 SSDRC What is the Application Process for Social Security Disability and SSI? How do you Win Benefits under Social Security Disability or SSI? If I am determined disabled, how far back will Social Security pay benefits? How do you prove your disability case if you have a mental condition? What Can I Do to Improve My Chances of Winning Disability Benefits Common Mistakes after Receiving a Denial of Social Security Disability or SSI Benefits How to File for Disability - Tips for Filing If You Get Approved For SSDI Will You Also Get Medicare? How much does a Social Security disability attorney get paid? Social Security Disability SSI Criteria and the Evaluation Process How long does it take to be approved for SSI or Social Security disability? What do you Need to Prove to Qualify for Disability Benefits? Social Security Disability SSI and Fibromyalgia Social Security Disability SSI and Degenerative Disc Disease Can I Qualify For Disability and Receive Benefits based on Depression? Answers to questions about SSD and SSI disability What Disabilities Qualify for SSI and Social Security Disability Benefits? Social Security Disability Status Social Security Disability Tips — how a claim gets worked on Social Security Disability, SSI Disability - Terms, Definitions, Concepts |
How do you prove your disability case if you have a mental condition?How to prove you are disabled and win disability benefits All social security disability and SSI cases are approved on the basis of what medical record documentation has to say about their condition. Medical record documentation can include records from mental health facilities, treating psychiatrists and psychologists, and even a claimant's own family physician in cases where the claimant is not actually treated by a mental health professional but, instead, is given a recurring prescription by their personal doctor. What do mental treatment records need to say about your condition? Ideally, they should provide some level of detail regarding a disability claimant's ability to engage in normal daily activities. An inability to engage in normal daily activities, or a reduced ability to persist in them, may be indicative of a claimant's inability to engage in work activity. In cases involving cognitive impairments (low IQ, memory loss), anxiety related impairments (panic attacks, agoraphobia, anxiety disorder), and affective impairments (such as bipolar disorder and depression), the social security administration, through the disability examiner reviewing the case, will be looking for evidence of characteristics such as a reduced ability to concentrate, learn instructions, follow instructions, and retain instructions. The disability examiner reviewing the case will note evidence of social impairment such as the claimant's ability or inability to get along with both managers and co-workers. Something, however, that both the disability examiner and the examiner's unit psychological consultant (disability examiners work in processing units to which both a unit medical consultant, and M.D. and a unit psychological consultant, a Ph.D.-level psychologist are attached) will be particularly attentive to will be evidence of episodes of decompensation. Decompensation is typically defined as the deterioration of something that was previously functioning at an adequate level. For social security disability and SSI purposes, decompensation, which may be the result of prolonged stress, fatigue, or psychiatric illness, stands as strong evidence of one's inability to consistently engage in work activity. After all, employees who repeatedly suffer from episodes of decompensation will find it difficult to perform their job functions to the levels at which an employer will expect, and extended and repetitive decompensatory episodes may result in termination of employment. In fact, it is for this reason that many mental conditions that are actually listed in the social security disability list of impairments will refer to episodes of decompensation that are repeated over time and which are of extended duration. What if you have a mental condition that does not result in extended episodes of decompensation? In such cases, can you still be approved for disability benefits? Yes, many applicants are approved because the totality of their medical evidence indicates that they lack the ability to maintain attention and concentration while on the job, or have memory deficits that significantly impair the ability to remember tasks and receive new training. And, in most cases, claimants who file claims for disability will list multiple conditions versus just one condition. In other words, the social security administration will consider all the limitations that result from all the various impairments that a claimant has. For example, a claimant may have back problems, depression, and carpal tunnel syndrome, and may possess age and vocational factors that make it improbable for them to engage in substantial gainful work activity. And, in fact, this is the reason why many applicants are sent to multiple consultative medical exams (examinations that social security both schedules and pays for) that are both physical and mental in nature. 
Return to: SSDRC, or the Questions, Answers, Tips, and Advice page Topics and Questions SSD and SSI are Federal Programs The title II Social Security Disability and title 16 SSI Disability programs operate under federal guidelines and, therefore, the program requirements--medical and non-medical--apply to all states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming Recent approval and denial statistics for various states can be viewed here: Social Security Disability, SSI Approval and Denial Statistics by state Special Section: Disability Lawyers and unnecessary claim denials |