Quote:
Originally Posted by peterz
over the last 3 years my friend's mother has become agoraphobic, barely able to leave home, and has also become depressed. she is 57. are people like her eligible for SS disability? I assume she would have to be evaluated by physicians or mental health professionals.
thanks
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Maybe. Some people with a specific diagnosis are eligible. Some people with the same diagnosis are not. Is she under doctor's care? Is the medication or therapy working? If not, why not? A finding of disability due to a mental illness generally requires evaulation of mental condition over a 12 month period. How severe, how often, what happens when she tries, did the anti-anxiety medication help, did she try something else? When did she stop work? How much work did she do before she stopped work? She can file a claim, but it is impossible to answer your question.
About 2 out of 3 initial disability claims are denied for the person being not disabled. There is an appeal process if a person is denied. There is a minimum amount of recent work paying FICA taxes for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). There is a low income/resource requirement for the public assistance disability program Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
She can start the process online at
www.socialsecurity.gov