legal advice helping
I’m in a really complicated situation. In 2011 I was involuntarily committed after being raped and almost murdered. I was not ok, I was also using drugs so that landed me in the hospital. The doctor in the hospital wrote I was having “delusions” about being raped. Not true, I really was raped and never received any support for it. But the delusions claim led to a diagnosis of bipolar with psychosis. No one told me what I had, I was just told I had PTSD. During this time in the hospital, my mother somehow put me on disability without my knowledge. I do not know how she did it, but she did. I didn’t find out until 2013 when she asked if I wanted to go on disability for the PTSD I was suffering with. She said I’d have to go in front of a judge and tell the judge I’m unable to work/take care of myself financially and at that time I wasn’t able to. I didn’t realize this would be forever, I thought it was just temporary until I could get my living situation together. The hearing was actually to appoint my mom as my representative payee. Not to get on disability. I was apparently on disability for two years before this and I had no idea. My mom never gave me any of the benefits. Idk where they went. In 2020 I started working and wanted to cut contact with my mom. I believe she has Munchausen by proxy. I’m adopted and she made up claims my biological mom drank when pregnant so I have fetal alcohol syndrome among other things. My primary doctor finally wrote a letter to have my mom removed as my representative payee. Benefits started coming to me directly in February 2021. In 2020 I reported my mom to the social security fraud line, she was investigated by the IRS and it went nowhere. I called disability and asked to be taken off, and they won’t take me off unless I pay back every dollar since 2011, which I didn’t even receive. I have been trying to do everything by the book since 2021 to get off of disability. I work and make too much to receive benefits, but they still won’t take me off! I pulled my medical records and the psychiatrist that put me on disability lied in her claims stating I never had a substance abuse issue (I’ve been clean for 10 years, but this doctor recommended the rehab I went to so she clearly knows I had drug issues in the past), won’t take meds for bipolar (she told me I only have PTSD - for 11 years I never knew I had a bipolar diagnosis. I pulled my rehab records too and my only diagnoses were substance abuse & anxiety). This psychiatrist had sessions with my mom without me present and made diagnoses without me there. Do I need a lawyer? I don’t want to get in trouble for this. And how can I get off of disability? Would the easiest thing be to get reevaluated by a different doctor and submit the evaluation to disability? This has been so traumatizing for me. My mom even took me to court to try and get custody of my child and claimed I was “mentally incapacitated.” I told the judge about this situation and the judge told me I’m a great mom and fully understood why I don’t want my child around my mom