9 Urgent Reasons for Finding a Diagnosis Unmasked
April 17, 2008
Updated 5/12/08
You’re on the verge of giving up the search for help with your illness. What’s the point? No one seems to know anything anyway. Here are nine urgent reasons you should not give up the fight.
- The solution to your problem may be simple. Why continue to suffer needlessly? You’ve already suffered too long. Secrets of Getting a Diagnosis Unmasked will teach you how to locate professionals who can help you find the answers you need.
- Trial and error can be dangerous. Some damage may be irreversible or fatal, and the symptoms of some terminal illnesses mimic the symptoms of illnesses that are not terminal.
- Validation by a professional can lead to more support from your loved ones. Cooperation from those you love is necessary for your complete or partial recovery. Most people with chronic illnesses don’t have that support because the people around them just don’t understand their struggles.
- Your income may be limited by mild to severe disability. Residual problems associated with long-term illness may take time to diagnose and control or reverse. You will not be approved for disability benefits without the diagnosis of a recognized professional. And if you choose alternative treatments, a recognized professional must support your choice before you can get disability benefits.
- If your illness is too far advanced, you may need to take medication. Though alternatives treatments are often most effective in the fight against chronic illness, some cases may be too advanced to respond to alternative treatments alone.
- A diagnosis may protect you financially in a divorce settlement. According to Rest Ministries, a non-profit Christian organization for people who live with chronic illness or pain, the divorce rate among the chronically ill is more than 75 percent. A documented diagnosis could release you from responsibility for delinquent taxes in some situations, even on a joint return. Contact the Internal Revenue Service for Publication 971 to see if you qualify.
- An accurate diagnosis can protect you from other legal proceedings. A diagnosis of hypochondria from one or more physicians who don’t understand can leave you open to accusations that you are not capable of making decisions for yourself or for your loved ones. Medical professionals attempted to involuntarily commit one woman to a mental health facility. These proceedings stopped only after authorities searched her health records without permission, interviewed people who didn’t realize the extent of her illness and she traveled to a larger city to get an accurate diagnosis.
- Your state may have an insurance plan for those who can’t afford commercial insurance. Because the number of Americans without insurance continues to skyrocket, several states have stopped waiting for solutions from the federal government and have developed or are developing plans of their own. Contact the office of your state’s insurance commissioner from the list at http://www.lifeinsurancehub.net/insurance-commissioners.html for more information. Though the list is about life insurance, these commissions regulate all types of insurance and should be familiar with your state plan, if there is one.
- The system will not change until illnesses like yours are documented through recognized channels. Acceptance follows awareness. They won’t know about your problem unless you and others like you speak up.
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From Secrets of Finding a Diagnosis Unmasked: Save Money and Time as You Navigate the Health Care System in Search of Help with a Chronic Illness
This book, by Jacqueline L. Jones, is the second edition of the book Secrets of Getting a Diagnosis Unmasked, and is available now as a download for $6 and as a paperback for $12 from Lulu.com.
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