Mental Disability Attorneys in Utah & Nevada
DO YOUR MENTAL IMPAIRMENTS QUALIFY YOU FOR DISABILITY BENEFITS?
If you have a mental illness and need Social Security benefits, the SLC attorneys at Cannon Disability Law can help you. Mental illness that keeps you from working for over 12 months may qualify you for SSD & SSI benefits. Perhaps you lost your job because you had a panic attack at work. It is also possible that you cannot get along with others because of anxiety.
Likewise, you may have lost your job because you were too depressed to go to work. You may have been struggling with mental symptoms from depression and anxiety for years. Perhaps you have never been able to sustain a job. Or, you may have been fired from many jobs after you worked for a short time.
If this sounds familiar, are you seeing a counselor or psychiatrist? Have you been in the hospital due to mental illness? Are you on mental health medications? Do your mental symptoms stop you from getting along with others? Does they keep you from sticking to a work schedule? If so, you might qualify for Social Security benefits.
IS MENTAL ILLNESS A DISABILITY?
Mental illness can result in disability. But, in order to be paid benefits by the SSA your mental illness must be severe. Additionally, your mental health condition must prevent you from working at any job for at least 12 months. In order to win benefits, you will also need medical records about your mental health from your treating sources. Your mental sources should include a counselor, psychologist, and psychiatrist. For example, you will need progress notes and possibly statements from your treating sources to prove you cannot work. Likewise, weekly therapy notes from a counselor are helpful.
For example, weekly counseling sessions about how your mental conditions impair your ability to work will help your case. Those records should also discuss if you are able to do your daily tasks. Your struggles with panic attacks, irritability, crying spells, and insomnia need to be part of your therapy notes. Also, ask your counselor to write a letter about why your mental health prevents you from working.
If you have ongoing mental health treatment and support from your counselor and doctor, it will help qualify your for disability benefits
YOU CAN GET FREE TREATMENT FOR YOUR MENTAL ILLNESS
Many people have mental impairments and physical impairments that qualify them for monthly disability payments. However, benefits are only available for those who get treatment. If you have mental illness, seek treatment from a counselor. If you have insurance, you can also hire a psychologist or psychiatrist.
Even if you don’t have enough money to get treatment for your mental condition, there is a solution. Free and low cost healthcare clinics can be found on our website. Call the clinics in your area. Then, ask if they will treat you for free. Or, ask if they will give you a low cost payment plan. For example, some clinics or counselors may allow you to make monthly payments. You must have evidence to win your SSD and SSI case. And, medical records are the most important evidence. Find out about the importance of medical records here.
Depression or Anxiety due to pain from a physical illness, may prevent you from working. As such, all of your mental and physical issues should be part of SSA’s analysis. Contact our office and we can tell you whether your mental impairments qualify you for disability benefits. We can help you file your application with the Social Security Administration. It is easiest to file an application online on Social Security’s website. You cannot get benefits unless you apply. Therefore, every day you wait to apply for benefits is a day you are losing money that belongs to you.
LIST OF MENTAL DISABILITIES THAT QUALIFY FOR BENEFITS
The SSA has a Listing of Impairments which lists mental health conditions. In the past, the list was called the blue book. Now, you can read the list on SSA’s website. The SSA uses the symptoms on the list to determine if you have a mental illness that prevents you from working. For example, if you suffer from Depression, the SSA will compare your symptoms to the symptoms on the list.
Depression includes symptoms such as sleep trouble. You also might lose weight due to not wanting to eat. Also, you might have memory problems and crying spells. You could also have other symptoms such as weight gain or panic attacks. Your treating doctor should document all of your mental symptoms in their records. You can find a complete list of qualifying mental disorders on the Social Security Website.
Disability benefits are available for many severe mental health conditions including the following:
- Anxiety Disorder
- Attention Deficit Disorder/ADHD
- Autism Spectrum Disorder/Aspergers Disorder
- Bipolar Disorder
- Bulimia/Anorexia
- Dementia/Alzheimer’s disease
- Depression
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder
- Learning Disorders/Intellectual Disability
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
- Personality Disorder/Borderline Personality Disorder
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Schizophrenia
- Traumatic Brain Injury
Remember, in order to win SSD benefits, your mental symptoms must be severe enough to interfere with your ability to work. The symptoms must also impact your ability to finish daily tasks. Also, your symptoms may prevent your from getting along with other people and impair your emotions. Additionally, your mental health condition must last or be expected to last for 12 months or longer.
CANNON DISABILITY CAN HELP YOU OBTAIN BENEFITS IN ANY STATE
Finally, to win SSDI benefits you need treatment for your mental illness. If you do not have insurance, we have resources for you that offer free or low cost mental health treatment. Free mental health treatment is available in Utah and Nevada. The medical records from your doctors are your most important evidence. Our paralegals and attorneys, based in SLC,have experience collecting mental disability records to obtain your SSD & SSI benefits.
