Is PTSD a Disability?
September 5, 2024
Most people picture disabilities as something physical that is caused by an injury or disease. While that is true, certain mental health conditions can also qualify as a disability, making those who meet the criteria eligible for disability benefits.
Many people ask, “Is PTSD a disability?” Post-traumatic stress disorder, also known as PTSD, is considered one of the conditions that qualifies as a disability as it can impede someone’s ability to work and earn a steady income.
If you work, you may be able to seek disability benefits for PTSD through your employer’s workers’ compensation insurance. However, you also have options by going through the Social Security Administration (SSA) and even the VA, if applicable.
Pisegna & Zimmerman Attorneys at Law provide legal services for matters related to Social Security Disability law, Veterans’ disability claims, and personal injury law. In this blog post, we provide further details to answer the question, “Is PTSD a disability?” and explain the requirements set by the Social Security Administration (SSA) and how you can receive disability benefits.
Understanding Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental illness that is often triggered by experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. Is PTSD a disability? It certainly is, and by that definition, it could mean that you can seek disability benefits.
Some examples of triggering events include being in a car accident or even witnessing an accident where one or more people die, work injuries, and events witnessed while in the armed forces. After a traumatic event, it can be difficult to readjust to life, making the simplest tasks seem unbearable.
PTSD symptoms may start within days or weeks after a traumatic event. Other times, it may not present symptoms for years. If you have PTSD, your life may be disrupted by PTSD, long recognized as one of the stressor-related disorders.
Most consider PTSD a disability but the Social Security Administration has requirements regarding the factors that make PTSD a disability. In order to collect Social Security disability insurance, you must meet the qualifications that would make PTSD a disability under the program.
Before learning those qualifications, it is important to understand PTSD symptoms and how they can disrupt your life.
PTSD Symptoms
There are four categories of PTSD symptoms: intrusive memories, avoidance, changes in physical and emotional reactions, and negative changes in terms of mood or thinking. Here is how symptoms of PTSD affect someone’s life:
Intrusive Memories
Intrusive memories can arise while one is asleep or awake. Some people with this trauma and stressor-related mental condition may have nightmares about what happened on a regular basis. Others may have recurring memories throughout the day. These memories are powerful enough to cause physical reactions or additional emotional distress and may even cause flashbacks.
Avoidance
Many people with PTSD will do anything they can to avoid reminders of traumatic event disturbances such as a person, place, or thing they associate with the initial occurrence. They may refuse to discuss it or even banish it from their thoughts.
Changes in Physical and Emotional Reactions
This mental disorder can also cause those affected by it to react in physical and emotional ways. They may find it difficult to fall asleep or experience sleep disturbances. Many have an exaggerated startle response, are overwhelmed with guilt or shame, or engage in self-destructive behaviors.
It is common for someone experiencing mental disorders like PTSD to become aggressive or irritable and have difficulty concentrating. Some will even seem like they are always on guard to defend themselves from anything that could pose a danger.
Negative Changes in Mood or Thoughts
PTSD triggered by an experience or serious injury may also result in difficulty building or maintaining relationships with others. Feeling emotionally numb, hopeless, or detached is a common feeling among those who suffer from this condition. Additionally, memory issues, negative thoughts about oneself, and losing interest in activities someone once loved is a huge sign that they need help.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Terms of Social Security Disability Insurance Metrics
Social Security will consider you for PTSD disability benefits, as long as you have medical documentation that the serious injury or event you witnessed has caused your trauma and stressor-related condition. What will qualify for disability benefits?
According to the SSA, you must meet the eligibility criteria to get SSDI benefits for mental illness. First and foremost, medical documentation is required to be considered for disability compensation.
With the documentation of mental disorders such as PTSD, you must be able to show several factors to qualify:
- You were exposed to death or threatened death, serious physical injuries, or violence
- You continue to involuntarily experience the trauma through dreams or flashbacks
- You engage in avoidance of external reminders of the event
- You frequently experience mood and behavioral disturbances
- You have sleep disturbances or startle responses that affect your daily life
In addition to the listed criteria, you need to have an extreme limitation or marked limitation of two or more areas of your mental function. This includes having a marked limitation to interacting with others; remembering, understanding, and applying information; maintaining, concentrating, or persisting pace; and being capable of adapting or managing oneself.
When PTSD is persistent and has been an interference for over two years while being medically documented, you may also get disability benefits if you can present the right evidence. This includes showing that you receive ongoing medical treatment, psychotherapy, or a highly structured setting that helps reduce the symptoms of this disorder. You may also need to show that you have a minimal capacity to adapt to changes in your environment or fulfill areas that are a part of daily life.
