Can I Qualify for Disability For Mental Illness?

What Mental Illnesses Qualify for Disability?

Any mental illness that makes it impossible for you to be able to work full time you from can qualify for disability. The most common mental illnesses that can qualify for disability are anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) amongst many others.

The Blue Book is used by the Social Security Administration to establish guidelines for which conditions qualify a claimant for Social Security disability benefits.

Section 12 of the Blue Book deals with mental disorders, detailing which types of mental disorders can qualify you for benefits, and under what circumstances. There are many mental health conditions that qualify for disability. There are nine categories of mental disorders covered in the Blue Book. These include

Affective disorders
Anxiety Disorders
Autism and related disorders
Intellectual disabilities
Organic Mental Disorders
Personality disorders
Schizophrenia, paranoia, and psychotic disorders
Somatoform disorders
Substance addiction

If you suffer from any of these medical conditions you should first of all seek medical attention as a doctor’s report is important for proving that your mental condition is severe enough to qualify for disability benefits.

As well as your doctor’s report you will need to gather further evidence proving that your mental health is likely to stop you from working for at least 12 months as well as looking in the SSA’s Blue Book that lists of conditions that qualify for Social Security disability benefits.

There are several mental health conditions that can be found in the Blue Book’s list that include bipolar disorder, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and schizophrenia.

If you can meet the medical requirements the SSA will consider that your mental health is a disability and may approve your claim for disability benefits.

Each type of disorder is evaluated according to its own set of criteria. To qualify for benefits with that condition, you must be able to show that you meet the criteria or that the sum total of all of your disabling conditions is equivalent to the listed criteria or otherwise completely hinders you from engaging in any gainful activity.

Regardless of which type of mental health disability you are dealing with, you will need to be able to show that you are receiving and complying with treatment.

It is important that you continue to undergo treatment while you are in the process of claiming Social Security disability benefits. If you have a mental health condition and you think it will make it unable for you to work full time, then you may want to speak with a disability lawyer or disability advocate.