We collect medical records from Utah, Nevada, California, Idaho. We also collect medical records from Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, and other states every day. If you give us the name, address, and phone number of your doctor, we can collect your records. You are also entitled to a copy of your records. So, request them from your doctor. In fact, it is good practice to request a copy of your progress note every time you have a visit.
For instance, the SSA will look at the progress notes from your counselor. Or, they will read a helpful letter from your doctor. They will also request records from a hospital visit or mental facility stay. If you have had a lengthy hospital stay in a mental hospital, you should let us know so we can collect the records for you. The best thing you can do to help your case is collect all of your mental health records and submit them to the SSA.
CANNON DISABILITY CAN HELP YOU OBTAIN MEDICAL RECORDS
If you hire our Salt Lake City Social Security Disability attorney, we can help you obtain your mental disability benefits. We do this by asking for your medical records. However, if we ask for your help in finding medical records, then please help us. We need your help, because we often need you to go directly to your doctor to get your records. The reason we may need you to do that is doctors are using large companies to send medical records. The companies who send records often charge high fees to mail us your records.
We want to avoid that fee if we can, because that is a fee you have to pay. If you can get the records for free by asking for them from your doctor, that is a less expensive option. Therefore, we might ask you to obtain the records directly from your doctor or counselor.
We will also present your case to the SSA using the mental health rules. For example, if you have Depression, we will use SSA’s listing 12.04 to discuss your case. If we need to go to a hearing in front of an SSA judge, then we will help you at the hearing. In order to prepare you for the hearing, we will talk to you about the kind of questions the judge’s ask in court.
For example, the ALJ questions you about your mental symptoms and how those symptoms prevent you from working. Hearings are held throughout the country in hearing offices that are near you. We will come to wherever you live in order to prepare you to be a witness in court. Contact Cannon Disability Law now and join us on the road to winning your SSD and SSI benefits.
WHAT WE DO TO HELP YOU WIN MENTAL DISABILITY BENEFITS
You do not need to try to win SSD benefits on your own. Cannon Disability Law can help file your disability application. Also, we can help you file an appeal after every SSA denial. That way, you can focus on your health and spending time with your family. Our attorneys and staff can:
- Send you the paperwork you need to become our client
- Help you file your application for SSD and SSI benefits
- Inform the SSA that the SSA should automatically pay your benefits under the Compassionate Allowance Rules
- Request reconsideration if you receive an initial denial from Disability Determination Services
- Help you confirm your attendance at a Consultative Examination
- Request a Hearing with an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ)
- Prepare you to be a good witness at your SSA hearing
- Represent you at your hearing and question the vocational and medical witnesses.
- Read more about vocational experts here
- Learn more about medical expert testimony here
- Request review of an unfavorable decision with the Appeals Council
- Request review of an Appeals Council denial in Federal Court
If you file your application for benefits online at Social Security’s website, then you have 6 months to complete the application. However, if you have a medical condition that automatically wins SSD benefits, you should not wait to finish your application. Once you submit your application online, the SSA sends you an application summary in the mail. You must sign the summary and mail it back.
Additionally, once you receive a denial from the SSA, you have 60 days to file an appeal. You must meet the time limit set by the SSA. If you do not, then you will have to start the process over again. That means you will lose any benefits you could receive on any prior application.
CANNON DISABILITY AND THE ATTORNEY CLIENT RELATIONSHIP
Our attorneys practice Social Security law in Utah. You can find out more information about Utah SSDI benefits here. Nevada SSDI and SSI information can be found on our website too. We also represent clients in Idaho and Colorado. Also, find out about California disability benefits here. No matter what state you live in, we will work with you.
While you are our client we help you file your application for mental health benefits. Also, we work with you during the appeal process. At each level of appeal, we will collect your medical records. Our goal is to use your medical records to prove to the SSA that you deserve benefits for your mental condition.
We will also prepare you to testify at your hearing. For example, we will review the questions that a judge normally asks. Then, we will talk about your answers to those questions. By the time you attend a hearing, you should know what to expect. You should be able to testify with ease. Read here to learn more about your Social Security hearing.
We know you need benefits to replace your income. Over the past 30 years, we have won over $100 million in ongoing and back due benefits for our clients. Obtaining SSD and SSI benefits for our clients is the only kind of law we practice.
Contact us today. You can have a free review of your case. When you become our client, you will only pay an attorney fee if we win your case. If we don’t win your SSDI or SSI benefits, then you will not pay an attorney fee. We want to be your legal team. Call us and find out if we can help you win your mental disability benefits.
