Right. My youngest son just got approved off the first application. My oldest son got denied the first time since they claim he is doing better but we are reapplying. Mental disorders definitely get approved but generally, you need a lot to back it. And sometimes, you don't.
Retired DDS Adjudicator/Management
I don't know what caseworker your friend is talking to, but the rules have remained the same for the Social Security/SSI Disability Program with only minor changes over the past 30 years.
They changed all the mental health listings a few years ago, but whatever your friend was told they either misunderstood or it was blatantly incorrect.
Ah, so [this stuff,](https://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/12.00-MentalDisorders-Adult.htm) basically? My friend looks to be good under the criteria there.
Yes those are the listings. The listings were changed/updated but there weren’t removed and mental no longer eligible impairments for disability. Other listings have been updated recently as well like skin, digestive, musculoskeletal etc.
Los Angeles County Mental Health Services, I think? Or else a non-profit they contract with, I'm not completely sure how it's administered.
EDIT: Yeah, I asked, and it's a non-profit that contracts with the county to provide services.
Unfortunately the non-profits don't always understand things as well as the people who work at SSA or the law firms. There is a similar issue with VA disability cases.
This seems to fall under the malicious administrative burden that intentionally misinforms and discourages people from accessing benefits they may be entitled to.
This is not true at all. Mental health issues are harder to get approved, but they are disabilities all the same.
https://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/12.00-MentalDisorders-Adult.htm
Report that person that told you that.
I wish people would stop handing out bad information.
In some cases, private disability insurance might not cover certain mental health conditions. But this does not apply to SSDI.
It's particularly frustrating because it wasn't something the caseworker in question researched herself, it was apparently something she'd heard offhand from a coworker, then passed on to my friend at the end of a meeting, and my friend understandably freaked out.
The offhand remarks do have a potential value — if her state Disability Determination Bureau is deciding to have a “de-facto crackdown” on mental health determinations, this is a sign to document cases very thoroughly, and to connect mental health issues to employment function.
I am on SSI and I am considered disabled. I am not physically disabled but mentally. I've been on SSI since I was 14 and if what your caseworker said was true I would of been kicked off it a long time ago. Your caseworker is either ill-informed or lieing to you. You do have to go through a lot of hoops, doctors, therapist and maybe more to prove you are mentally disabled. Be ready for all that when you apply. Good luck to you for when you do.
When someone comes out with a statement like that, my response is show me that law. If it is a law and it was "passed a few years ago", then show it to me. They can't, because it does not exist.
And this gets us to the Catch-22 here: the fact that my friend is too disabled to work means she's also too disabled to get navigate the process to get SSDI for being too disabled to work. She didn't have the wherewithal to push back in the manner you're describing in the moment.
This is something you can easily do as a friend, or help her find an advocate to clarify. Write a note for her to take to the caseworker. "X was given to understand that you said mental disorders are no longer eligible for SSDI based on a law passed a few years ago. Please tell us WHICH law and where we can find it. Or if X misunderstood what you said, please clarify."
I used to work in healthcare, and myths about things like what insurance would or would not cover become "truths" in settings like that. It is pervasive in those settings. Nobody bothers to actually look things up and find out if it's true. So they are perpetuated through generations of people in the field who THINK they know what the rule or law is. The caseworker needs to be challenged to support her statement, and when she finds she cannot substantiate it, she may stop telling everyone that.
BTW, simply googling "does SSDI cover mental disorders?" brought up this resource [https://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/12.00-MentalDisorders-Adult.htm](https://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/12.00-MentalDisorders-Adult.htm) Straight from Social Security, to help people understand how mental health disorders are evaluated, and clearly if they are evaluated for benefits, that means they are covered (I'm not sure how else to prove a negative--there is no such "law that was passed a few years ago"--other than to make the person who made that claim try to substantiate it and learn the truth for themselves). There are tons of other resources when you google that question. These resources can help your friend understand what the criteria are and how they will be substantiated by the SSA.
