What If My Anxiety Or Depression Does Not Meet A Listing
Cant Work Due to Anxiety and Depression. Your depression or anxiety symptoms may not meet a listing. Fortunately, you can still qualify for Social Security disability benefits. In this case, Social Security will consider your residual functional capacity . Your RFC is what you can do even with your medical impairments. Particularly, Social Security looks at how your depression or anxiety symptoms impact your ability work. Specifically, they consider your ability to:
- Carry out simple instructions
- Respond appropriately to supervision and co-workers and
- Handle changes in a routine
- Show up to work consistently, arrive on time or leave early
What Are Counted As Resources
Lets start by whats NOT counted. The following items are NOT counted when SSA computes your resources:
- Any back benefits you will receive as a result of your favorable decision
- The home you live in and the land it is on, if its your primary residence
- Your household goods and personal effects
- One vehicle, regardless of its value, if it is used as transportation
- Grants, scholarships, fellowships, or gifts set aside to pay educational expenses, for a limited period of time after receipt
- Burial spaces and burial funds, up to a certain limit
- Life insurance policies, up to a certain limit
- Property thats essential to supporting yourself
WHAT DOES COUNT:
There are additional items that are NOT counted these are the most common.
It means that if you stopped using drugs or alcohol for three months or more and you were therefore no longer disabled, its a material component of your disability. On the other hand, if you stopped using drugs or alcohol for a period of three months or more, and you were still disabled due to other impairments, drug or alcohol is not a material component.
If you are actively using drugs or alcohol and your only impairment is mental, you are likely to have difficulty being approved for benefits.
If drug or alcohol addiction is found to be a material component of your disability, you cannot receive benefits.
What You Need To Get Ssd For Anxiety And Depression
Anxiety and depression are two of the most common types of mental illness. Most people who have with either anxiety or depression actually suffer from both. While some anxiety and depression sufferers find a way to function at a level permitting them to continue to work, many people afflicted with one or both illnesses simply cannot maintain a stable enough mental state to tolerate full time, consistent work hours.
On of the most important factors in a successful disability claim based on anxiety or depression is how long the record of treatment is. Social Security Disability benefits are granted to people who can present evidence that their impairment is long-term and severe. The SSA claim assessment agents must be convinced by the medical record that the claimed disability has is so severe that it prevents you from performing your traditional occupation and any reasonable alternative job appropriate for your age, training, educational background. The SSA refers to your present ability to do some job as your residual functional capacity.
Don’t Miss: Why Is It Hard To Shower When Depressed
Qualifying For Disability Based On Reduced Abilities Due To Depression
If you dont qualify under the SSAs requirements for major depression, above, you might still be able to get disability benefits. The SSA will consider your depression symptoms and how much they impair your ability to do the usual activities of daily living and if theres any kind of work you can be expected to do.
The SSA will give you a rating of the type of work it thinks you can do:
- semi-skilled work, or
- unskilled work.
This is called your residual functional capacity , and in the case of depression, its called a mental RFC rather than a physical RFC.
If the SSA finds that you can do at least unskilled workwhich is likely if you didnt meet the official listing aboveyou wont get disability benefits. But if the SSA finds that you cant perform even unskilled work , the SSA might grant you benefits under a medical-vocational allowance.
And if you have any type of physical impairment in addition to depression, your chance of qualifying for benefits can change. For example, lets say you get a mental RFC for unskilled work and a physical RFC for sedentary work. There might be very few jobs you can do in this category, and you might be able to qualify for benefits under a medical-vocational allowance.
Also Check: Can You Pass Out From An Anxiety Attack
Contact An Experienced Disability Lawyer
An experienced disability lawyer will be able to provide you with guidance and understanding as to what your rights and legal options are. A lawyer will explain to you what the legal process would be if you decide to commence a legal action against your insurance company and once you retain a lawyer, you no longer have to deal with the insurance company directly.
Our lawyers have helped many clients with anxiety and depression to successfully resolve their short-term and long-term disability claims against their insurance companies.
Recommended Reading: Is Alcohol A Stimulant Or Depressant
How Can I Get Disability For Depression
To get disability for depression, your condition must be severely debilitating and must qualify for the Social Security Administrations criteria. You need to make sure your condition is well documented and your medical records support your case.
The SSA relies mostly on medical and clinical records to determine if you qualify for the disability plan or not.
You must be diagnosed with persistent clinical depression that has lasted at least one year or almost one year. Your depression can also be intermittent but severe.
The SSAs criteria include an impairment listing on depressive disorders set by them. Listing 12.04 is used to determine the severity of your depression. If your depression is severe enough to interfere with your functioning and prevents you from doing your daily activities, you can apply for disability benefits.
You can apply online at ssa.gov or call at 1-800-772-1213 to start the disability application process. It usually takes between 3-5 months to get an initial decision regarding your claim from the SSA.
