If you are suffering from a mental health disability or one of many mental health disorders, you may be wondering about mental health and SSD. After all, mental health disorders can be as or more debilitating than physical disabilities and sufferers of mental health disability are just as entitled to Social Security Disability benefits as are those citizens suffering from physical disabilities. Getting the disability benefits you deserve is easier than ever – contact us right now to speak with an experienced advocate for free!
We will fight harder than anyone else to win your disability claim and get you the compensation you deserve!
Mental health and SSD can be a complicated issue, as the disability claims officials at the Social Security Administration are simply not trained and licensed mental health professionals. They may not understand the intricacies of mental health disorders, and they may make sufferers of mental health disability feel as though they are simply not sick or disabled enough to qualify for benefits because their particular condition does not persist every hour of every day.
The fact is that while mental health disorders and physical disabilities do have some parallels, they are not the same thing, and they need to be considered differently. If you are seeking out help for mental health and SSD, you should be aware that Social Security Disability benefits are available and issued regularly for many mental health disorders ranging from anxiety to mental retardation to substance abuse disorders and autism.
It is important that any applicant seeking out help for mental health and SSD have a comprehensive and well-documented medical history that proves the extent of your mental health disability and how it impacts not just your earning capacity, but your daily life and ability to function as a whole. Let us fight for you – we will handle the paperwork, you work on getting healthy.
About Mental Health Disorders
Mental health disorders are serious medical conditions. Sufferers are not weak-willed or possessing weak character; mental health disability is just as real and debilitating as physical health disabilities, and they are often overlooked by society, creating stigma in the minds of the afflicted. Mental health and SSD are an often misunderstood combination, as many sufferers don’t show symptoms all of the time. Additionally, there are many degrees of mental health disorders. Many people suffer from mental health disorders, but only about 6% of Americans suffer from what can be considered a mental health disability. Working with us will ensure that you stand the best chance of winning your disability claim. Speaking with us is easy and free – don’t waste anymore time, call us right away!
Mental health disorders can affect anyone, at any age, but they tend to target people in their prime, either during adolescence or young adulthood. Even young children can and do suffer from mental health disorders. It is estimated that roughly 10% of children and teens in the US suffer from serious mental health disorders. 4 out of 10 of the leading causes of social security disability in the US are mental health disorders. Mental health and SSD often go hand in hand.
Mental health disability can be utterly devastating without proper diagnosis and treatment, leading to a plethora of other problems ranging from unemployment and drug abuse to homelessness and even suicide. Fortunately, mental health disorders are becoming more and more recognized and less stigmatized by the mainstream, and with treatment and support from programs such as Social Security Disability benefits, mental health disability sufferers are getting the help they need and deserve. Mental health and SSD can completely change the lives of those suffering from mental health disability.
Symptoms of Mental Health Disorders
Because mental health disorders are so varied and diverse, their symptoms can also vary considerably. Mental health disability can affect any aspect of the personality, from thoughts and emotions to behaviors and actions. Mental health disorders are also notoriously insidious and subtle, because many times the sufferer themself is unaware of the changes in their own thinking. Some of the most common symptoms of mental health disorders include unusual feelings of sadness, confusion or excessive worrying and fear, mood changes or extreme highs and lows, withdrawal, lethargy, and in extreme cases delusions or hallucinations.
Physical manifestations of mental health disability can include appetite changes, drug abuse, changes in sex drive or response and even express in episodes of violence and/or rage behavior. Untreated, mental health disorders can lead to suicidal thoughts and even attempts at suicide or other acts of self-harm. Some sufferers of mental health disorders also feel physical pain, including stomach aches, headaches or other unexplained pains, sometimes severe.
Not all sadness is indicative of a mental health disability, but depression symptoms that last for an extended period of time and which interfere with your ability to function in daily activities should be cause for concern. These types of thoughts and feelings can lead to serious coping, stress or anger problems. In many cases, mental health disorders and depression symptoms are first recognized by family or friends rather than the afflicted.
You should see a doctor for your depression symptoms or potential mental health disability if they are affecting your daily life. The longer you wait, the worse and harder to treat they can become. If you or a loved one suffers from mental health problems, contacting us is your first step to obtaining the compensation that you deserve for your disability.
Applying for Social Security Disability for Mental Health Disorders
One of the under recognized problems associated with dealing with a mental health issue is the impact it can have on a sufferer financially. Mental health issues can make it impossible to deal with daily stressors in general, let alone function in a work-related environment. Social Security Disability can be a lifesaving benefit to those finding themselves under the cloud of severe depression or any other mental health disorder for an extended period of time.
The Social Security Administration has stated that more than 1.3 million beneficiaries of Social Security help get their Social Security Disability as a result of mood or mental health disabilities. Mental health disorders combined have become the second largest category for Social Security Disability claims, behind only orthopedic disorders in volume.
Mental health and SSD can often provide a safety net in situations in which the primary support member of a family can no longer meet their financial obligations. Social Security Disability help can ensure that families of those afflicted by mental health disabilities do not suffer needlessly.
Remember, Social Security Disability benefits exist because workers pay into the FICA system over the course of their working lives, and these benefits are designed to be used for mental or physical conditions that prevent someone from working to their capacity. Unfortunately, the Social Security Disability claims process can be extremely complex for mental health claimants. Because of this, it is imperative that claimants have proper records of their medical conditions and be able to demonstrate that they prevent them from working and that their condition is long-term and expected to continue for more than 12 months.
Get the disability benefits that you deserve – contact us now!
