout the day, the mediator will alternate between bringing the two parties together into the same room for face to face negotiations and separating the parties into two separate room shuttling back and forth between the parties. A mediator is different from an arbitrator in that an arbitrator makes a decision that is binding on both parties whether they liked the decision or not. Whereas a mediator only makes recommendations.

At the mediation, the insurance company slowly increased their offer of settlement – one-hundred thousand, one-hundred twenty thousand… two-hundred thousand and then finally two-hundred twenty-five thousand. I calculated that this was more than my client would receive at trial if she won. With great pleasure and a lot of relief, H.G. accepted the offer and we had a settlement. I had achieved the goal I aim for with all of my long-term disability clients – settle for nothing less than trial dollars without going to trial.

Has your Long-Term Disability Claim Been Denied?

If your long-term disability claim has been denied, call Tim Louis at (604) 732-7678 for a free consultation. Get the compensation you deserve.

Get the help you need. Give Tim Louis a call today at (604) 732-7678 for a no-fee telephone consultation, during which he will answer all your questions, no matter how complex. If you have received the insurance claim denial in writing, he will also review the letter and schedule a second no-fee telephone consultation to review and assess that long-term disability claim denial.

Don’t let the insurance company bully you into a settlement. Before you accept any decision, contact Long-Term Disability Lawyer Tim Louis.

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Long Term Disability Plan Regulation

Tim Louis” target=”_blank” title=”Learn more about long-term disability plan regulation in BC”>Learn more about how the BC Government regulates long-term disability plans and long-term disability claims.

Fibromyalgia and Long-term Disability Claims

Fibromyalgia – Getting the Long-Term Disability Claim You Deserve

by Tim Louis

Fibromyalgia is a painful medical condition that many people in Vancouver and British Columbia face, and it is often misdiagnosed. About 2% of the population is affected by this very painful disease, and it has many side-effects that can make it very difficult to work or go about daily life. Going to work everyday and dealing with its symptoms of pain, fatigue, depression, sleep issues, memory troubles, headaches and even digestive problems can become extremely difficult. The chronic pain alone makes getting through a day of work impossible. While this is a long-term disability insurance issue, many insurance claims are denied. A long-term disability lawyer, like Tim Louis, can help you get the compensation you deserve if you are unable to return to work because of your diagnosis.

Fighting with your insurance company for long term disability benefits is an uphill battle no matter what your disability. This is why many people will choose to hire an experienced lawyer. However it is even more difficult if you have fibromyalgia. Bad enough that it causes pain throughout the entire musculoskeletal system and is known to cause mental problems such as issues with memory and maintaining a stable mood. Even worse is the fact that the symptoms are subjective. There is no objective way of testing fibromyalgia as there is with say a broken bone – an x-ray. This gives your insurance company an unfair advantage – you have no way of proving that you have this disabling condition.

There is no question that fibromyalgia can be profoundly disabling and is a disability. The federal government recognizes this. Canada Pension Plan disability benefits are awarded to many people with fibromyalgia every year.

Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain

As fibromyalgia causes chronic pain, it can be impossible for individuals who suffer from it to continue working. In Vancouver and all over British Columbia, I have acted for many fibromyalgia clients whose long-term disability benefits have been denied by their insurance company. I will always collect evidence from collateral witnesses. For instance a spouse that gives evidence that the insured is in pain all day can be decisive.

Many people with fibromyalgia will have good days and bad days. A good day is a gift from heaven, and my client will be tempted to do all the things they cannot do on bad days. Unfortunately this is not just a gift for my client, but also can be a gift from for my client’s insurance company. If they can obtain video surveillance of my client on this good day, they will try to use it to destroy my client’s case.

I once had a fibromyalgia client who heard a knock on his door one evening. He opened the door and a very charming woman told him her car had stalled and asked him if he could push the car. He was having a good day and kindly did so. Unbeknownst to him it was all a set up – he was filmed pushing the car. I am very proud of the fact that I still obtained $300k for him.

Long-Term Disability Claims

Living with such a painful disease as fibromyalgia can be difficult, and you deserve long-term disability benefits. If you have fibromyalgia and your insurance company has denied your claim for long term disability benefits you should retain an experienced lawyer. By working with Tim Louis & Co, our team will carefully gather the evidence, make a case and help you get the long-term disability benefits you deserve. Get started with a free consultation.

Hire a Long-Term Disability Lawyer to get Long-Term Disability Benefits for Fibromyalgia

When you need a long-term disability lawyer to truly represent your best interests and not the interests of a big law firm’s bottom line, you need Tim Louis in Vancouver BC.

Give Tim Louis a call today at (604) 732-7678 for a no-fee telephone consultation, during which he will answer all your questions, no matter how complex. He will gather the information about your condition of fibromyalgia needed to make a case for your need for long-term disability coverage, and answer all of your questions.

Tim Louis’ goal is to obtain for his clients an out-of-court settlement equal to what the client would achieve by going to trial. He does this by thoroughly preparing for trial, even though the goal is to settle before trial.

Learn More

Fibromyalgia – Learn More
Symptoms of Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia Association of Canada

long-term disability claims