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If you are applying for disability benefits on the basis of a physical impairment, but also have a history of a mental impairment (which could be psychiatric or psychological in nature), you may wish to seek treatment for this even if you do not plan to base your claim on this. Why? Because SSI disability claims and Social Security Disability Claims are evaluated on the basis of A) residual functional capacity, i.e. what a claimant is still able to do, and B) whether or not a claimant can still work, either at one of their former jobs or at some other type of work. This being the case, the limitations that might exist as a result of any of a claimant's impairments will be taken into consideration when the claim is evaluated. However, functional limitations cannot be proven without medical record documentation and this documentation will not come into being without a history of treatment. As you may have guessed by now, the fact that all impairments and their resulting limitations will be taken into consideration means that the following type of scenario can easily occur: for instance, if a claimant applies on the basis of emphysema and crohn's, but the records from the claimant's treating physician indicate some degree of depression, the adjudicator (decision maker, either a disability examiner or a disability judge at a disability hearing) will be compelled to investigate this aspect of the case. And that means that the attempt to gather additional documentation will be made. However, if the claimant has no current mental treatment, the claimant may be sent to a mental CE (CE stands for consultatiion examination, a type of examination that may entail physical or mental testing, which is conducted by an independent doctor, and which is paid for by the social security administration). The fact that a claimant is being sent to a consultative exam means that social security is investigating one or more of their conditions. But the results of a CE will only carry but so much weight. And, typically, disability claims are seldom won on the basis of CE exams. Ideally, the results of a CE should be supported by a developed record of treatment. In other words, if you've experienced depression or anxiety, you should seek treatment for this so records will then be available to the disability adjudicator. This will allow the decision maker to learn about the severity of the condition, how limiting it is and may potentially be, and determine how long a particular condition has been limiting (longitudinal history). As social security views things, if a problem has not been severe enough to draw you to treatment then, most likely, it is simply not severe. Also, if you have a problem, physical or mental, but do not have medical records to substantiate how your condition has affected and limited your ability to work (or engage in age-appropriate activities such as school if you are a child applicant), then it is unlikley that you will be able to prove your case. In instances where the medical records are "lacking", a claimant may be sent to an independent consultative examinination, or CE. However, as we said, exams of this sort seldom ever substitute for a history of treatment, and very few cases are ever won solely on the basis of a consultative examination. 
Social Security Disability and SSI Disability Information
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