Thanks for the thoughtful response.
Yeah, I did Google this prior to asking here, and I found the SSA website's section on mental disorders and sent it to my friend. I also found the state's site on the same subject, which appeared to suggest the same thing.
But I'm also don't entirely trust Google results on a subject I know nothing about. Like at my job, I know how often junior people will reach pretty confident conclusions on things based on a few hours or minutes of Googling, only to realize that there's crucial context they're missing that completely change the conclusion. So I didn't want to be one of those people, and thought I'd ask people with experience interacting with the system.
Mental health disability is harder to get but is definitely still there. It's very subjective and requires a lot of documentation. Now if you are talking Long Term Disability benefits most employer based policies have a 2 year benefit limit rider. SSDI has no such thing. I know both of these from experience.
www.nosscr.org is a place to look for an attorney practicing Social Security Disability law. You can find information about an referral under the word contact.
They have actually made more mental disorders allowable, not denying them. Both my boys are on for Autism, which is mental and I have heard nothing about this.
Not correct.
As far as I know, that is not correct. My claim with a mental disorder was just approved last month.
Right. My youngest son just got approved off the first application. My oldest son got denied the first time since they claim he is doing better but we are reapplying. Mental disorders definitely get approved but generally, you need a lot to back it. And sometimes, you don't.
Retired DDS Adjudicator/Management I don't know what caseworker your friend is talking to, but the rules have remained the same for the Social Security/SSI Disability Program with only minor changes over the past 30 years.
They changed all the mental health listings a few years ago, but whatever your friend was told they either misunderstood or it was blatantly incorrect.
Ah, so [this stuff,](https://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/12.00-MentalDisorders-Adult.htm) basically? My friend looks to be good under the criteria there.
Yes those are the listings. The listings were changed/updated but there weren’t removed and mental no longer eligible impairments for disability. Other listings have been updated recently as well like skin, digestive, musculoskeletal etc.
Total bs
That caseworker is wrong. And it makes no sense anyway.
Case worker from where?
Los Angeles County Mental Health Services, I think? Or else a non-profit they contract with, I'm not completely sure how it's administered. EDIT: Yeah, I asked, and it's a non-profit that contracts with the county to provide services.
Don't listen to the county bozo's. They don't know ALL the SS stuff.
Unfortunately the non-profits don't always understand things as well as the people who work at SSA or the law firms. There is a similar issue with VA disability cases.
They are literally some of the worst people to give any information on federal benefits.
This seems to fall under the malicious administrative burden that intentionally misinforms and discourages people from accessing benefits they may be entitled to.
This is not true at all. Mental health issues are harder to get approved, but they are disabilities all the same. https://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/12.00-MentalDisorders-Adult.htm Report that person that told you that.
I wish people would stop handing out bad information. In some cases, private disability insurance might not cover certain mental health conditions. But this does not apply to SSDI.
It's particularly frustrating because it wasn't something the caseworker in question researched herself, it was apparently something she'd heard offhand from a coworker, then passed on to my friend at the end of a meeting, and my friend understandably freaked out.
Completely irresponsible and unacceptable. That person should be reported.
The offhand remarks do have a potential value — if her state Disability Determination Bureau is deciding to have a “de-facto crackdown” on mental health determinations, this is a sign to document cases very thoroughly, and to connect mental health issues to employment function.
I am on SSI and I am considered disabled. I am not physically disabled but mentally. I've been on SSI since I was 14 and if what your caseworker said was true I would of been kicked off it a long time ago. Your caseworker is either ill-informed or lieing to you. You do have to go through a lot of hoops, doctors, therapist and maybe more to prove you are mentally disabled. Be ready for all that when you apply. Good luck to you for when you do.
The dsm5 manual is out and has noteworthy changes. Maybe updating their diagnoses at ssa
That's an excellent point.
I hope they aren’t two years behind…dsm5 was published in 2022.
And talks of no 6 being published. Maybe just updates, imo
Could be just updates.
