All disability claims require medical evidence to prove that a medical impairment prevents a claimant from working. For claims based on mental health impairments such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and anxiety, medical records may often refer to...
Social Security Disability Benefits For Mental Conditions
Living with bipolar disorder? You may qualify for SSDI
Living with a mental illness can affect each person with an illness differently. Even if two people have the same or similar diagnoses, it does not mean that the condition will affect them both in the same way. As a result, someone with bipolar disorder may be able to...
Are SSDI approvals for mental health conditions down?
May is Mental Health Awareness month. While mental health and the many stigmas that are often associated with certain conditions have been more of a focus in recent years, there is still a long way to go before individuals fully understand how mood disorders, memory...
An Anxiety Disorder Can Have Paralyzing Effects
While mental health has received a greater focus lately, many people in Minnesota and elsewhere still do not fully understand how certain mental illnesses can affect a person's life. If someone experiences anxiety over certain situations, others may simply think the...
3 potential causes of mental disorders
The first thing that people must understand about mental disorders is that those who have these disorders did not cause them. They are being affected by them, just like any other disease, but they have no control over whether or not they have the disorder. It can...
What can trigger a panic attack?
If you suffer from panic attacks or have been diagnosed with panic disorder, you know how serious these episodes can be. When you're having one, your anxiety is higher than it has ever been. You may feel like you can barely breathe or think. It's hard to reign in your...
Obtaining Disability Benefits with a History of Drug Addiction or Alcoholism
One of the biggest hurdles to overcome in many disability cases is the issue of alcohol or drug abuse. The Social Security Administration is clear that neither alcohol or drug abuse on their own constitute severe impairments that qualify individuals for disability...
PTSD and Disability Benefits
According to the Mayo Clinic, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that is triggered by a terrifying event, either experienced or witnessed. Some symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety, and uncontrollable thoughts...
The Third Step in a Social Security Disability Case
The definition of disability is the inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medical determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous...
The Pandemic, Treatment Gaps, and Disability
The ongoing pandemic has created a difficult situation for many individuals with chronic conditions who have pending disability claims.Remember that disability cases are built on consistent medical treatment. The more providers you see and the more treatment you...
Covid-19, Autoimmune Disorders, and Disability
After two months of pandemic lockdowns around the country, many states are now allowing businesses to reopen, albeit with new social distancing policies.This has put many workers, particularly those with autoimmune disorders, in a bind.A common refrain I see on social...
Do people with cognitive impairments qualify for Social Security?
Memory and cognitive impairments can affect a person's mental health including their behaviors such as how they feel, think or act. A person suffering from a condition such as this may experience shifts in their ability to remember things from one moment to the next....
What are the symptoms of schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia is a devastating mental illness. While it can occur in teens, many people aren't diagnosed with the disorder until they're in their 20s or 30s. By that time, they may have launched businesses, developed careers and even started families -- so the sudden...
Crippling anxiety is a real disability
There are a hundred different ways or more that people deal with their stress and anxiety. Some meditate. Some take up yoga or martial arts. Some people just unwind with Netflix over the weekend before they face another week full of responsibilities and decisions....
When does schizophrenia manifest?
Unlike some other mental disorders, schizophrenia is not something that most people know they have from a young age. It takes some time to manifest, and they may only see the symptoms as they grow older.Generally speaking, those symptoms will not manifest prior to a...