Many people applying for Social Security disability benefits who have physical impairments know they are not the same as they used to be cognitively yet never seek treatment for depression. These individuals may notice difficulty in relationships, unexplained crying spells, feelings of worthlessness, memory loss and many other symptoms. Despite the symptoms many of these individuals don't get help because of the stigma involved with mental illness or it quite simply never occurs to them it could be depression. Most people who live with chronic pain or illness will probably suffer from some degree of depression as a result. Getting treatment is extremely important for one's health and also can be important for one's Social Security disability or SSI claim. To understand how a diagnosis of depression can affect an ssdi claim please see my web-page called depression and Social Security disability. After reading my website page I think you will see the importance of getting treatment for your depression as it relates to your Social Security disability claim. I think I should make clear here that if you have no symptoms of depression than you should not claim depression in your Social Security disability claim. The reason for me discussing this issue is because I often see people with multiple medical conditions who clearly have symptoms of depression yet never get checked by a psychiatrist. You must always remember that Social Security will look at all of your medical conditions combined to determine if you are disabled. So even if depression is just one of your many medical conditions if you are getting treatment for it and you are limited in any way from it then it should help your Social Security disability claim.