SSD Disability: Social Security Disability May be From Several Impairments, Not Just One

Social Security disability and Supplemental Security Income disability are based upon residual functional capacity rather than specific mental and/or physical impairments. In fact the very definition of Social Security disability states that an individual must not have been able to perform substantial work activity for a 12 month timeframe and that the individual expects to be unable to perform substantial work activity due to a severe medical and/or mental impairment, or impairments. Meaning that disability is not necessarily based on having one impairment or several impairments, but, rather, on how the impairment or impairments limits an individual's ability to work.

Brief aside: To answer what is often an inevitable question: No, you do not need to have been disabled for 12 months before filing for disability as SSA examiners can review your medical evidence and make a projection as to whether or not a claimant's state of disability will eventually last at least 12 months.

Many individuals win Social Security disability on the basis of multiple impairments, because multiple severe impairments are often likely to render an individual unable to perform work activity. An individual may have several impairments that would not by themselves result in a finding of disability by Social Security. However, if the combined limitations of the impairments severely restrict an individual’s residual functional capacity (what an individual can do in spite of the limitations imposed upon them by their mental and/or medical condition or conditions) they may still be found disabled by Social Security.

That being said, most individuals with multiple impairments find that it may take a little longer to win disability benefits, versus an individual whose impairment very clearly satisfies the requirements of a listing in the disability evaluation handbook.

Most individuals who win disability on the basis of multiple impairments are allowed through medical vocational allowances. Medical vocational allowances are based on other factors such as age, education, and work skills, in addition to the physical limitations caused by an individual’s impairment or impairments (and which can be concretely rated by a physician). Since some of the decisional criteria of this type of allowance is subjective, an individual may have to appeal their claim to an administrative law judge hearing in order to be approved for disability benefits.

Consequently, if you have multiple impairments that when taken in totality prevent you from working you may be able to win Social Security benefits if you have the perseverance to continue your disability claim through to the administrative law judge hearing level (the majority of claimants who are eventually approved receive their award following a hearing).

Many individual’s suffering from multiple impairments become discouraged if they are denied for disability with Social Security (as an examiner, I was continually amazed at how often I came across cases where a claimant had been denied years earlier and had decided to give up without a single appeal), so they do not avail themselves of the Social Security disability appeals process. Recently, I came across a statistic that indicated that two thirds of those who attend a social security disability hearing win. That win-loss statistic seems to have been fairly consistent in the last few years. So considering that there is such a great chance for approval at the hearings appeal level, individuals with multiple impairments should certainly take the approach of A) not giving up on claims and B) pursuing a claim through the appeals process at least as far as the ALJ hearing level.