"I am currently seeking additional talk therapy and other community services that may be able to help me."

It is unlikely you'll be approved without a longitudinal history of appropriate treatment for impairments that you claim keep you from being able to work at the SGA level (Significant Gainful Activity is $1090 per month in 2015), but drawing additional attention to it is ill advised. I would delete everything I've underlined as a start.


No, I was referring to what you call "talk therapy".

If you are going to claim depression is effecting your ability to function, then SS will want to see a longitudinal history of therapy with an Acceptable Medical Source (Licensed physicians, and/or licensed or certified psychologists.)

Evidentiary Requirements: http://www.ssa.gov/disability/profes...videntiary.htm



I sent you a link to research about Functional Report Advice. This post by Different Perspective at SSDfatcs.com is a good place to start.

"Curiosity is a wonderful thing but unless you are trying to understand how better to communicate with your doctor, there is little to be gained by getting hung up on the details of the conditions. They can all cause pain.

A diagnosis does not equal being awarded disability benefits – loss of function related to the ability to perform work related tasks does. For SSA disability purposes, the question is not what the terms mean but does the claimant have a medically diagnosed condition or medically determinable impairment that could possibly cause the restriction the claimant alleges? I.e., “How does one, or more, of these medically diagnosed conditions restrict the ability to perform work related tasks?”

Continue to focus on your pain and depression. How far can you walk? How long can you stand? How long can you sit? What causes you to have to stop these activities? What do you have to do when you stop these activities? How long before you can repeat the activity?

For example, can you walk to the back of a big box store, or do you need to stop and rest? How long? Can you carry a sack of potatoes to the checkout? If not, why not? Can you sit in a straight back chair, or office type chair for 2 hours? Why not? What do you do at the end of your ability to sit? Do you stand and stretch, or walk around? How far do you walk?

More questions: What pain medication has a doctor prescribed for your medically diagnosed conditions? Are these medications helpful? How? Do they cause any side effects?

For example, do the medications make you hyper, jittery, or drowsy? How long to the side effects last each day? One half hour, or all day? Are you so jittery that you cannot write with a pencil, or are you so drowsy that you must take a nap in the middle of the day? How often? How long?

Does the depression keep you from getting out of bed and getting dressed? Does it keep you from visiting, or having friends visit you?

You do not need to list the medical diagnoses. Simply state what causes your limited function – “Because of back pain that radiates down my right (or left) leg I…” To get temporary pain relief I… Because the medication makes me so…I… Friends no longer visit because…"

http://ssdfacts.com/forum/index.php/....msg38913.html