Disability for Mental Health Conditions. Depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD.

What Social Security rates

For most mental health conditions, Social Security rates your limitation in four areas:

• Understanding, remembering, or applying information.
• Interacting with others.
• Concentrating, persisting, or maintaining pace.
• Adapting or managing yourself.

A claim meets a listing with an extreme limitation in one area or a marked limitation in two. There is a second route for serious and persistent conditions documented over at least two years with ongoing treatment and very limited ability to adapt to change.

When no listing is met

Most claims are decided on what work you could sustain. The limits that matter most are practical ones: how often you would be off task, how many days a month you would miss, whether you can deal with supervisors and coworkers, and whether you can handle routine changes. Vocational experts regularly testify that there is little tolerance for extra absences or time off task in any job.

Evidence that matters

• Regular treatment records from a psychiatrist, psychologist, therapist, or nurse practitioner.
• Medication history, including side effects and changes.
• Hospitalizations, crisis visits, and intensive outpatient programs.
• A treating provider’s written opinion on your work-related limits.
• Statements from people who see you often.

Our free doctor forms include a mental impairment form for your provider.

Why these claims are denied

• Gaps in treatment. Social Security often reads a gap as improvement.
• Notes that say “stable” or “doing well” without context.
• Treatment only from a primary care doctor.
• No provider opinion about work limits.

If cost or access has kept you from treatment, tell us. The reason for a gap matters and should be in the record.

Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders

Social Security has a listing for schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders. It covers schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, delusional disorder, and psychosis from other causes. The records need to document symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking or speech, or grossly disorganized behavior, along with the functional limits described above.

These claims often turn on consistency of treatment. Missed appointments and stopping medication are common with these conditions, and Social Security may read them as improvement or as a failure to follow treatment. When the illness itself is the reason, the record should say so. Hospital and crisis records, and statements from family or case managers who see the person regularly, carry weight because the claimant may not be able to describe the symptoms accurately.

Trauma-related disorders

Post-traumatic stress disorder and other trauma- and stressor-related disorders have their own listing. Social Security looks for documented exposure to a traumatic event followed by symptoms such as intrusive memories or flashbacks, avoidance of reminders, changes in mood or thinking, and heightened startle response or sleep disturbance.

The limits that decide these cases are usually about people and stress: difficulty being around the public, coworkers, or supervisors, and difficulty tolerating ordinary work pressure or change. Veterans with a VA rating for PTSD should send us the VA decision and treatment records. Social Security is not bound by the VA rating, but the underlying evidence must be considered.

Conditions we commonly see

Depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety and panic disorders, schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, other psychotic disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and other trauma-related disorders, and conditions that occur alongside chronic pain or physical illness. Physical and mental limits are considered together.

Next steps

If you have been denied, you have 60 days to appeal. See what to do after a denial in Arizona, SSDI in Arizona, and SSI in Arizona. There is no fee unless benefits are awarded.

If you are in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

J Disability Law Firm, PLLC · Joseph J. Duerst, Attorney · 18444 N. 25th Ave, Suite 420, Phoenix, AZ 85023 · (602) 607-0000. This page is general information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different. Past results do not predict the outcome of your case.