This feature appears from time to time as a means of illustrating the challenges that most applicants for social security disability benefits undergo, in their efforts to be approved. These challenges include the many levels of decision-making for a social security disability claim (Initial application, Reconsideration, Hearing, Appeals Council, Federal Court), the specific issues raised by alcohol and drugs, the need to demonstrate that you cannot do past work or sometimes, any work at all, and the like. Cases are derived from actual clients I have represented but their names, details and key facts are changed to protect privacy.
“You’ve got to make them understand how much he’s changed since he returned.”
Susan, the wife of a veteran of OEF/OIF, was tearful. “I know it looks like nothing’s changed from the outside. He still looks like the same man who left. But he has trouble sleeping, he’s irritable at me and the kids over nothing, and sometimes he just sits and stares as though he doesn’t know who we are.
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“Sure, I know I’m not the same. Look, I have trouble sometimes forgetting what I’ve seen. I hear this ringing in my ears. And I just can’t sleep. But I can’t seem to make Social Security understand this.” Mike explained.
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The lawyer’s view:
According to a 2008 RAND study, 14 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans screen positive for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 14 percent screen positive for major depression, and 19 percent of those surveyed reported a probable traumatic brain injury (TBI). Many screened positive for more than one condition. According to the VA’s Special Committee on PTSD, 15-20 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are at risk for significant symptoms short of full diagnosis but severe enough to cause significant functional impairment. But without a diagnosis, getting Social Security benefits can be a challenge.
1. In fact, Mike was denied Social Security disability benefits even though he was rated 100% disabled by the Veteran’s Administration. He was denied on initial application and on reconsideration.
2. But once we got to a hearing, things changed.
What happened?
At the hearing, we submitted letters from Mike’s treating doctors and even from a supervisor at a temporary job he had tried. With advice from us about the key criteria that a social security judge would find persuasive, Mike’s VA doctors noted that he experienced impaired memory and attention, severe headaches, chronic pain and sleep disruption. They offered their opinion that Mike’s ongoing impairments resulted in significant frustration, anxiety and anger. As a result, his doctors concluded, Mike was “markedly limited” in his ability to interact with others. He was also “markedly limited” in his concentration, ability to persist at a task and to keep up the pace.
We won Mike’s case.