Can Veterans Receive Va Disability For Bipolar Disorder
While anxiety, PTSD, and depression are the mental health illnesses most recognized by the public, the less common bipolar disorder is also a serious condition that could cause problems in your everyday life. Bipolar disorder can also lead to depression and cardiovascular disease in the future.
According to an article published in the Federal Practitioner, a peer-reviewed clinical journal serving health professionals, 4.4% of Veterans seeking treatment at the Veterans Health Administration suffer from bipolar disorder.
Weve heard from many Veterans who ask, Are Veterans eligible for disability benefits for bipolar disorder? Yes, Veterans can receive disability compensation for bipolar disorder. The VA categorizes bipolar disorder under VA diagnostic code 9432, and Veterans can receive up to 100% disability for the condition.
Practical Points: Job Accommodations
What Is Bipolar Disorder
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, bipolar disorder, previously referred to as manic depression or manic depressive illness, is a mental health condition characterized by abnormal shifts in mood, energy, activity, and concentration. Currently, there are four types of bipolar disorder that the medical community recognizes:
Bipolar I Disorder: This type of bipolar disorder is characterized by 7+ day manic episodes with accompanying symptoms that are so severe the individual requires hospital care. Individuals suffering from Bipolar I Disorder will also likely experience 2+ weeks of depressive episodes.
Bipolar II Disorder: This type of bipolar disorder is characterized by patterns of depressive and hypomanic episodes. However, these episodes are not the as severe as the manic episodes associated with Bipolar I Disorder.
Cyclothymic Disorder: This type of bipolar disorder is characterized by periods of hypomanic symptoms and depressive symptoms lasting 2+ years.
Bipolar Disorder due to another condition: This type of bipolar disorder is caused by other medical conditions or substance abuse disorders.
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What Are My Chances For Eligibility
To get protection under the ADA, you have to prove that a disability like bipolar disorder severely limits your ability to work. The ADA covers companies with 15 or more employees.
Getting Social Security benefits can be trickier. You need to have a disability and be a part of a low-income household or have worked for a certain number of years.
Not everyone with bipolar disorder qualifies. About two-thirds of applications for disability benefits are denied at first.
To get Social Security benefits, the SSA will ask you to show that:
- youve lived with bipolar disorder for at least 1 year
- your condition is severe enough to prevent you from doing your job or any other job
- your disability will last for more than a year
To qualify for SSDI, you need to have worked at a job where you paid Social Security taxes for a certain number of years.
The older you are, the more years you need to have worked. A 42-year-old must have worked for 5 years, while a 30-year-old only needs 2 years of work.
To qualify for SSI, you need to earn less than a certain amount of money. That amount varies by state. You also cant have more than $2,000 in assets .
How Does The Process Work
You receive a Ticket in the mail. You take this Ticket to any Employment Network or State Vocational Rehabilitation agency , and if you both agree to work together, the EN or VR will help you with job training, finding employers, information about work incentives, materials to send to prospective employers, and other tasks that will help you go to work. Participating in the Ticket to Work program means that youre protected from a Continuing Disability Review based on your potential ability to work.
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Bipolar Disorder Episodes And Cycling
Your personal symptoms will depend on the way your bipolar disorder manifests itself. You may have a bipolar disorder episode that is manic or depressive. Other times, you may cycle between these episodes with symptoms of both. It is common for those with bipolar disorder to experience extreme emotional highs and lows, or for these mood swings to occur quickly and without notice or apparent reason.
Bipolar Manic Episodes
In the manic phase, you may experience euphoria or mania. This is considered a high compared to the depressive low. Symptoms of a bipolar manic episode can include:
Bipolar Depressive Episodes
In the depressive stage, you may feel extremely down or like the world is about collapse in on you. During these low swings, you may move and speak more slowly than usual. You may also sleep more than normal. Its very possible you may even experience hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia. Symptoms of a depressive episode can include:
- Deep sadness/depressed mood
- Problems with concentration and attention
- Insomnia and/or periods of too much sleep
- Feeling hopelessness and/or worthless
- Lack of interest/feeling no pleasure
- Weight loss and/or changes in appetite
- Thoughts of suicide
Bipolar Disorder Mixed State
One common phenomenon of bipolar disorder is a mixed state. That is, an episode where an individual simultaneously experiences characteristics of both the manic and depressive stages. Symptoms of a bipolar mixed state can include:
Disclosing A Psychiatric Disability: Legal Protections
- Disclosure is a choice. According to the ADA, employers cant require applicants or employees to disclose a disability . So, in most cases, disclosing a psychiatric disability is a choice, not a requirement. Individuals who choose not to tell about their mental health condition are not lying or hiding. They are using a legally protected choice.
