Your mental health condition can be the basis for a successful Social Security disability or SSI claim, if the condition is severe enough to prevent you from working.
Simply having a diagnosis such as “anxiety,” “depression” or “bipolar disorder,” is not enough for the Social Security Administration to grant you benefits. Rather, you must show that your mental health condition is severe enough to keep you from sustaining employment.
Social Security has several listed impairments that correspond to specific mental health conditions or diagnoses. The most frequently seen are Affective Disorders and Anxiety Disorders. Affective Disorders include Depression and Bipolar Disorder. Anxiety Disorders comprise 5 different conditions, including Generalized Anxiety Disorders, Phobic Disorders, Panic Disorders, Obsessive Compulsive Disorders, and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD.
We will work with your psychiatrist, psychologist, therapist or counselor to help with your Social Security claim. We will seek their opinion regarding the severity of your mental health condition.
Also, we can help these medical professionals to translate your mental symptoms into functional limitations that the Social Security Administration will use to evaluate your claim.
As a general rule, it is important for those with mental impairments to have a Social Security disability attorney to help with the Social Security disability or SSI process.
If you are wondering if your mental health condition is severe enough to receive disability benefits, and you live in Maine or New Hampshire, please ask for a free case evaluation.