Mental Health
Mental Health as a Secondary Impairment
Living with a serious physical condition can bring on depression or anxiety, and those conditions can add real limits of their own. When a mental health condition develops alongside a physical impairment, it should be part of your claim. Social Security is required to consider the combined effect of everything you live with, not each condition in isolation.
How Social Security evaluates these claims
Social Security evaluates mental health claims under its listings for mental disorders, which look at how a condition affects your ability to understand and remember, concentrate and keep pace, interact with others, and manage yourself. Even where a mental condition does not meet a listing on its own, it can be the factor that tips a claim when combined with a physical impairment.
Limitations that matter
- Difficulty concentrating or keeping pace through a workday
- Trouble being reliable and present day after day
- Difficulty interacting with supervisors, coworkers, or the public
- Low energy, poor sleep, and reduced ability to manage routine tasks
Evidence that helps
- Records from a treating therapist, counselor, or psychiatrist
- A history of medication and its effects
- Notes describing how symptoms affect daily functioning
- A medical source statement (Form HA-1152) addressing mental limitations
Every case turns on its own facts and its own medical record. If you are living with a mental health as a secondary impairment and it has kept you from working, we can review your situation at no cost. Request a free consultation or learn more about how Social Security decides claims.
Talk with Dan about your claim
Every consultation is free, and there is no obligation. You pay no attorney fee unless your claim is won. Most of what we need can be handled over the phone.