- After the job offer. Once a job has been offered, applicants may be asked to take a medical exam before starting work. If this exam reveals a psychiatric disability, the job offer can only be withdrawn if there is evidence that the person wont be able to do the essential functions of the job without an accommodation and cant be reasonably accommodated or the disability poses a real safety issue.
- On the job. Employees generally cant be required to disclose a psychiatric disability unless requesting a job accommodation. Then, the employer can ask for some medical documentation about the disability. This medical information cant be shared with others in the workplace.
- Federal contractors. Employers who are federal contractors must invite applicants and employees to voluntarily self-disclose a disability. This information is only used to track the progress in meeting disability employment goals of the employer. It must be kept confidential and cant be shared with the manager or co-workers.
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What Would You Like To Do
Or, you can show that your mental disorder is serious and persistent. That is, you have a medically documented history of bipolar disorder over a period of at least two years, and there is evidence that:
Service Connection For Bipolar Disorder Through Aggravation
If your bipolar disorder was aggravated by military service, this means it existed before your military service but got worse during active duty. The easiest way to establish that a condition was aggravated by your military service is to go find records that can help corroborate your history.
For example, I was diagnosed bipolar at a relatively early age before service and it didnt mark any red flags during the recruitment checkup. Now, Im really struggling with intrusive thoughts or elevated mood swings. If you have a doctors note from before and after enlistment, this can be very helpful in establishing aggravation of a previously diagnosed issue that indeed worsened.
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Bipolar Disorder Panic Disorder Anxiety Contact Us
If you have been denied Social Security or long-term disability benefits related to bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress, autism or another mental impairment, dont give up. The SSA routinely denies claims, so it is important to be persistent. Contact us by or call us at for a free initial consultation and find out how we can help.
Social Security Disability For Post
When a person experiences or witnesses a traumatic event, this can have a lasting impact on his or her life. For some people, this manifests as post-traumatic stress disorder . According to the American Psychiatric Association, about 3.5% of adults living in the U.S. are affected by PTSD. Its estimated that about 11% of Americans will be diagnosed with PTSD.
If you have a severe case of PTSD and have been living with it for at least 12 months, or your doctor believes it will last for at least 12 months, you may be entitled toSocial Security Disability benefits.
Our team atHandler, Henning & Rosenberg LLC can talk to you about your case and what youre experiencing to help you determine whether you qualify. We can help you file your application and seek the benefits you need. With our decades of experience in handling Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income applications andappeals, we know how these federal benefit programs work and can help you overcome any obstacles you face.Contact us today to learn more!
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Meeting A Disability Listing For Depression Or Bipolar Disorder
The Social Security Administration will automatically grant disability benefits for depression or bipolar disorder if you can show you have the symptoms and limitations listed in its official disability listing for depression or bipolar disorder. The SSA will consider treatment notes from your doctor or psychologist, mental status evaluations, psychological testing, and any reports of hospitalizations.
Symptoms. To qualify for either disability benefits on the basis of depression, you must show you have at least five of the following symptoms:
- distractibility
- involvement in risky activities with painful consequences that are not recognized, and/or
- increase in physical agitation or in in goal-directed activity .
Limitations. For either disorder, you must show that you also have a loss of abilities, either an extreme limitation in one of the following areas or a “marked” limitation in two or more of the following areas:
- adapting to change or managing oneself
- concentrating on and finishing tasks
- interacting with others using use socially appropriate behaviors, and/or
- understanding, remembering, or using information .
How Do I Prove My Disability Due To Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder can be extremely distressing and disabling. It is a condition that can ruin your career and relationships alike. However, you should never assume the insurance company will understand how your individual symptoms impact you and your job. To increase your chances of claim approval, you must explain why each of your symptoms prevents you from performing your job duties.
For example, during a depressive episode, you be unable to get out of bed due to your severely depressed mood and fatigue forcing you to call in sick. You may be preoccupied with your debilitating symptoms and unable to focus, concentrate, or pay attention during an important meeting or telephone call with your biggest client. Or your lack of interests, low energy and feelings of hopelessness may make routine tasks seem overly stressful or cause you to procrastinate and miss a strict deadline.
