A mental illness or neurological disorder can be very difficult for a person to endure. In addition to the struggle of being under a chronic condition that can prove quite debilitating, the person also has to deal with the fact that most mental illnesses do not manifest themselves with obvious physical symptoms.
What this means is that a person who may have a real disability that keeps him or her from being able to work looks as if he or she is just fine. Getting disability benefits for mental illnesses can be more of a challenge because the person hearing the case is not going to see that the person is sick; he or she may act just fine and completely capable of working a job.
Any Floridian who has suffered a mental illness knows that this is simply not the case. Disorders like depression or high-functioning autism or PTSD may make it very difficult if not impossible for a person to perform even the most basic jobs successfully. The trick is proving that the condition is debilitating to a caseworker or to an administrative judge.
People should remember that, in mental health cases, the Social Security Administration will examine medical records very carefully. A professional like a psychologist or psychiatrist needs to document the mental condition well and explain precisely both what is wrong and how the condition affects the patient’s daily functioning. The course of treatment should also be documented.
Good medical records alone, while helpful, are not necessarily going to win disability benefits for a person in need. In many cases, an experienced and capable Florida social security disability attorney who knows how to handle disability cases will prove to be invaluable.
