What Conditions Will Qualify Me for Disability Benefits?
It is crucial to understand disability when talking about disability benefits. According to the SSA, disability is when a medical condition, like the ones listed later, lasts, or is predicted to last for over a year and results in an individual’s inability to earn. For further clarification, the SSA states that short-term disabilities or partial disabilities don’t qualify for benefits. This process can be tedious to go through and sometimes details can be missed. However, this is quite vague, with insufficient information on which conditions may qualify.
Common Conditions Qualifying for Disability Benefits
To understand what qualifies for disability benefits, one needs to recognize the specific medical conditions and their severity. Some common conditions often considered for benefits by the SSA are:
Musculoskeletal and Connective Tissue Disorders
These disorders have the potential to severely limit the individual’s ability to work, thus increasing the chances of securing disability benefits. Chronic inflammation of joints, which results in pain and stiffness. Arthritis makes it harder to finish your work which can help you qualify for benefits. Fibromyalgia is a disorder with widespread musculoskeletal pain, along with fatigue, sleep, and memory issues. It’s beneficial for those who suffer from this ailment to receive benefits. Chronic pain has a high chance of qualifying for benefits too. This especially applies to lower back pain, which hinders an individual’s ability to work greatly. Those who deal with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, which causes chronic pain, can look into benefits as this condition makes it difficult to work an everyday job.
Mental Disorders
Mental disorders can hinder an individual’s functioning, and, therefore, may qualify for disability benefit. Conditions like bipolar disorder or clinical depression are common conditions that qualify. Schizophrenia is a severe disorder hindering an individual’s ability to feel, behave, and think effectively, thus directly impacting the ability to work. PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, can be caused by severe trauma and is likely to disrupt daily functioning. Autism or Asperger’s syndrome are developmental disorders affecting an individual’s ability to socialize and communicate properly, which makes it harder to work. Alcoholism or drug addiction also sometimes qualify, depending on whether they severely impair a person’s life or not.
Cardiovascular and Circulatory Disorders
Cardiovascular conditions directly impact the heart and blood vessels, causing severe physical limitations. Angina, heart disease, and hypertension, these conditions lead to health problems that are hard to work around. It’s important for those who deal with this that they receive benefits. These benefits can help them with their everyday life and keep up with their medical bills. It’s important to keep your heart healthy and for individuals who deal with these ailments, unnecessary stress is bad for their health.
Nervous System and Sensory Conditions
Nervous system or sense organs-related conditions can also lead to significant disability and future health problems. Parkinson’s Disease is a progressive nervous system disorder affecting body movement. Meaning those who are diagnosed with this disorder must deal with it as it progresses. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, scientifically called Myalgia Encephalomyelitis, comes with intense fatigue that does not normally reduce with rest. Which makes it harder to work a full-time job. Visual and Auditory Disorders, such as blindness and hearing loss, can also greatly impact a person’s ability to work, and, therefore, may make professionals like doctors eligible for disability benefits.
Cancer
Aggressive cancers, one persisting after treatment, and cancers at advanced stages are likely to qualify for benefits as well. Similarly, the effects of treatments, including any cognitive impairments or fatigue, can also help in claiming benefits. Overall, the SSA considers the type, stage, and treatment effects, with the criteria detailed in SSA’s Blue Book. However, due to the complexity of the criteria, you should employ a social security claims attorney to evaluate your situation.
Conclusion
Eligibility for disability benefits considers more than simply the presence of a disability. The SSA also considers the work history, personal assets, severity of the condition, and the ability to perform other types of work. Due to the complexity of the criteria and the application process, it’s crucial to submit the correct document through the proper channels. Therefore, an expert evaluation can streamline the process and improve the chances of a successful claim, saving time, effort, and resources. They will make sure all your paperwork is in order and ensure that you get the benefits that you need.
Deepa Mahar is an independent blogger and admin of DeepAdvices who is exploring the beauty of the blog writing from a variety of subjects and books to health, science and others. She believes the blog would be helpful to the reader in the context of knowledge. She is post-graduated with a degree of Biotechnology.
