Emotional trauma may not be easily detectable to outsiders. Yet, your suffering from it may be very real; and may very much affect how you can conduct your day-to-day life. This is why you may hold the hope that Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits can aid you. Please continue reading to learn whether it is possible to receive benefits for emotional trauma and how one of the experienced New Jersey mental & emotional disability SSDI benefits attorneys, at The Law Offices of Sheryl Gandel Mazur, can work to promote your eligibility.
By definition, what is considered emotional trauma?
Emotional trauma, otherwise commonly referred to as psychological trauma, is a mental response to having been made a victim of a traumatizing experience. Such a mental response may be a direct response to a traumatizing event; a chronic response from prolonged or repeated events; or a complex response from multiple related or unrelated events. Regardless, the event(s) may have left a victim with feelings of unsafety or helplessness.
It is worth mentioning that a traumatizing experience that led to emotional trauma may have also involved physical harm. A common example of this is a car accident. However, this does not always have to be the case.
Is it possible to receive SSDI benefits for emotional trauma?
The short answer is, yes, you may receive SSDI benefits for your emotional trauma. Of note, the SSA has what is known as a “Blue Book,” which lists the types of disabilities that it considers eligible for benefits. With this, your emotional trauma may be listed under “trauma- and stressor-related disorders.” To name a few others that may qualify, there are depressive and bipolar disorders; anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders; and eating disorders.
However, your eligibility is so long as, in your application, you can prove that such trauma has affected your ability to maintain gainful employment. More specifically, you must document your emotional trauma in the following ways:
- You must prove that your emotional trauma has been serious and persistent for at least two years.
- You must prove that you receive ongoing medical treatment, mental health therapy, or otherwise live in a highly protected setting due to your trauma.
- You must prove that you have minimal capacity to adapt to changes or new demands in your day-to-day life due to your trauma.
Such documentation may be accomplished by records of your inpatient or outpatient psychiatric treatment; clinic notes from counseling and therapy; and a residual functional capacity form by your treating mental health provider.
With the complex application process ahead, you should not go through it alone. Rather, you should have a skilled New Jersey mental and emotional disability attorney from The Law Offices of Sheryl Gandel Mazur stand by your side throughout. Contact our firm today.
