Do I need to go through my doctor in order to receive papers for disability or do I need to just apply?

Apply for the disability yourself. The insurance company or Social Security will take care of gathering the pertinent medical records for review. The doctor's staff can charge a fee for filling out the forms. My husband received disability through his employer. Part of the insurance company's service was coordinating such matters. I highly recommend that you keep in touch with your case manager after you apply to check periodically that they are getting the information they need in a timely manner. We had one doctor's office that repeatedly failed to forward case notes for periodic status updates. His disability check was cut off without notice to us once and it took 3-4 months to get it started again with back pay. We found out it was discontinued the day the monthly payment did not get direct deposited into our bank account!

I believe going through the doctor helps the process move a bit smoother