How to Qualify for Social Security Disability Benefits with PTSD
Any person with PTSD must meet the work requirements laid out by the SSA to claim their disability benefits. These disability benefits are for people who can no longer work as a result of mental disorders like PTSD. You may qualify for both SSDI and SSI from PTSD.
You can apply for these disability benefits through the application process on the SSA website or visit the nearest SSA office to your home. Monthly disability benefits payments are usually provided to those with a work history who are no longer able to return to their jobs for a period of more than one year.
When PTSD is the result of something traumatic that occurred outside of your work history and it interferes with your ability to maintain employment, you can also apply for PTSD disability benefits. The amount of monthly income you receive will vary based on the number of years you were working and the average wages you earned prior to your disability evaluation.
PTSD Under Workers’ Comp
To be considered disabled with a disability for PTSD through workers’ compensation, the event that you went through or witnessed must be beyond the normal duties and stresses of your job. In addition to disability benefits, you may also be able to recover lost wages in your disability claim if your PTSD causes you to reduce or lose income for more than one week.
Payments on disability for PTSD are two-thirds of the average weekly wage you earned prior to your diagnosis multiplied by your assigned disability rating. This rating is provided by a doctor authorized by the workers’ compensation insurance for your employer.
How the ADA Helps with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
In order to help those with a disability fight discrimination, the Americans with Disabilities Act was established under federal civil rights law. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects people with disabilities to ensure they have the same rights as those without disabilities.
If you need PTSD disability from your employer and are facing discrimination, contacting the ADA can help. The ADA considers someone to have a disability if they have any physical or mental condition that limits at least one of their life activities. It also provides protection for those who have a history or record of the disability and anyone who is perceived by others as having some kind of impairment. Since PTSD fits into these requirements, the ADA can help you if you have this condition.
VA Disability Benefits for PTSD
If you served the country in the armed forces and are a veteran, you can receive VA disability compensation through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs may provide PTSD disability if you satisfy the proper criteria. In order to qualify with the VA (Veterans Affairs) for a VA disability claim, the trauma, stressor, or event you experienced must have occurred during your time of service.
You’ll also need to show that you can’t function as well as you could before the symptoms of PTSD affected your life, preventing you from functioning independently. Furthermore, to qualify for disability benefits with the VA, you need to have been diagnosed with PTSD by a doctor.
Once your initial application is approved, you can begin receiving benefits from the VA for PTSD, which will include healthcare, medical treatment, and compensation.
Obstacles That May Arise with Disability for PTSD
Even with an official diagnosis of PTSD, you may find it challenging to get the disability payouts that you seek. In addition to the strict criteria outlined previously in this article, the SSA requires you to thoroughly document your case.
When you have other qualifying conditions that are also medically documented, it may help you achieve the approval you need to claim disability through the SSA. Generally, if you have depression, anxiety, or insomnia, or your PTSD was caused by an event that left you physically injured, you may have a better chance of qualifying. This is especially true if the injuries you sustained have limited your ability to work.
It may be worth it to soldier on and apply for SSA disability even if your PTSD doesn’t quite fit with all of the eligibility criteria, especially if the symptoms you experience from PTSD are interfering with your ability to do your job.
In reality, qualifying for disability is a massive challenge even if you have documentation that you are struggling to maintain your job duties with this condition. Only a small percentage of applicants are approved with their initial application. However, if you are denied disability from SSA, you have the right to go through the appeals process, where you have the opportunity to make your case before a judge.
It may even be necessary to go through multiple rounds of the appeals process. Since this happens to many people, it can be much less stressful to endure with the representation of a disability attorney.
Getting Help for PTSD
No matter the cause of your PTSD, it is widely considered a disability. PTSD can permeate every area of your life and present challenges that reach beyond the confines of your mind, limiting your physical ability.
When the challenges of PTSD make it impossible for you to earn money to support yourself or your family, it is important to find the right path to getting the money you deserve. This will require you to take certain steps, including making sure that a doctor provides a documented diagnosis.
Since going through the SSA can be a complicated and exhausting process, it is highly advised that you seek legal assistance. An attorney who has experience with disability cases, particularly those involving PTSD, can be a tremendous asset right from the start.
Some applications are denied merely on minor errors. With the help of a disability lawyer, you will have someone who makes sure everything is in order, minimizing your chance of being denied. If you need to make an appeal, a lawyer will be there to represent you in front of a judge to help you make your case. You can schedule a free consultation with Pisegna & Zimmerman Attorneys at Law to discuss your disability benefits.