Mental Disorders Rule Update
Reading Time: 2 MinutesLast Updated: September 23, 2016
On Monday, September 26, Social Security will publish a final rule to update the criteria we use to evaluate disability claims involving mental disorders. This rule, “Revised Medical Criteria for Evaluating Mental Disorders,” is the most comprehensive revision to the criteria since 1985.
Upon publishing this final rule, our standards and terminology for evaluating claims involving mental disorders reflect information from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition — the mental health profession’s current standard classification of mental disorders.
While updating this rule, the public had questions about our criteria for evaluating intellectual disability. From childhood onward, people with intellectual disabilities experience deficits in intellectual functioning and lack many basic daily practical and social skills. We decided it was critical to ensure these individuals receive necessary assistance as soon as possible. Therefore, we updated the diagnostic and functional criteria for this disorder and are using IQ test score criteria to identify quickly people who may qualify for disability benefits based on an intellectual disability.
Besides reflecting comments from members of the public, the rule reflects the expertise of disability policy experts, adjudicators, psychiatric professionals, and vocational experts.
During the careful, considered process of updating the rule, we’ve engaged with stakeholders, including: disability beneficiaries and their family members; psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health treatment providers; and advocacy groups for those with mental disorders. We also solicited, responded to, and incorporated public comments, and considered an intellectual disability report we commissioned from the National Academy of Sciences.
People with mental disorders are some of the most vulnerable members in our society, and we take our duty to provide them with effective service and support seriously. Publishing this rule is just one way we’re meeting our priority to secure today and tomorrow for millions throughout life’s journey.
You can learn more about the rule here.
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Doug Walker, Deputy Commissioner, Communications
Deputy Commissioner, Office of Communications
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Mark
God Bless America!
Lori K.
This new rule becomes effective on Monday, the 26th. It is long overdue for the heroes who have been so long struggling. Veteran treatment centers, prisons & courts are not the answer. They are an improvement on the problem. It is time for a solution & this rule is a step in the right direction. We cannot continue to punish veterans and their families for the symptoms of combat injuries. And we cannot continue to ignore the impact of traumatic injury on their families & communities. The answer is not in the problem. It is in the solution. And the solution is to help veteran families fully recovery physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, legally, socially & economically.
This rule gives many veterans presumptive access to new VA services, including better health benefits for the injured service member & their families/survivors. These benefits include injured in line of duty pensions along with survivor pension for spouses & children as well as GI Bill benefits.
Last week, the VA eligibility represent informed me that any active military service — even 1 day — pre-1980 qualifies you as eligible for services provided you have an honorable discharge and a DD-214. The rule goes further and renders anyone injured in the line of duty suffering later from PTSD and other mental disorders, lymphatic illness, gastroenterologic disease, autoimmune disorders, cancers, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and other physical disorders eligible for enhanced benefits even if the disorders develop post service. These VA disability benefits are in addition to social security & Medicare. They are not like SSI/SSD. They supplement Medicaid, Medicare, pension benefits and social security. They are not needs-based and will prevent needless bankruptcy, loss of assets & health coverage lapses.
And this is the enhanced pension & disability benefits for real & necessary help with addiction & trauma treatment. For example, family treatment, support and counseling and vocational training would become available. What is so sad is it would have covered so many already gone too soon. These deceased are entitled to burial supplements in addition to the social security burial supplement and their survivors should seek reimbursement for covered out of pocket costs.
There is a whole other available benefit line for presumptive injuries for anyone stationed at Camp LeJeune or who trained or served in proximity to DDT (Agent Orange) or the C-123 aircraft from which it was sprayed. The LeJeune water WAS contaminated and the taking of responsibility by government is the type of change Americans have been seeking. Those of us familiar with environmental trauma exposure suspected the truth & feared the worst, feeling abandoned and without hope. Validation & help instead of denial, bureaucratic obstruction & partisan finger-pointing is such a positive development, in my opinion.
It is something I have not seen often enough in 20 years of fighting for the rights of working families, vulnerable citizens and innocent children.
I am unable to communicate the importance of this to those who suffer the dual hell of addiction & traumatic injury. Substances are but a symptom. This rule addresses the root cause by making medical, financial, educational & social help available to trauma survivors.
