It’s one of the biggest fears of every parent: a child who is physically or mentally disabled. AAP News, a newsmagazine by The American Academy of Pediatrics, said while there are fewer children who are physically disabled, a higher rate are now diagnosed with mental illness.
Many veterans come home from war with new physical ailments that will need to be treated. However, the Department of Veterans Affairs said up to 20 percent of the 2.3 million veterans who returned from Iraq and Afghanistan experience post-traumatic stress disorder at some point of their lives, which affects mental health far more than physical health. This can lead to depression, anxiety and, in some cases, even suicide.
At our offices, we see those terribly affected by disability on a daily basis. Many will end up waiting months, if not years, to be helped by Social Security Administration disability benefits. In Cook County alone, there are 158,840 people who receive disability benefits, unable to work in due to mental illness or physical disability.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has taken a lot of flack over the past few years when it comes to veterans benefits, and rightfully so. The backlog of those waiting for their benefits has been on the uprise for years, with the average wait time for benefits skyrocketing to 923 days by the end of 2013. Many were simply not getting the treatment they needed.
