February 2012

Psychiatric Disorders
as Basis for Disability

People who suffer from psychiatric disorders may be eligible for Social Security disability benefits. Along with traditional psychiatric diagnoses and substance abuse, eligibility can be triggered by various cognitive disorders caused by strokes or head injuries.

A simple way to assess potential eligibility is to ask whether the person’s emotional problems prevent performing a full-time job on a regular, sustained and predictable basis. If the answer could be yes, then encourage the client to apply and let Social Security make a decision.

Claims involving psychiatric disorders can also be won when the emotional problem is part of what is called a "combination of impairments." For example, if you are seeing someone who is depressed because of serious back pain or a heart condition, of cancer - consider the overlay of the emotional issue of depression along with the physical problem. These combined impairments often can create a winning disability case.

There always needs to be a clear psychiatric diagnosis and clinical record supporting the claim, and then, as always, functional limitation becomes the test. The person's memory, ability to concentrate, and capacity for persistence and pace are evaluated, along with social functioning and present activities of daily living. If the person has deteriorated in past work settings, this is also extremely important to document. There must be a psychiatric diagnosis PLUS functional limitations.

In a quick hour, we can answer questions you have about disability based on any psychiatric disorder. We'll bring you up to speed on your area of interest and improve your ability to help clients and patients.

Did you know?

With the freshly announced 3.6% COLA increase, the first since 2009, this information is interesting:

• Disabled workers: 8.5 million receiving benefits
• Spouses and children: 5 million receiving benefits
• Widows, widowers and surviving children receiving benefits: 6.3 million
• Total retirement, disability and survivor benefits to be paid in 2011: $727 billion
• Average monthly payment in August 2011: $1,082
• Average monthly increase next year: $39
  

Call our office to schedule an appointment or a free seminar on any topic
Often patients are reluctant to admit the severity of depression, but it can make the difference between winning or not.

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