Including: A history of episodic periods manifested by the full symptomatic picture of both manic and depressive syndromes.
In order to be granted Social Security Disability or SSI benefits your depression must be affecting you to the point that you will not be able to do any kind of work for at least 12 months. If you are unable to do the work you currently do, consider whether or not you could reasonably do another job. If you still feel like you couldn’t, then you may have a good claim. Depression will be very hard to prove without medical documentation. You should be seeing doctors, especially a psychologist or psychiatrist regularly to substantiate this claim.
We’ll have to be able to prove that the depression or this combined with your other disabilities has lasted, or will last at least 12 months. When your disability claim for bipolar disorder is reviewed, the things the Social Security office will be looking for are that there is a marked restriction of activities of daily living, difficulties in maintaining social functioning, difficulties concentrating, or maintaining pace or persistence, or repeated episodes of decompensation of extended duration. A disability claim due to bipolar disorder can be a strong claim if it has been treated and medication has proven to not be very effective.
As with any disability, your chances of being granted increase if you have consistent medical records of your condition. If you have not seen any doctors within a few months of your application, you may be sent to a doctor who will evaluate your condition. It is best to have your own doctor.
If you are not sure whether or not your claim would qualify for benefits, give us a call. It is always best to get an application in if you are unsure. Some people wait so long that they lose their eligibility for Social Security, and many lose months of benefits for waiting to apply.
The medical listing that describes the criteria for Bipolar Disorder is; 12.04 Affective Disorders – Adult.