Is Mental Health Considered In An SSDI Claim?

Mental health problems are absolutely considered disabilities under Social Security’s rules, but it can be more difficult to prove them to obtain SSDI benefits. In this video, Oklahoma disability attorney Steve Troutman explains how mental health claims are harder to prove by providing a comparison to physical disability claims.

If you are thinking of filing a claim for mental health disability but are unsure of whether it is worth the cost of consulting with a disability law firm, you should know that disability lawyers are among the most affordable legal representation you can get. Under the law, Social Security Disability attorneys are only allowed to recoup attorney costs amounting to $6,000 maximum or 25 percent of your back benefits upon your case’s success – whichever number is lower. This means that no matter what, you will never pay more than $6,000 for legal aid, and all future benefits are yours to keep. As it is much more difficult to apply for disability and navigate SSA paperwork and hearings without an attorney, you have nothing to lose by contacting our Tulsa law firm.

Video Transcription

Social Security is supposed to take into account mental health. They do consider mental health issues. I honestly believe that it’s more difficult to convince Social Security that mental health issues are disabling. The reason I think that’s the case is that mental health issues are more subjective. I tell people all the time when I deal with mental health cases that if you have a back injury and you have an MRI, you can pretty quickly show that the MRI would reasonably elicit pain. And so for people who have had back trauma, there should be objective evidence to show what that’s all about. When somebody suffers from anxiety, it’s just more difficult. We can have a psychologist give his opinion as to how the person’s doing and psychiatric notes and that sort of thing, but still, a lot of it’s subjective, and I think for that reason it’s just more difficult to convince Social Security.

To have a free evaluation of your disability claim, call us at (918) 587-0050 or visit us at TroutmanLaw.com.