Presenting the proper information can help increase the likelihood that your claim is approved.
As understanding, awareness and acceptance of mental health conditions in our society continues to grow, more applicants are requesting Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits on the basis of their mental health diagnosis. This may be for a condition such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bi-polar disorder, depression, schizophrenia, or a personality disorder.
While mental health conditions can result in a disability, claims for SSD benefits can be difficult to win. In most cases, it may be impossible to provide conclusive evidence of the existence of a mental health disorder, such as with a MRI or a CT scan. This is in contrast to many physical disabilities, which often can be proven via diagnostic testing. Instead, the Social Security Administration (SSA) adjudicators have to rely on treatment notes from psychologists, psychiatrists and other therapists to evaluate a diagnosis and make a determination as to the severity of the underlying condition and how it impacts an applicant’s ability to work.
As an experienced Social Security disability benefits lawyer can explain, there are some factors that may weigh in favor of approving a SSD benefits claim if you are applying based on a mental health condition as a primary or secondary impairment. Based on other applications that have been approved, some facts that may help your claim be approved include:
- A consistent treatment history that demonstrates that you have been seeking help for an issue for years, or a significant length of time;
- A specific diagnosis that is a result of a psychologist or a psychiatrist using diagnostic testing procedures;
- The use of psychotropic medications to treat your conditions, particularly if the dosage has increased over time;
- Mental health hospitalizations that shows the need for formal intervention;
- Evidence from third parties of significant problems with activities of daily living;
- Absence of substance abuse, which may otherwise cause an adjudicator to question whether the mental health condition is related to the alcohol or drug abuse or the mental health condition;
- Evidence that the condition causes behavior that interferes with the ability to work;
Support from one or more treating psychiatrists or psychologists.
While each case is unique, these factors can help to establish that a mental health condition is a disability that has interfered with a person’s ability to work such that he or she should be approved for SSD benefits. Of course, an application may also be approved if your ability to work is limited by symptoms of your mental health condition or by side effects from your medication. For example, if the medicine that you take to manage your mental health condition causes you to be excessively drowsy, that may prevent you from working.
Social Security Disability benefit claims can be complicated, particularly when the disability at issue does not have the type of conclusive diagnostic evidence that an SSA adjudicator might expect with many physical disabilities. Working with a seasoned Social Security disability benefits lawyer can help you put together the strongest possible case for obtaining SSD benefits for your mental health condition.
If you are seeking SSD benefits, PLBH can help. Contact our office today at (800) 435-7542 or info@plblaw.com to schedule a consultation and learn more about how we can assist you.