How to get short term disability for bipolar problems?

[bipolarwife]

Hello.  My husband was diagnosed as bipolar about 2 years ago.  He started taking symbyax which made his feet start to swell but it really helped his symptoms.  When the feet swelling got bad he talked to his dr and his dr put him on this other med can't remember the name anyway it did just the opposite.  His behavior was worse than ever before.  He was angry and he had always been very successful at his career and he was just showing poor judgement and doing really strange things.  He lost his job while on the new meds.  I realized it must be the med and the dr changed his meds back to symbyax and luckily for whatever reason this time around his feet did not swell.  His behavior went back to normal.  The last 6 months he has been working a job that requires a-lot of travel.  He has been under huge stress and is starting to exhibit the same behaviors he had before he was diagnosed extreme depression and then all the sudden delusions doing something totally off the wall and hyper and he won't take care of his hygiene when he is depressed and I already know his work is poor quality and he knows too at times.  His employer offers short term disability.  We have never had to do this before.  Can he get it?  How do we go about trying to get it for him if so?  And if he is turned down does he just keep working?  He is the primary breadwinner I have been a stay at home mom for years I don't mind having him come home and me come to work it is just he is college educated and makes a fairly decent salary and I would probably make about $8.  We have 2 kids and he needs treatment as well as we all are hoping we can take advantage of short term disability.  I just don't know how to go about trying to get it without looking like we are asking for a handout.  Thanks in advance for any advice.

[tekmanmike]

get a note from the doc. I got disability from my job $200 dollars a week based on 50k a year. Not much, but it helped. They then let me go when I tried to come back-they screwed me over. His work would probably be different (long story). He can also do fmla any time he wants, federal law that lets him take off when he needs but doesnt get paid.

[Athena_M]

Yes, he should be able to get the disability especially if the employer is offering it. Maybe he can get a less stressful job in the company.  Men that travel get very lonely and stressed.