Medical Conditions, Medications, Treatment and Social Security Disability

Probably the most common combination of impairments is a physical impairment such as a back injury and that individual develops depression as a result of the difficulties in dealing with that physical injury. One mistake many claimants make is that they minimize or do not include depression in their claims because in their mind the back condition or other physical ailments is the main source of their disability. This can be a costly mistake particularly if you are under 50 years old and have to show that you can't even do sedentary work. Social Security is very reluctant to find anybody with physical impairments to not be able to do sedentary work. However, if you have additional limitations from depression or other psychiatric disorder, these psychiatric limitations are of the type is severe enough to prevent even sedentary work.

Depression can result and often does from many different medical conditions. The hardships involved in having a disability whether it be multiple sclerosis, back pain, RSD, stroke, cancer and a multitude of other medical conditions can often lead to depression. Depression can affect one's ability to concentrate, remember things, keep the schedule, and so on. These types of limitations can have a huge impact on one's ability to work.

There is an infinite number of combinations of medical conditions that together can show one is disabled even though the individual medical conditions are not enough to be disabling. Take for example, carpel tunnel syndrome, this medical condition usually by itself is not enough to show was disabled unless it is severe and uncorrectable by surgery. However, if it is combined with a physical impairment that limits you to sedentary work, if the carpel tunnel syndrome affects the use of your hands it could lead to a favorable result on your disability claim.

Asthma by itself is rarely disabling enough to prevent someone from working. However, moderate to severe asthma that is affected by environmental factors such as dust, smoke, perfumes, heat and cold can add additional environmental limitations to the limitations from your other medical conditions which can reduce the number of jobs you could do.

Your medications, although not a medical condition, may cause additional limitations on top of your medical conditions which can help prove you are disabled. For example, if you suffer from a medical condition with severe pain, you may be prescribed narcotic pain medication. This type of medication is known to have side effects that include, difficulty concentrating, memory problems, and fatigue. Side effects from medication are not limited to narcotic pain medications. If you suffered a stroke or heart attack you may be on blood thinners. Because these medications can cause excessive bleeding upon injury it can limit the environment in which you work and thus limiting the number of jobs possibly available to you.

The treatment you get or the medical assistive devices you use for your medical conditions can also have an impact on your claim for disability. I will now mention some examples. If you have a medical condition that requires you to get treatment on a scheduled regular basis that would mean you would have to take time away from work to get these treatments on a regular basis this may prevent you from being able to keep a regular work schedule. You may use a cane to help you with ambulation this can have a large impact on a Social Security disability claim. A walker has an even larger impact on a Social Security disability claim. If your medical condition causes you to use the bathroom frequently this to can impact one's ability to work because there is a limit that employers will tolerate.

I mention these examples so that when you are pursuing your Social Security disability benefits you will know to look at all your medical conditions,treatment and side effects from your medication to help paint the picture of why you are unable to work. Getting Social Security disability benefits is rarely a matter of getting your medical records that show your medical condition. You must be able to show as a result of all your medical conditions, limitations from them, the treatment, and the side effects from medication that it is clear that you cannot perform a significant number of jobs.

I hope this page makes clear that the goal in a claim for Social Security disability is not merely to show your medical conditions but to prove as a result of your medical conditions all the limitations you have that stem from all your medical conditions, medications and treatment that you cannot work.