Social Security Disability and SSI are about severity, not diagnosis

Very often, individuals assume that a certain diagnosis of a medical impairment may possibly result in a certain decision, or that the diagnosis is really what a disability examiner or judge at a hearing is looking for. And there are somewhat rare situations in which a simple diagnosis is enough to decide a claim.

Usually, that's not the case, though. Most of the time, Social Security needs to determine the severity of a condition to see how it restricts the ability to work.

Conditions that get approved for disability





I am a former disability examiner and I publish the website Social Security Disability Resource Center, or SSDRC for short. I also maintain a facebook page for SSDRC (Social Security Disability Blog).

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Neither this blog, nor the facebook page, nor my website are affiliated with the Social Security Administration.