Long Term Disability Benefits For Anxiety
Disability claims based on anxiety may be met with skepticism from insurance companies. Due to its subjective nature, severe anxiety is often misunderstood or minimized. If your long-term disability claim was denied, we will develop your case to be in the absolute best position to win on appeal.
Insurance claims examiners routinely deny disability benefits for anxiety due to a lack of objective medical evidence and insufficient treatment history. Insurers may also be quick to undermine a claimants credibility, taking the view that a claimant is malingering, meaning someone is faking or exaggerating their symptoms.
Most claimants who suffer from anxiety and other mental health challenges dont know that most group disability policies and many individual policies will limit all mental disorders to two years of benefits. If benefits are granted, insurers will use the mental/nervous limitation to terminate benefits.
You May Like: Symptoms Of Stress And Depression
Other Mental Health Disability Benefit Programs
If you have a mental health disorder or illness which is disrupting your life and causing you financial stress, you should look into disability benefit programs. Many federal, state, and local initiatives provide assistance and financial support to individuals with mental health disabilities.
Some of these programs include:
- The SSAs Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program, which provides monthly benefits to qualified retired and disabled workers, as well as their dependents and families of insured workers
- State-specific programs, such as Michigans Disability Assistance Program , which provide cash assistance to eligible adults who are 65 years old or older and have a disability
- Medicaid Section 1115 Demonstration programs, which provide qualified Medicaid beneficiaries with substance use or mental health services
- Private disability programs, which assist commercial insurers. These are often included in an employers benefits package and are ideal for individuals with partial disabilities.
There are also many programs available that can help you through the disability benefits application process. Children or adults who are at risk of homelessness and have a severe mental illness, medical impairment, or co-occurring substance use disorder, for instance, may qualify for the SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery . Under this program, case managers work closely with eligible individuals to help them secure SSI and SSDI benefits.
Types Of Chronic Pain
- Chronic pain is challenging to live with. Chronic pain can involve:
- Chronic pain syndrome, a diagnosis that can involve one of many conditions that typically do not respond well to medical treatments
- Fibromyalgia, a chronic disease that can cause fatigue and widespread pain
- Back pain, which is considered the leading cause of disability worldwide and is more common in people with anxiety and depression
- Arthritis, which actually includes more than 100 associated inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis
As anyone with one of these medical diagnoses knows, the pain can be isolating and debilitating. It can be even more difficult for a person to function with these diseases when anxiety, depression or another mental health diagnosis is present.
Also Check: Clinical Depression Vs Situational Depression
If Your Application For Ssdi Or Ssi Has Been Denied
If you applied for disability benefits and were denied, do not despair. Most initial applications for SSDI or SSI benefits are denied. The government knows that most people will not appeal.
Our attorneys have helped thousands of clients obtain disability benefits, including success with mental health impairments. We have extensive experience in SSDI and SSI appeals. Let us put our experience to work for you.
Consider A Neuropsychological Evaluation
In addition to a personal narrative and supportive reports from your treating doctor, you may consider undergoing a Neuropsychological Evaluation. A neuropsychological evaluation will measure your cognitive deficits.
Neuropsychological testing objectively and scientifically measures how your disability is impacting your cognitive functioning. This includes memory, learning perception, problem solving, speed processing, verbal functioning, and executive functioning, among other things. The evaluation usually also includes IQ testing and screening for any primary or secondary psychological diagnoses. It also will include validity testing to demonstrate the reliability of the test results.
Many conclusions can be drawn from a valid neuropsychological evaluation, including your primary diagnosis, secondary diagnosis , and your deficits in specific areas of cognitive functioning. The results provide the insurance company with strong and objective evidence to demonstrate how and why your anxiety disorder impacts your ability to work.
Your narrative, doctors support, and additional neuropsychological testing will all go a long way in helping to prove your anxiety disorder long term disability claim.
Recommended Reading: Dealing With Anxiety And Depression
Read Also: Does Medicare Cover Tms Therapy For Depression
Streamline The Claims Process
This process can be complicated. If youre dealing with a serious mental health condition, it can be especially difficult. Thats why we recommend hiring an experienced lawyer to assist you throughout this process.
Roy Law Group specializes in going up against disability insurance companies. Our highly trained and compassionate lawyers can help you through every step of the short-term disability claim process.
Having a disability lawyer on your side exponentially increases the chance your claim will be accepted. Roy Law Group will take the hassle out of this process so you can focus on what really matters: your health.
Meeting A Disability Listing For Depression Or Bipolar Disorder
The Social Security Administration will automatically grant disability benefits for depression or bipolar disorder if you can show you have the symptoms and limitations listed in its official disability listing for depression or bipolar disorder. The SSA will consider treatment notes from your doctor or psychologist, mental status evaluations, psychological testing, and any reports of hospitalizations.