We must share this critical information by letting those who need help know it is available. And we must keep calm and fight together for permanent changes to make environmental protections available to all that will halt and reverse the damage. We cannot heal by hiding or by hating. Climate change is real. Traumatic injury is real. With death, damage & destruction reaching far beyond veterans. Until we end domestic violence, stop sexual abuse and human trafficking, obliterate child abuse and neglect and end poverty in our own country, we are all victims. And as Americans we are nobody’s victims.
Veterans and their families can lead the way by seeking these benefits and bravely facing trauma. Getting stuck ior giving in is not an option. Our enemies judge us by the strength of our most vulnerable. Our veteran heroes can bravely lead the way in the next frontier of recovery our nation and families so desperately need. Seek treatment for trauma. Heal. Together, we can save each other and our children. We can do for each other what no political party or partisan can do for us. We can lead America out of addiction, trauma, violence and abuse. One hero at a time, one family at a time, one child at a time.
For those of us who have received the gift of a second chance through effective trauma treatment, let’s do what we know works. Help each other with a sense of shared purpose. With faith, hope & love for those who do not yet hold them for themselves.
We can recover. With & through love, connection, forgiveness & gratitude. And the greatest of these is … Love.
Jj
As always, it all comes down to the almighty dollar!!!!!
Until everything is free(paid for by SOMEONE ELSE), NOT YOU, this circle of begging will continue – on & on & on – ad infinitum!!
We Humans have always had, and always will, a sense of greed that tends to rear-it’s-ugly-head, whenever we feel the need for something FREE!!!!!!!!!
tony
The free Social Security disability money sure is good. I see a psychiatrist regularly now to keep the free Social Security disability money. You got to go along with the Social Security scam of maintaining medical records.
The psychiatrist/psychologist visits are really a joke. They get paid by the pharmaceutical companies. They will diagnosis you with multiple mental disorders in order to prescribe you multiple medication.
When you say the prescription drug doesn’t work, the psychiatrist/psychologist will increase the dosage instead of taking you off the medication. They need to keep you on that specific medication in order for them to get paid.
My paperwork for the CDR to continue getting my free Social Security disability money is in order. I got regular visit to the psychiatrist/psychologist and my prescription medication is at the maximum dosage.
john d.
I suffer from mental suicide depression bipolar disorder and I receive supplemental security income do this mean I ill be able for full disability. I also suffer other disability that most likely end in death.
tony
These final rules are going to facilitate more fraud. People are going to come out of the woodwork applying for mental disorder because of their IQ like this man.
https://oig.ssa.gov/newsroom/blog/2012/10/cdi-preventing-social-security-disability-fraud
I got a college degree and the psychologist who did my CE exam said my IQ was low. If I didn’t mention that I had a college degree, maybe I could have gotten the free Social Security disability based on intellectual disability.
It isn’t hard failing test. It is hard proving someone is failing the test on purpose. You have to be consistent at failing the test.
People are able to work until they are 50 years old and bring up soon childhood incident or mental disorder to try to collect disability.
You got to give it too these people for trying to scam disability. They claim they got rape by their parents or were abuse when they were a child and can’t work now after the incident occurred 40 years ago. They got married, had children, raised their children’s, and now cannot work anymore because of the psychological trauma.
The fraudsters are good at story telling and making up lies to get compassion from the DDS adjudicator and ALJ.
The New York police and firemen blaming their mental illness on 9/11. You got some people trying to scam disability blaming their divorce on domestic violence. Fraudsters know how to play the sympathy card.
Medical evidence for mental disorder are subjective based on what the claimants say. They can lie and collect free Social Security disability money.
I think fraud for mental disorders in Social Security is about 50% and at the VA is 80%. It is even easier to get a mental disorder disability in the military. They give people a mental status exam when they are exiting the military and it is easy to come up with a lie to collect 100% of their pay instead of leaving the military with 4 years of service with nothing.
tony
Once the fraudsters reach retirement age, their disability is gone. I don’t see old people at the psychiatrist/psychologist office. That is just a clear indication of the fraud going on. The mental disorder is so severe that they have to constantly visit the psychiatrist/psychologist office, but once they reach the retirement age, the mental disorders are no longer bothering them and they no longer have to see the psychiatrist/psychologist.
