How to Prove Depression for Social Security Disability Benefits
Official Transcript for the YouTube Video: “How to prove depression for Social Security Disability Benefits”.
Hi, I am Sharon Christie your nurse attorney for Social Security Disability Benefits. I work with a lot of people who suffer from depression. The big question that we always look at is how do we prove depression for Social Security Disability Benefits?
Now certainly we rely very heavily on the medical evidence that shows a diagnosis of depression but how do you measure how severe that depression is? You know having a condition like depression is not like having a broken leg. If you break your leg you have an x-ray that clearly shows the break. It is very obvious that you have a broken leg. With depression, there is no test that we can do to measure how much repression you have and so we look in the medical records for what you are reporting to your psychiatrist and psychologist, or therapist.
Proving Depression for Social Security Disability Benefits
What kinds of symptoms do you report to them? How frequently do you have those symptoms, and what I mean by that is how much do those symptoms limit you if you are depressed. For example, are you staying home most of the time? Who can back that up? Maybe somebody comes with you to the doctors and talks to the doctor and tells the doctor the same thing, or maybe you need somebody to go and do your grocery shopping for you because you do not even get out of the house to do that kind of activity.
So we are looking for the evidence within the records that actually shows how severe your condition is. Of course, if you have had recent psychiatric hospitalizations for a mental health condition that is one factor that is a very strong factor to prove the severity of your depression. Otherwise, we are looking for what you are reporting to your mental health professionals about how limited you are due to your depression.
About Sharon Christie Law:
Sharon Christie is the owner and founder of Sharon Christie Law, and is an attorney and former nurse. Her team of professionals and paraprofessionals help people win Social Security Disability Benefits! Our Social Security Disability Law Firm serves clients in Maryland, Southern Pennsylvania, Northern Virginia, and Washington DC.