What Mental Conditions Qualify for Social Security Disability Benefits?

For more than eighty years, the Social Security Administration has sought to provide retirees financial benefits. These come in the form of post-retirement income, benefits for widows, and coverage for disabilities. As a worker in San Antonio who has paid into the Social Security system, you expect to receive your fair share, but did you know you may receive benefits for certain mental conditions?

According to the Social Security Administration’s website, eleven types of mental conditions are recognized:

• Neurocognitive disorders
• Schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders
• Depressive, bipolar, and related disorders
• Intellectual disorders
• Anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders
• Somatic symptom and related disorders
• Personality and impulse-control disorders
• Autism spectrum disorder
• Neurodevelopmental disorders
• Eating disorders
• Trauma- and stressor-related disorders

Being diagnosed with any of the above disorders, however, does not guarantee immediate acceptance or payment of benefits. The Social Security Administration requires evidence from acceptable medical sources detailing the severity of the mental condition. The federal agency also asks you, in part, to provide evidence from people who know you, work-related evidence, and an assessment of how you live with your condition over time. This is all in addition to their own assessment of your condition.

If you’ve been regularly employed as a full-time San Antonio worker, you have performed your responsibility to pay into the system and it’s reasonable for you to expect Social Security payments. But you can see, however, there is a lot of bureaucracy to work through, and it’s not always easy to accomplish this on your own. Providing just the right documentation to establish that you qualify for benefits is critical. That’s why it’s important to seek the help of an attorney who will advocate on your behalf.

Determining what mental conditions qualify for Social Security disability benefits and providing the kind of evidence required by the Social Security Administration can be one of the most daunting tasks you will encounter. Even after gathering the information you need from your physicians and mental health professionals in San Antonio, it still may not be enough. This is because the evidence they seek is often subject to their own interpretation.

There can also be inherent bias or a lack of understanding regarding mental conditions that can jeopardize your right to these benefits. Getting the assistance of an experienced attorney can ensure your rights are protected.

The San Antonio Social Security disability lawyers of Carabin Shaw are here to help you. Our attorneys not only go over what mental conditions qualify you for Social Security disability benefits, they will also help you gather the evidence you need to present to the Social Security Administration so you can collect the benefits to which you’re entitled.

If you’ve had trouble collecting Social Security benefits for a mental condition in San Antonio, our lawyers are ready to meet with you to help. You can schedule an initial consultation with us at no charge to you. We will review the facts of your case to determine how best to proceed.

The San Antonio Social Security disability claims attorneys at Carabin Shaw have a wealth of experience helping people collect the benefits they deserve. As we work on your behalf to collect the documentation required, we never charge our clients any fees until we’re successful, and we aren’t intimidated by any government agency. This is because our attorneys believe our government should work for us, not against us. We make sure that happens.

Schedule an appointment with one of our attorneys today by calling us toll-free at 1.800.862.1260, or if you’re in San Antonio, to our local office at 210.222.2288.