Jor W.
You take your inability to know the age of the patients in your own Drs office and confute it with all offices. Some of us still look in our 30s at 65 like my mother did
By that age theu know which meds work, psychotherapy is out siince they aren’t working or likely to benefit, so the Drs just call in the meds rather than require them to come in for pointless appointment’s. Yeah, let:s have 68 year old people on heavy psych meds driving 25-50 miles to see the 1 shrink in the state who takes Medicares nonexistent payment just to keep Trump’s Chumps happy
Did it ever occur to you they get institutionalized by then as age worsens their problems?
tony
I didn’t say all of the people on Social Security disability, just 50% of them.
There are hardly any seniors over 65 in a mental institution. There is a shortage of beds at the mental institutions.
I am talking about fraud. The fraudsters know that they will not get paid Social Security if they are institutionalized. You probably don’t know that you don’t get paid Social Security disability if you are institutionalized for more than 30 days.
There is no demand for institutions because the fraudsters know they will not get paid.
Diana H.
Tony, the 30 day institution rule only applies to people receiving SSI not SSDI.
tony
People who never work a day in their lives can collect SSI when they are 65 or older. Some of the fraudsters collect SSI their whole life.
melanie
It is horrible that people with mental disorders are not treated the same as people with body disorders. The document is super long, almost 300 pages. It is hard to understand for people who are mentally ill. So we cannot understand it or advocate for themselves. Also to get to the doc, I had to click 2 links and scroll to the bottom middle of a page to get to the document. It would have been better to provide a direct link. From reading the comments above I can see that this blog post has created a lot of fear and not given any answers at all. TBH this blog post is a lot like the poorly written click bait postings on Facebook that people argue over without understanding the issue.
Marge
“Late night advice” to those who have questions and concerns regarding Social Security Disability benefits:
1. This article from Social Security is specific for Mental Health Disorders in accordance to the DSM-V which is the latest updated version. Social Security will follow this manual with regard to qualifying claims for Social Security Disability benefits.
2. Please read how one qualifies for Social Security Income (“SSI”) benefits. The income benefits are paid based on a disabled child’s/adult’s parent’s Social Security contributions and their employer’s matching contributions to Social Security (this is a child or an adult who did not work but has a disability and cannot work according to the Social Security Administration). The Dollar Amount is based on the income, years of work, and Social Security contributions. There is a definitive calculator for the Social Security Income benefit. After a certain length of time, this child’s/adult’s SSI changes to Social Security Disability Income (“SSDI”) and also qualifies for Medicare which is deducted from the SSDI’s benefit.
3. An individual who qualifies for Social Security Disability Income by the Social Security Administration receives benefits from their Social Security contributions during their entire working life and their matching employers’ contributions. The calculation is the same one used as in the preceding paragraph. After a certain amount of months, the individual qualifies to receive Medicare which usually is deducted from their SSDI. Once this individual reaches retirement age, the individual’s SSDI is no longer considered Disability Income. It is Social Security Retirement and can be taxed depending on which U.S. state this individual resides in.
4. An individual doesn’t qualify for Social Security Income or Social Security Disability Income benefits just because an individual thinks they are entitled to money nor are they entitled to a certain amount of money due to their condition(s) because of their living situations or a variety of circumstances. Social Security is based on an employees’ contributions while they are working and their employers’ matching contributions into the Social Security Administration.
**REMEMBER THIS: Social Security is not a Charity Organization.
5. There are two (2) Divisions of Social Security: Disability and Retirement. There is more to the Social Security Administration than what I have typed above. The best way to find your answers is to either call the Social Security Administration, go online through the Internet to find your answers or go to your local Social Security Administration office with your questions.
Marc
@Marge: thank you for your clear and concise explanation of SSI/SSDI. These blog comments are always just nasty tirades from losers who think the world owes them something. They’re jealous of anything anyone else has, but they’re too lazy to go out and work to get it for themselves. They prefer to sit and hurl venom at the disabled, minorities, and any other marginalized group.
Diana H.
