writing a mental health narrative summary for the office of personnel management

OPM Medical Retirement: Life’s mortgage

Posted onAuthorFederal Disability Retirement AttorneyLeave a comment

We all know well the concept behind it – of borrowing against the object itself, in order to “half-possess”, occupy and enjoy it presently against a future promise that it will be paid over an incremental period of time.  Sort of like life itself, or at least of one’s health.  Borrowed time; life’s mortgage; banking on a better tomorrow; relying upon a promise being kept based upon today’s favorable circumstances over a lengthy period of time well into a future we can never be certain about. […] Read More …

OPM Disability Retirement Benefits: Was it all worth it?

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It is that penultimate question – the one that has multiple cousins and unwanted siblings, illegitimate off-springs and uninvited guests, like:  What is the meaning of my life (refer to previous posts concerning Russell’s quip that such pedantic queries are often the result of indigestion)?  Did I do the right thing (such lines of interrogatories often emerge from a guilty conscience, so you might not want to ask that one)? […] Read More …

Federal Employee Disability Retirement: The measurable advantage

Posted onAuthorRobert McGill1 Comment

How does one quantify a concept? It is where the clash of the hypothetical meets the practical, and the worlds collide in silent discourse of battling combat, no less real than armies charging at one another in abandonment of fear, safety or self-preservation. There are advance scouts that test the strength and durability of enemy lines; of tactical maneuvers to outflank and deceive; and even of repeatedly dying for the hill where no strategic purpose is recognized save the pride of the tattered flag that stands last as the reverberating echoes of garbled yells that reflect the platoon’s pride. […] Read More …

FERS & CSRS Disability Retirement: From Whence We Came

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It is often quipped that the advantage of human psychology is in our short memories; otherwise, we would walk around with greater angst than we deserve. The accomplishments achieved; the accolades left unstated; perhaps in menial tasks or ones of recognized significance; but in any event, a career, all told, which spans a decade or more, will always have a sense of achievement, […] Read More …

Federal Disability Retirement Lawyer: Insular Delusions

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The advantages of holding one’s own counsel are multiple: little internal strife; dictatorial rule; decision by fiat; complete control and dominance; no blame can accrue to others. The downside, of course, are just as numerous: no input from others; the limitation of new ideas, constrained by the perspective of one’s own thoughts and concerns; the fool’s impropriety of listening and following one’s own judgment; little to no brainstorming. […] Read More …

OPM Medical Retirement Attorney: The Cauldron of One’s Past

Posted onAuthorFederal Disability Retirement Attorney2 Comments

The oversized iron pot hangs over the open fire, and the gurgling of ingredients steams and burps the lid in predictable sequences of rhythmic timing; the aroma is an admixture of sweet and mysterious combinations of one knows-not-what; perhaps of bones, marrow and herbs, here a whiff of something which touches upon the dark recesses of one’s memory, and there a hint of harboring horrors, reminding us of past deeds and loathsome reminiscences. […] Read More …