Symptoms. To qualify for either disability benefits on the basis of depression, you must show you have at least five of the following symptoms:
- distractibility
- involvement in risky activities with painful consequences that are not recognized, and/or
- increase in physical agitation or in in goal-directed activity .
Limitations. For either disorder, you must show that you also have a loss of abilities, either an extreme limitation in one of the following areas or a âmarkedâ limitation in two or more of the following areas:
- adapting to change or managing oneself
- concentrating on and finishing tasks
- interacting with others using use socially appropriate behaviors, and/or
- understanding, remembering, or using information .
Also Check: Need A Therapist For Depression
After You Apply For Benefits For Mdd
After you submit your application, your state’s disability determination services agency will assign your claim to a claims examiner for review. If your examiner doesn’t find enough evidence of your medical condition in your medical records, you may be required to attend an interview or undergo a “consultative mental exam” with an SSA-approved psychiatrist or psychologist to verify your condition. The process can take several months, but the more evidence and medical documentation you are able to provide, the better your chances of being able to get your claim approved.
If you receive a denial letter and feel your case is strong enough to win an appeal, consider contacting a disability lawyer. Applicants who go to an appeal hearing represented by a lawyer have a better approval rate than applicants who represent themselves.
Your Symptoms Do Not Prevent You From Working In Any Occupation
If you used to work in a physical labour type position, say at a factory or in construction, it would be understandable that your symptoms and medications would make performing your regular duties unsafe.
The insurance company might take the position that while you do have symptoms, these symptoms should not prevent you from working in some type of other work, like a sedentary position.
You May Like: Major Depressive Disorder In Women
Can You Get Disability For Anxiety And Depression
Anxiety and depression are both potentially serious mental health issues that can develop into severe disabilities if left untreated. If you have anxiety and/or depression, you may have trouble holding a job or earning enough money to support yourself. The Social Security Administration offers SSDI benefits for mental health-related disabilities, including anxiety and depression.
Depression And Anxiety Disability Benefits
Do you want to know the benefits of depression and anxiety? Are you interested in a complete search for reasons why people with depression and anxiety think disability benefits them?. If the answers to both of these questions are in positivity, then luckily you have gone for a right-click.
Read the article Depression and anxiety disability benefits and all your questions are going to be answered.
The Americans with Disabilities Act classifies depression as a mental disorder . Its a serious mood disorder that can interfere with day-to-day tasks, like the ability to function.
Depression can also be so serious that you are unable to function. Although the ADA provides access to assistance services, not everybody who suffers from depression is eligible for disability benefits.
Also Check: How to get a job with social anxiety
You May Like: Severe Depression Vs Major Depression
Social Security Disability Insurance
SSDI is the first program you may consider if depression has disrupted your ability to work. To qualify for the program, you must:
- prove you havent been able to work for at least 12 months
- have paid Social Security through paycheck deductions for the last 5 out of 10 years
The exact SSDI benefits you receive depend on your individual contributions to the Social Security system during your working years. On average, people on SSDI receive $1,165 per month as of 2014.
Showing Severe Impairments Or A Combination Of Impairments
Most people do not meet the criteria for a listing, and so do not automatically qualify for benefits. You can still prove you qualify for benefits by showing your medical condition prevents you from performing a full-time job. You can do this by offering medical records that show your conditions are severe or that you have a combination of impairments that prevent you from working.
Also Check: Is Prozac For Depression Or Anxiety
Depression And Anxiety Are Common With Chronic Pain Disorders
Depression and anxiety can play a role in applications for disability benefits for chronic pain disorders and other serious medical conditions.
Its no surprise that chronic pain disorders, depression and anxiety go hand in hand. After all, chronic pain can affect sleep, cause mood fluctuations, and limit peoples daily activities, work and recreation. If you have depression or anxiety with an illness or injury that causes debilitating chronic pain, your mental condition can play a role in your application for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits or Supplemental Security Income .
Disability Claims For Depression Dont Have To Be Hard
Throughout this article, weve discussed difficulties that may exist in proving that depression has resulted in a disability. But we should emphasize that building that case doesnt have to be hard. By keeping up with medical treatments, working with a disability lawyer, and developing the kinds of evidence discussed above, a person can make the process of qualifying for disability benefits much more streamlined.
Preszler Law Firm is a disability law firm in Toronto that helps clients suffering from depression and other mental-health issues obtain the benefits they deserve under an insurance policy or government program. If you or a loved one has become disabled as a result of depression, contact our lawyers today for a free consultation and insight into how you can build the strongest case possible for your disability claim.
Recommended Reading: What To Do When You Think You Are Depressed
Don’t Miss: What Is It Like To Have Severe Depression