SSDI for Health Issues We Can’t See
Whether you’re suffering from long Covid, an endocrine disorder, mental health issue, or a variety of other illnesses, you may know the experience of people not believing or understanding your health problem. So when it affects your work, what options do you have? Can you get SSDI for invisible illnesses?
How Medical Bias Can Affect SSDI
Ask anyone with complicated health issues, and you’ll find struggles with the medical establishment. Stories abound online about certain medical biases affecting people’s treatment. For example, studies show some doctors will dismiss pain in women more than men. Racial biases include refusing treatments for non-white patients that the hospital otherwise would approve for white patients.
While these are incredibly harmful and preventable problems, sometimes it’s not so nefarious. Sometimes doctors just don’t know much about the issue because it’s new and invisible.
In particular, autoimmune, endocrine, and mental disorders can be “invisible” and thus hard to prove. Examples include:
- Lupus
- Fibromyalgia
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Endometriosis
- PMDD
- ADHD
- Severe anxiety
- and many more.
Patients with these disorders and similar might be able to work, but plenty with more severe cases cannot. Because the impacts vary for each individual, sometimes doctors don’t understand the level of pain involved or its effect on a patient’s life.
This all matters with Social Security disability. In order to get SSDI, you have to prove your disability impacts your capacity to work. That means you need a doctor who will listen to you, work with you, and take your struggles seriously. It may take a long time to find the right fit, but there are amazing doctors out there who strive to do right by their patients.
An Example from Long Covid
Long Covid can be a disabling, horrible illness that destroys a person’s mental capacity and keeps them from working. Some people with long Covid might just have a little trouble breathing. But other people experience extremely severe symptoms—symptoms that, some people with long Covid report, can be totally debilitating.
So can you get SSDI for long Covid?
To get SSDI for this illness or any other, you have to prove medically that:
- you are disabled
- the disability will keep you from working
- your situation will last for a year or more
With something as new and misunderstood as long Covid, this means the real challenge is finding the right doctor. You will likely need to search for someone with more experience in this field than most. You will need a real advocate who understands your condition and believes you when you describe how it has affected you.
How to Strengthen Your Application
Your doctor’s statement should include a clear description of your illness, how it impacts your work, and how long it will likely last (for a successful application, it would need to last for over a year).
In addition, you should include medical records and any supporting documentation to show the way your condition has changed your life.
We know the application process for SSDI can be a little intimidating. To help make it easier, we’ve put together a free report with everything you need to know about applying for disability, including what goes into a successful application.
What to Do If You’re Denied
The SSA denies the majority of applications on the first try. This is especially true for people with invisible or lesser-known conditions.
If that’s you, don’t let the denial stop you. You have 60 days to appeal, and that’s your chance to fight for the benefits you need and deserve.
In that situation, you shouldn’t wait to find an attorney. It doesn’t cost anything to get started. SSDI lawyers only win if you do. And even then, they’re limited by law to a small fraction of your past benefits. Everything you make moving forward is yours to keep.
Our SSDI attorneys have successfully appealed SSDI for all sorts of invisible conditions. We’ve helped people get their benefits despite some doctors dismissing their pain and suffering. In addition, we have personal experience with some of these conditions in our own families.
As a result, we approach every claim with compassion and respect. We fight for you, and—as our clients can attest—we win.
To get started, contact us today using the form on this page or call us at 901-327-2100.