anxiety and ssdi
 

Has anyone gotten approved based on anxiety. My wife has agoraphobia and severe anxiety, she cannot leave home w/o medication. Anyone have any input?

Yes part of my claim was anxiety with depression being the main reason I won. I had it documented for a good span. She will need the doctors to believe it is so severe she can't work. The psychologist at my hearing before th eALJ said I should not of had to go that far to get approved. I had 2 psychologist approval a psychairist approval and my voc rehab person in favor as well. Plus I have taken probably 40 different meds with nothing helping. How long has she had this problem??

You might want to check out the Adult Listing http://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/ which lists the illnesses that recieve automatic approval. I briefly looked at the Mental Health Issues, Section 12. I did not see in my brief glance through the listing agoraphobia but many of the listed symtpoms appear to be similiar as to what I guess your wife feels.
SSDI is granted on the functional limitations of a person once a medical impairment is diagnosed.
It's completely possible your wife can get SSDI with the support of her treating physicians.
Best of luck,
Trudi

Agoraphobia is listing 12.06 A2. However, a person does not have to meet the full listing level of severity for an approval if it can be determined she is unable to sustain competitive employment. You said that she is unable to leave the home without medication. The question them becomes, what can she do when she is on her medication?

steve...
 

Thanks, LATELY NOT VERY MUCH. Psych doctor today put her 1 month leave from work!!

Well, for Social Security, it would have to be established that she has been or will be unable to work for 12 months or longer. How long did she last at her last several jobs? How much time did she take off work? How was her peformance in comparison to other employees?

And if SSA asks, which they should, you need to be able to explain exactly what "not very much" means. Specifically, what does she do from the time she gets up in the morning until she goes to bed? What is she no longer able to do that she used to be able to do and who does it for her? And how much better does she feel with the medication?

These kinds of details will be used by SSA to determine how severe her agoraphobia is and how long it will prevent her from being able to hold a job.