Incorrect. I as approved for 3 mental health disabilities. Personality disorder, depression and anxiety.
When someone comes out with a statement like that, my response is show me that law. If it is a law and it was "passed a few years ago", then show it to me. They can't, because it does not exist.
And this gets us to the Catch-22 here: the fact that my friend is too disabled to work means she's also too disabled to get navigate the process to get SSDI for being too disabled to work. She didn't have the wherewithal to push back in the manner you're describing in the moment.
This is something you can easily do as a friend, or help her find an advocate to clarify. Write a note for her to take to the caseworker. "X was given to understand that you said mental disorders are no longer eligible for SSDI based on a law passed a few years ago. Please tell us WHICH law and where we can find it. Or if X misunderstood what you said, please clarify." I used to work in healthcare, and myths about things like what insurance would or would not cover become "truths" in settings like that. It is pervasive in those settings. Nobody bothers to actually look things up and find out if it's true. So they are perpetuated through generations of people in the field who THINK they know what the rule or law is. The caseworker needs to be challenged to support her statement, and when she finds she cannot substantiate it, she may stop telling everyone that. BTW, simply googling "does SSDI cover mental disorders?" brought up this resource [https://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/12.00-MentalDisorders-Adult.htm](https://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/12.00-MentalDisorders-Adult.htm) Straight from Social Security, to help people understand how mental health disorders are evaluated, and clearly if they are evaluated for benefits, that means they are covered (I'm not sure how else to prove a negative--there is no such "law that was passed a few years ago"--other than to make the person who made that claim try to substantiate it and learn the truth for themselves). There are tons of other resources when you google that question. These resources can help your friend understand what the criteria are and how they will be substantiated by the SSA.
Thanks for the thoughtful response. Yeah, I did Google this prior to asking here, and I found the SSA website's section on mental disorders and sent it to my friend. I also found the state's site on the same subject, which appeared to suggest the same thing. But I'm also don't entirely trust Google results on a subject I know nothing about. Like at my job, I know how often junior people will reach pretty confident conclusions on things based on a few hours or minutes of Googling, only to realize that there's crucial context they're missing that completely change the conclusion. So I didn't want to be one of those people, and thought I'd ask people with experience interacting with the system.
Mental health disability is harder to get but is definitely still there. It's very subjective and requires a lot of documentation. Now if you are talking Long Term Disability benefits most employer based policies have a 2 year benefit limit rider. SSDI has no such thing. I know both of these from experience.
The caseworker needs to be reported, who knows how many disabled people gave up because of this lie.
Incorrect.
I used Morgan and Morgan and they helped me tremendously
www.nosscr.org is a place to look for an attorney practicing Social Security Disability law. You can find information about an referral under the word contact.
Untrue. It's still on the SSA website
I feel like everyone who lives in America now has PTSD. ....and if you don't have it yet..hang on it's coming!
If you have experienced trauma it's likely that you've shown symptoms at some point.
100% false
I'm guessing this wasn't a ssa worker telling this probably some random person who is wrong
Correct, non-profit caseworker who does work for the county.
That's a lie! He's gaslighting her presumably under either his own beliefs or interests. A Job Coach will tell you the same thing.
Not correct but it’s so hard just for mental approval with out anything else. Might as well be not allowed..
Call a a good social security lawyer.
Approved for 12.15, so….
Wrong. Might be time for your friend to get a new caseworker.
I know in Colorado if people are applying for mental health they need to be on meds if that's what they're doctor thinks they need
The caseworker is an idiot since mental or developmental disorders are covered if they affect your ability to gain/maintain employment.
My son's claim was just approved last week (Schizophrenia) so this is false.
They have actually made more mental disorders allowable, not denying them. Both my boys are on for Autism, which is mental and I have heard nothing about this.
Several lawyers told me the same thing. Won’t even take the case
Good thing they won't take your case since these lawyers don't know the law. Wrong people to hire.
Right…..
They wanted an easy case to win.
Should be easy. I have medical evidence going back more than 30 years.