Treating Mental Health Disorders
Because there are so many different and varied forms of mental health disability diagnoses, the types of mental health treatment options are also many and varied. Generally, if you are suffering from mental health disability, you will have a treatment team rather than a single medical professional overseeing your care. This team may consist of a family doctor, a psychiatrist, a counselor and perhaps social workers and family members. The mental health treatment itself will likely consist of several different aspects as well.
Medications are often used to treat mental health disability, and there are many of them on the market that are used either alone or often in conjunction with other treatments. They can range from antidepressants to antianxiety medications and mood-stabilizing drugs. Depending upon the severity of your condition, you may also be prescribed anti-psychotic medication.
Counseling or psychotherapy are also often mental health treatment options for mental health disability. This is a process of talking with an educated, qualified mental health professional about your thoughts and feelings and learning coping tools and other strategies for managing your mood and stressors. Each therapy is different and tailored to the patient suffering from the mental health disability.
There are also more invasive treatments that can be implemented in conjunction with medications and counseling to help treat mental health disability, such as brain stimulating treatments, in-patient hospitalizations or residential treatments and substance abuse programs. Your mental health treatment will largely depend on the specifics of your mental health disability and the preferences of your treatment team.
Types of Mental Health Disorders that qualify for Social Security Disability
Organic Mental disorders, Schizophrenic Paranoid and other psychotic disorders, and Affective Disorders all qualify for ssd benefits. Our team can help sort through you or your loved ones disability symptoms and work with your doctors to win you your disability claim. Call our team now for a free consultation.
There are many different types of mental health disability and disorders that may be considered for mental health and SSD. Organic mental health disorders are mental health disorders that originate with a dysfunction in the brain. In order for mental health disorders to fall into this category they applicant must be able to demonstrate that their mental health disability results from an organic factor that has been determined to cause an abnormal mental state and a loss of previously obtained functional abilities.
This is demonstrated by loss of cognitive abilities, disorientation, short or long-term memory loss, delusions or hallucinations, mood disturbances, personality changes, loss or lack of control of emotional outbursts, and/or loss of at least 15 IQ points. These must be combined with at least two results including restriction in day to day living, loss of ability to function socially, and/or loss of concentration. Mental health and SSD can be a very complicated issue, but with proper documentation of mental health disability, sufferers can receive benefits.
Organic mental health disabilities are, in essence, fundamental dysfunctions within the mental processes of the brain. They are not inherently psychological or emotional in nature, and cannot be treated or cured successfully with counseling or psychiatry. They require the intervention of medications to stabilize chemical levels and maintain them artificially because the brain doesn’t do this naturally. They affect the way the world is perceived and are often life-long problems.
Sufferers of organic mental health disorders can benefit incredibly from mental health and SSD benefits, as they are often unable to function in the workforce.
Intellectual disability, Anxiety-related disorders, and Somatoform Disorders
There are many different types of mental health disorders that can qualify a person for mental health and SSD. Among the most common are intellectual disabilities that render the afflicted with sub-average levels of intelligence, which make holding down a job and financially supporting oneself a veritable impossibility. In order to benefit from mental health and SSD with these types of mental health disorders, the applicant must have an IQ lower than 59, or be dependent on others to handle personal needs, or an IQ of between 60 and 70 coupled with physical and mental impairment that significantly limit work-type functioning, or meet specific alternative criteria as set forth by the SSA.
Anxiety-related disorders can qualify an individual for mental health and SSD help, depending upon their severity and how they impact the overall functioning of the afflicted individual. Some things considered by the Social Security Administration when reviewing these types of claims include whether the applicant has persistent motor tension, apprehensive expectation, persistent irrational fear and/or recurrent severe panic attacks, among others.
Somatoform Disorders are disorders in which the sufferer of the mental health disorders feels physical pain or other symptoms where there are no organic or physiological causes. These symptoms need to have begun before the age of 30, caused the sufferer of the mental health disorders to seek out frequent physician consultations and take medicine frequently. These symptoms must be debilitating in nature and are reviewed by the Social Security Administration when considering mental health and SSD claims.
Getting Social Security Disability benefits for mental disorders
In order to be eligible for Social Security benefits for mental health disability or other mental health disorders, applicants for Social Security Disability benefits must meet certain criteria and be diagnosed with specific, recognized mental health disorders. Applicants must also have verifiable medical records and be able to demonstrate that their mental health disability prevents them from functioning well enough to hold down gainful employment or perform employment-related tasks.
In layman’s terms, to receive mental health and SSD help, an individual must be able to prove that their mental illness is so severe and debilitating that it literally prevents you from holding down a job and care for yourself financially. This can be due to any of a plethora of mental health disorders, but it must be something that you can demonstrate through medical records, doctor statements, and/or failed treatment plans.
Your claim for mental health and SSD help will be evaluated based upon several criteria, including whether it is organic (like dementia) or one of many other personality, anxiety, depressive, substance abuse disorders or intelligence disorders recognized by the SSA. In addition to proving that you have been diagnosed with a recognized disorder, you have to demonstrate that this disorder is of such a severity that it prevents you from working.
The specific requirements your will have to meet pertaining to mental health disorders differ depending upon your specific diagnosis, and can vary widely from diagnosis to diagnosis. If you are seeking mental health and SSD help for your mental health disability, the best first step is to get your medical records in order and contact experienced legal counsel.
No one will fight harder for your rights – contact our team of social security disability attorneys and advocates and get the ssd help you deserve!