Obtaining disability benefits for Schizophrenia
Can I qualify for disability benefits if I am suffering from the effects of Schizophrenia?
Author Attorney Greg Reed:
Approximately 3.2 million Americans have schizophrenia, a mental illness that interferes with a person’s ability to think clearly, manage emotions, make decisions, and relate to others.
People with schizophrenia often lose touch with reality and some are totally unaware that they even have the disorder, making it difficult to treat. Schizophrenia commonly affects men and women between the ages of 16 and 30, but is rarely diagnosed before the age of 12.
The first signs of schizophrenia are often a change of friends, sleep problems, and isolating oneself, symptoms that can be confused with depression or other psychosomatic disorders. Other symptoms of schizophrenia vary in severity and include:
- Hallucinations – hearing voices or seeing things others cannot see
- Delusions – false beliefs that don’t change even when presented with conflicting facts
- Unusual or dysfunctional way of thinking
- Agitated body movements or catatonia
- Speaking in a flat, disconnected manner
- Showing little interest in everyday life
- Reduced expression of emotions
- Difficulty beginning and sustaining activities
- Changes in memory or aspects of thinking
- Inability to understand information and make decisions
- Difficulty focusing and paying attention
- Trouble sustaining relationships
Though the cause of schizophrenia is unknown, scientists believe a combination of physical, genetic, psychological, and environmental factors can make a person more likely to develop the condition.
Schizophrenia tends to run in families – 10% of people with schizophrenia have a close relative with the disorder – but other factors could also contribute:
- Imbalances in brain chemistry
- Exposure to viruses
- Malnutrition before birth
- Problems with brain development before birth
- Mind-altering drugs taken during early adulthood
Contact a Social Security disability attorney at 512-454-4000 for a free consultation and see if you can get disability benefits while suffering from Schizophrenia. If you have been denied disability don’t give up!
Before giving a diagnosis of schizophrenia, a doctor must first rule out other conditions such as a brain tumor or bipolar disorder.
There is no cure for schizophrenia, but the disorder can be managed with anti-psychotic medications, psychotherapy, self-management strategies and education. Learning coping skills can enable a person with schizophrenia to continue a normal routine of attending school or working. Though many people respond well to medication and are able to hold a job, many cannot work.
The Social Security Administration recognizes schizophrenia as an impairment in its Blue Book under Section 12.03 and has strict criteria you must meet:
- Medical documentation of one or more of the following:
- Delusions or hallucinations;
- Disorganized thinking (speech); or
- Grossly disorganized behavior or catatonia.
- Extreme limitation of one, or marked limitation of two, of the following areas of mental functioning:
- Understand, remember, or apply information.
- Interact with others.
- Concentrate, persist, or maintain pace.
- Adapt or manage oneself.
- Your mental disorder in this listing category is “serious and persistent;” that is, you have a medically documented history of the existence of the disorder over a period of at least 2 years, and there is evidence of both:
- Medical treatment, mental health therapy, psychosocial support(s), or a highly structured setting(s) that is ongoing and that diminishes the symptoms and signs of your mental disorder; and
- Marginal adjustment, that is, you have minimal capacity to adapt to changes in your environment or to demands that are not already part of your daily life.
It is important to note that the Social Security Administration realizes that some people cannot satisfy the requirements of the listing because they live in highly protected and supervised situations, such as a hospital or clinic, that make thei