Applications for Social Security Disability and SSI disability are evaluated on the basis of both physical impairments and mental impairments, and they are evaluated much in the same manner. That is, it is not a claimant's diagnosed condition that will result in an approval of disability, but, rather, the extent to which their condition functionally limits them and their ability to work.
Obviously, since both disability examiners (who work on disability applications and disability reconsideration appeals) and disability judges (who render decisions at the hearing level) base their decision to approve or deny a claim on the perception of how a claimant's conditions limit them, it is surely in a claimant's best interests to point out everything that is wrong with them.
Despite this fact, though, some claimants fail to disclose all their conditions, including mental conditions, when they submit an application for disability benefits to the social security administration. As a disability examiner, I found it not uncommon to learn that a claimant suffered from anxiety or depression long after they had filed for disability, chiefly on the basis of a physical impairment (such as arthritis, fibromyalgia, or degenerative disc disease).
Why do some claimants fail to disclose all their conditions when they file an initial claim for benefits. The reasons probably vary. In some cases, a claimant may believe that, though they are treated for a mood disorder, or other psychiatric impairment, the severity of the condition may not warrant an approval for disability benefits. In other cases, an individual may not even be aware that they have a condition, even though testing or records indicate otherwise (a decline from premorbid IQ levels due to an organic cause might be one example). Of course, in other instances, a claimant may simply fail to include a condition on a disability application because they are no longer treated for the condition, though they once were. Lastly, of course, a person may simply forget to list a condition.
Regardless of the reasons, however, one thing is certain. Disability adjudicators (examiners and judges) are more likely to make decisions that are favorable to claimants when they have access to more information regarding a claimant's conditions and their history of treatment for these conditions.
What does this mean for the individual who is filing for social security disability or filing for SSI disability? Simply that you should provide full and complete information when you file a claim. This means proofing any documentation that you are about to send in to a social security office, and, perhaps, if you are known to have memory difficulties (which might be the case if you have a history of stroke, traumatic brain injury, fibromyaglia, depression, alzheimer's, ect), it may mean having someone assist you with the filing of your disability claim.
