1. Treatment:

It is important that you receive ongoing treatment for your medical, psychiatric, and psychological impairments. You must follow the treatment set out by your doctor, therapist, or other caregiver. Take your medication as prescribed by your doctor. Do NOT take medication from other family members. You should NOT MISS your appointments with your doctor. By attending appointments and following your doctors’ recommendations, there will be more information available to submit to the Social Security Administration.

2. Talk to Your Doctor:

When you have a appointment with a caregiver, make sure that you accurately and fully detail any problems you are having (you might choose to bring a written list to your appointment). You might want to have a list of your problems ready to mention to you doctor. Also talk to your caregiver about running the appropriate diagnostic tests. For example, if you have back pain with radiating pain into your legs, you may need to get an MRI and an EMG. Keep in mind that your caregiver’s records are the proof and documentation of all your problems. SSA will rely on those records and reports.

3. Obtain Functional Assessment:

Our office will work with your caregivers to obtain a functional assessment. This document will describe your problems with sitting, standing, walking, lifting, concentrating, tolerating stress, carrying out instructions, and other similar activities. Obtaining this information from your caregiver is one of the most important things we can do to win your case. SSA doctors will always provide an assessment, but these are usually not very helpful. Your caregivers are in the best position to provide a more accurate assessment of your condition.

4. Stop Using Alcohol and/or Drugs:

In order to obtain disability benefits, one must prove disability independent of of drug and alcohol abuse. If you continue to use drugs and alcohol, it becomes increasingly difficult to show that you are disabled independently of drugs and alcohol. This is especially true if you are disabled because of a mental condition.

5. Hire an Experienced Attorney:

People think that if they tell SSA about their conditions, they should be able to win their disability case. Unfortunately, the truth is that the disability process can be complicated and confusing. An experienced Social Security disability attorney will assess your case and develop a strategy for proving disability. All cases are unique – some involving expiration of insured status, earnings after the onset date of disability, durational issues, and issues related to transferability of skills. If this sounds complicated, you’re right. Call Green & Greenberg to help you address areas such as these that might impact your case.

Call Green & Greenberg today to help you navigate through this complicated process.