Social Security - Disability

In order to be eligible for Social Security disability, you must be "disabled." For Social Security purposes, a person is "disabled" if he/she has a medical problem that prevents that person from working. In addition, the medical problem must be severe enough that it will last at least a year or severe enough where it might result in death.

As a practical matter, Social Security disability is primarily about a person's ability to work. Stated another way, in order to prove that you are disabled, you often need to prove that you cannot work even a simple, unskilled job. For example, imagine yourself working as an packer, where you sit at a table and pack items in a box; imagine yourself as a cashier at a parking lot; imagine yourself as a nighttime security system monitor. Could you perform one of these very simple, low stress, low exertion jobs 8 hours a day, 5 days a week?

Note the emphasis on your ability to perform a simple job. It is not enough to have a serious medical or mental health problem. You must have an identifiable medical problem and that problem must prevent you from functioning in a normal work environment.

Your medical problem must prevent you from performing work, and your problem must be serious enough that it will last a year or longer, or result in death. The 365 day requirement does not mean that you must wait one year before you apply - you can and should apply if you think that there is a reasonable chance that you will be out of work for a year. If it turns out that you can go back to work you can cancel your Social Security disability application. Because it cases take so long to be processed through the system, it makes sense to apply as soon as you realize that your medical or mental health condition may be a long term problem. There is no such thing as short term disability for Social Security purposes. There is also no partial disability. Either you meet the definition or you do not.