During a manic episode, you may decide to blow off work for the day. If you do make it to work, your heightened energy may cause you to speak rapidly and scare off a potential client, or fail to put your best foot forward during a presentation. Your irritability may lead to fights with co-workers, disruptive behavior in a meeting, or an inability to accept criticism from your boss. Your racing thoughts and easy distractibility may cause you to miss an important piece of information from a document, which is particularly troublesome if your job requires attention to detail.
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Will Veterans Receive Separate Disability Ratings For Ptsd And Depression
Since all mental health conditions are evaluated using the same criteria, veterans with multiple mental health conditions will likely be assigned one combined disability rating. Similarly, veterans do not need to submit a separate claim for each mental health condition, although they are free to do so if they wish.
Veterans can only be rated for a symptoms functional limitations once. For example, veterans experiencing sleep impairment as a result of their PTSD and depression will only be rated for sleep impairment under the diagnostic code for one condition. The diagnostic code for PTSD is 9411 while the diagnostic code for depression is typically 9434. To have the same symptom considered under more than one diagnostic code is called pyramiding, which VA regulation strictly prohibits.
What To Do If Your Records Show Drug Or Alcohol Abuse
Many people with bipolar disorder have struggled, or continue to struggle with, drug or alcohol abuse . During manic states, people with bipolar disorder are more inclined to engage in risky behavior, such as abusing drugs or alcohol.
If your medical file shows evidence of DAA, Social Security won’t go straight to a denial. Instead, the agency will need to determine whether the DAA is “material” to the question of whether you’re disabled. Basically, the agency needs to see that the limitations from your bipolar would still exist even if drugs or alcohol weren’t in the picture.
The signs and symptoms of bipolar disorder can mimic or overlap those of DAA, so it’s important to establish a period of sobriety or abstinence while you’re receiving medical treatment. Having a period where you’re not using drugs or alcohol gives Social Security an idea of your mental health “baseline” without interference from the effects of DAA.
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For Social Security Disability Insurance Beneficiaries
If you receive SSD benefits, you have a trial work period of nine months that allows you to test your ability to work without risking your benefits. Be sure to check how many months you have left of your trial work period before you begin. A month only counts if you earn over $720. After the trial work period ends, you will not receive benefits in months where you earn over $1000. For three years after the end of your trial work period, you can begin receiving benefits again if you stop earning $1000/month and you?re still disabled this is called Expedited Reinstatement of Benefits, or EXR.
Qualifying For Disability Benefits With Ptsd
The Social Security Administration has a guide that lists the requirements for particular impairments to qualify for disability benefits known as the Blue Book or the Disability Evaluation Under Social Security. Chapter 12 of the Blue Book is related to mental conditions and section 12.06 Anxiety-related Disorders describes the requirements needed for an individual to qualify with PTSD. An applicant with PTSD filing for disability benefits must satisfy the severity levels for requirements A and B or requirements A and C.
Applicant must have documentation of one of the following:
- Persistent severe anxiety with various symptoms
- Reoccurring, intrusive, stressful memories of a traumatic event
- Consistent irrational fear of a particular object or situation
- Reoccurring severe panic attacks happening on average once a week
- Consistent compulsions or obsessions that causes distress
Applicant must have documentation of at least two of the following:
- Difficulty with maintaining social functioning
- Difficulty with maintaining concentration, persistence or pace
- Repeated episodes of decompensation of extended length
Requirement C
Applicant must have medical evidence that proves they are completely unable to function independently anywhere outside the area of his or her home.
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Can Ptsd Be Misdiagnosed As Bipolar Disorder
Mental health conditions are misdiagnosed from time to time, often because many involve overlapping symptoms. Whats more, even the same symptoms wont always affect everyone in the same way.
With mania, for examples, many people feel as if they can get a lot done or spend hours focused on a specific task, such as the following scenarios:
- You might feel inspired to rush to the store, buy a complete stock of baking ingredients, and spend the night baking your way through your favorite cookbook.
- Someone else might start several different projects around the house reorganizing closets, packing up clothes for donations, cleaning the bathrooms but move from task to task, leaving them all unfinished.
Symptoms can also change over time, so the picture your therapist gets at first may not be a exact representation of how you feel on a regular basis.
In terms of bipolar disorder and PTSD, misdiagnosis does happen. Despite the differences in the two conditions, they do share symptoms. As a result, some therapists may diagnose bipolar disorder when a PTSD diagnosis would better explain your symptoms.
One possible explanation relates to the fact that PTSD may not show up for several months. When you do begin to notice emotional distress and changes in your mood and emotions, you might not immediately associate them with the trauma you experienced.