Hi Marge- your explanation regarding SSI (Supplemental Security Income/not Social Security Income) and SSDI is inaccurate and very convoluted. Please visit http://www.ssa.gov for an accurate description of both programs or call (800) 772-1213 (SSA National 800#)
Regards,
Diana H.
D.H. F.
I think people would like to have a clear explanation of how this applies to people with significant psychiatric disabilities, such as severe social anxiety — those who are unlikely to be able to provide for themselves. During the Clinton administration, many with limiting psychiatric disabilities were required to “find jobs,” and the results were not good.
Marcie
I’ve struggled with my examiner since December 2015.
1- I’ve lived with Agoraphobia and Social Phobia with Anxiety and Panic attacks for over 36 years, started when I was 11 years old and been on medication for it my entire life.
2- I separated ALL of my Lumbar spine and had 3 cs leaks and a hemorrhage on my spinal cord. I went to pain management for nerve blocks, that did not have any effect in taking away pain. I had Radiculopathy and learned how to move left leg even though numbness with spasms if pain. Was referred to the best Neurosurgeon in the area and after 2 surgeries, 3 rods, 6 spacers with cadaver bone and 29 screws and a Fusion of spine too, the Surgeon
3- PARALYZED ME FROM WAIST DOWN! I HAVE NO BLADDER OR BOWEL CONTROL AND LEFT LEG IS COMPLETELY NUMB!
I WENT TO DOCTOR THAT SOCIAL SECURITY REQUIRED TO DETERMINE IF DISABLED. I was in and out in less than 5 minutes and he said YES, no doubt in his mind and I can never work again.
Examiner is a joke. Dr says yes, but he says no. WTH! When I have a moment of pain, it’s the feeling of bone snapping and bone coming out of ankle and heal.
4-Now examiner wants to wait until another surgery! First waited from August 2015 until surgery, April 20th, 2016. It’s been 5 months and he wants to see if in 7 months, if another surgery will help.
5-Now he told my Attorney that I have memory trouble. I don’t. Now I need to see another dr.
I need help cause I can’t survive with this disability much longer. About ready to put myself out of misery.
Mike D.
I have a form of Autism, Depression, Learning Disability and I do not remember what else I was diagnosed with by a Mental Hospital. My Learning Disability was diagnosed when I was a kid. I am 53 now. I did spend time in a Mental Hospital as I was thinking of committing suicide. Thats were I got my diagnoses of Autism, Depression and I do not remember what else if anything. I have been getting SSDI since 2010. Will this change to the law affect me?
ata
Not very likely!
Ray F.
hi Mike. In general, your benefits will continue as long as you are disabled. However, the law requires that we conduct medical reviews periodically to see if you are still disabled. We will notify you when is time to review your case, and we will continue to keep you informed about your benefit status. Thanks.
Sharon
I have a question for you sir. I am not getting either SSDI or SSI at the moment. I am waiting for my lawyer to submit my application which is taking 4ever! Anyway, I’ve battled depression for over 10 years. Lately, going to my 2nd psychiatrist, I’ve learned I have depression, bipolar, social anxiety, generalized anxiety, and adult ADD. In 10 years, I have seen 2 psychiatrists, a psychologist, a hospital, and 4 family doctors seeking help. I am 39 years old now. One thing I’ve learned unfortunately, is that my condition worsens as I get older. Seems I have more and more symptoms. Mental illness runs on my mom n dad’s side of the family so this could be why. I’m not sure. Anyway, when people with mental disorders has a review, how does that work? Mental illnesses is a permanent thing. Some , such as myself, worsen as the years pass. Even on medication it just seems to take the edge off. So, what exactly is a review looking 4 as NOT having that disability anymore? Being it’s a permanent condition, I don’t understand. Thanks!
Ray F.
Hi Sharon. You may find our listing of impairments useful. The Social Security Act sets out a strict definition for disability. We pay disability benefits to people who are unable to work because of a medical condition that is expected to last one year or more or to end in death. However, if a person thinks that he or she meets our definition of disability, we encourage them to apply for disability benefits as soon as when they become disabled. To learn more about the process we use to decide if you are disabled under our rules, visit our Disability Planner: How We Decide If You Are Disabled. Thanks!