Originally Posted by artjunki

So six months ago my brother was finally approved for his ssdi benefits. Hes been waiting to receive his back pay. He got really upset today after calling the ss office to ask about why things were moving so slow. They told him today that he was eligible for ssi so they would be splitting the backpay up into payments rather than one lump sum which he was expecting. They also mentioned the windfall elimination provision. Im trying to help keep him calm. Hes drawing because of mental issues and is really upset about not getting the lump sum because he was going to use it to fix his teeth. He suffers from intense depression and it was scary earlier because he started throwing away his meds saying he wouldnt need those anymore. Hes tried to kill himself once before so i just need some input so i can keep him calm. My mother called his lawyer just now but hes yet to call back and with the holiday coming up who knows when he'll get back to us. Can anyone tell me what is going on? The lawyer has already been paid. If he's drawing ssdi what does it mean when they say hes been approved for ssi? What changes? This is all so confusing.