Anxiety Reduction

The Global Health Resource for Anxiety Reduction & Improved Quality of Life

Are Disability Benefits Available For Social Anxiety?

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Social anxiety disorder is really hard to deal with. It brings in many bad symptoms and you would basically end up with a much lower life quality than what you are used to. There is basically no way to deny the fact that social anxiety is a form of disability. With this in mind, could you obtain social security disability benefits because of suffering from social phobia? The short answer is yes but you should know the following about this.

Basic Disability Requirements

In order to receive the disability payments you need to meet the basic requirements. This means you should:

  • Not be able to do much work.
  • Not do unsubstantial work for a minimum of twelve consecutive months due to your medical condition.

Keep in mind that substantial work amount is defined as being a minimum of $1,170 per month. Financial eligibility basically depends on household income levels and work history.

Qualifying For The Disability

There are specialists that are going to assess your condition and see if you are eligible for social disability payments. The condition you suffer from is first assessed in order to see if benefits are eligible. This is done according to anxiety disorders listing. Officials basically analyze your medical condition, education, past work history and age.

The Anxiety Disorders Listing

Meeting anxiety listing minimums is possible through 2 ways. The first one is to show that the social anxiety disorder symptoms are highly severe, so severe that it is impossible to function anywhere outside your home. In this case you automatically qualify. If the condition does not rise to such a level you need to prove different things. Psychological and psychiatric records will have to show you suffer from any of these:

  • A constant anxiety with such symptoms like apprehension, muscle tension, breath shortness, hyper-alertness and increased heart rate.
  • An irrational and constant fear of a specific situation, activity and object that will cause avoidance.
  • Severe ongoing panic attacks – during them you experience unpredictable and sudden intense fear feelings.
  • An ongoing compulsion or obsession that causes severe distress.

Activities Limitations

The symptoms mentioned can cause the individual to experience one or more of the following:

  • Daily living activity severe restrictions.
  • A severe restriction in the ability to concentrate, get work done or focus.
  • Severe social functioning restrictions
  • Recurring or ongoing time periods in which the symptoms simply get worse.

When The Listing Is Not Met

Although the official report is that you do not meet anxiety listing, it is still possible to convince the officials that social anxiety is so serious to stop someone from working. SSSA utilizes medical records and prepares reports. This is when the symptoms affect the ability to do emotional or mental requirements of a job like:

  • Following and remembering really simple instructions.
  • Having reliability.
  • Getting along with superiors, public or co-workers.
  • Getting the work done in a timely fashion.
  • Adjusting environment changes.

As you can see, social anxiety disability benefits are available but in many cases it will be hard to meet official eligibility. That is why in many cases you will have to work with a specialized attorney.

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