Schizophrenia and Social Security Disability Benefits

“Schizophrenia has changed my life—but it hasn’t ruined it.”

This sentence is how the author of the attached article ends her piece.  She deals with the very real struggles she has had with her paranoid schizophrenia, and knows that the battle will last the rest of her life-but she has not lost hope.  Hope that today will be a great day, hope that science will find better medications to help her in her fight, trust that her family loves her.

Schizophrenia is a mental illness which affects how a sufferer experiences reality. Some symptoms include paranoia, auditory or visual hallucinations, disorganized thinking and delusions. Severe cases lead to social and occupational dysfunction.

Schizophrenia must be diagnosed by a psychiatrist, clinical psychologist or other clinicians. When filing for disability benefits due to the effects of schizophrenia, it is vital to have a well documented mental health history. In many situations the person suffering from schizophrenia has been without a job and does not have insurance. In these cases, it is important that the person has availed themselves to any free or discounted medical care available to them in the region in which they live; it takes a medical professional to diagnosis bipolar disorder. An experienced attorney should be able to assist you in finding a facility which may be able to provide some treatment.

The Social Security Administration lists schizophrenia as a condition which can be disabling when the symptoms interferes with the person’s ability to engage in sustained work activity. Listing 12.03 in the Code of Federal Regulations lays out in specifics the impairments which a sufferer has to have in order to qualify for Social Security Disability Benefits for this condition; however, if you do not “meet or equal” this listing, you may still be entitled to disability benefits if your condition, in conjunction with any other physical or mental impairment, prevents you from returning to work you have done in the past and other substantial work you might be qualified to perform given your age, education and acquired work skills.

If you or a loved one lives in or around Madison County, you are suffering from the effects of schizophrenia and you believe you are disabled as the result and are entitled to Social Security Disability or SSI benefits, you do not have to take on the Social Security Administration alone. Please feel free to one contact and speak with one of the experienced Alabama Disability Attorneys at Powell and Denny today.

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Schizophrenia and Social Security Disability Benefits