There is no listing in the social security disability list of impairments titled "stress" or "nerves", but you see these allegations listed frequently on applications for disability. In some cases, the individuals who list these conditions are actively receiving treatment for an anxiety disorder such as agoraphobia or panic attacks, or PTSD from a mental health professional such as a psychologist or psychiatrist. In other instances, an individual will simply receive a prescription for an anti-anxiety medication from their family internist. And, in other cases, the claimant will never have had mental health treatment of any kind whatsoever (its certainly debatable as to whether or not receiving a prescription from a general practitioner qualifies as "mental health treatment", but this would be using the loosest definition possible).
What happens if you list "stress" on a disability application? Well, the same thing that happens to every disability application in terms of the way it is evaluated and, therefore, the rest of this post will describe the general process for evaluating a disability claim. In a later post, however, we address how the social security administration concerns itself with anxiety-related disorders.
In a very basic sense, Social Security views all mental impairments in the same light when it comes to qualifying for disability benefits. By this I mean, Social Security considers any medically determinable mental or physical impairment to be a disability if it has prevented you from working at a substantial gainful activity level for twelve months, or you expect to be unable to work for twelve months, or your condition is expected to end in death.
If you are filing a disability claim based upon stress, it is important for you to have a history of medical treatment for your stress problem. Generally, it is helpful to your disability claim to have at least a twelve month history of mental health treatment for your stress condition. However, even if you do not have twelve months of mental health treatment it is important to have some kind of medical treatment for your stress condition within the past ninety days.
Social Security considers treatment notes to be current if they are ninety days old or less. If you have no treatment for your stress problems or your treatment is not current, you will most likely be scheduled for a consultative mental health examination to ascertain your current mental status.
Social Security disability examiners will consider treatment notes from hospitals and treating mental and medical heath professionals, as well as the results of objective testing when making a Social Security medical disability decision, so be sure to provide Social Security with any treatment you have had for stress when you file your initial disability claim.
Social Security may also consider A) information provided by a third party (generally the person you listed on your initial disability application as a person who was aware of your disabling condition and how it has affected your daily life) and B) the information you provided as to how your condition affects your ability to perform routine daily activities including but not limited to work activity.
It is possible to win disability on the basis of stress, or any medically determinable impairment,---if you have objective medical evidence that supports your allegation that you have a severe impairment that causes you to be unable to perform substantial work activity.
Another way of putting it is that if you are able to prove that your residual functional capacity (what you are able to due in spite of your stress condition) is so restrictive that it prevents you from doing work that you have done in the past, or suitable other forms of work, you will most likely be awarded disability benefits.
