All people feel anxious at times. It is a normal, human emotion but anxiety disorder occurs when the feeling of anxiousness pervades a person's life to the point that it worsens over time and causes physical manifestations such as chest pains, difficulty breathing, sweating, persistent irrational fears of certain places, people or situations, obsessions or compulsions, recurrent recollections or flashbacks, and nightmares. Anxiety can develop into fears that inhibit life, such as fear of leaving home. There are many types of anxiety disorders including: generalized anxiety disorder, phobias, posttraumatic stress disorder, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Panic disorders can cause panic attacks which often send people to the emergency room with physical symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, chest pain, dizziness and difficulty breathing. Some individuals believe they are having a heart attack or stroke. Panic disorder occurs when someone has an irrational fear or terror that inhibits them from performing certain activities or going to certain places. Sometimes people with panic disorders cannot even leave their home. Often, panic attacks come on suddenly and are unpredictable. Social Security considers panic attacks severe when they occur more than once per week. Social Security will determine disability based not only upon a diagnosis and the symptoms that an individual has but will also evaluate how the condition impacts on daily living and functioning.
In order to prove your disability to Social Security, you need to either document that your condition or conditions meet or equal in severity the criteria found in the Social Security Commissioner's regulations or, if you are an adult, that your condition and symptoms are so severe that you are unable to work. If you are a child under 18, you must similarly show that your condition or conditions meet or equal in severity the criteria in the Social Security Commissioner's regulations or that your condition or conditions functionally equals the Commissioner's regulations. The law firm of Sheryl Gandel Mazur has experienced disability attorneys and has been representing individuals in their Social Security disability appeals for over twenty five years. Let us help you receive your Social Security disability benefits.
Our disability law firm represents individuals:
- In filing their initial disability applications
- In handling cases at the initial level including appealing initial denials
- In handling cases at the reconsideration level including appealing reconsideration denials
- In handling cases at the hearings level
- In appealing and handling cases at the Appeals Council level
- In appealing and handling cases at the Federal Court level
This firm also handles SSI child's disability cases at all levels.
Organizations: Anxiety Disorders of America (http://www.adaa.org/); in New Jersey: (www.anxietypanic.com/newjersey.htm)
