Various factors may impact your eligibility for receiving disability benefits for a mental health condition. Episodes of decompensation are one of the many factors considered in this decision. Learning about what episodes of decompensation look like is vital when building your disability claim. Talking to an experienced Pennsylvania disability lawyer can also help you increase your chances of receiving disability benefits.

What Are Episodes of Decompensation?

An episode of decompensation happens when someone with a mental health condition experiences an increase in symptoms. This can take a variety of forms depending on the type of mental health condition. Common examples of this include:

·      Increases in anxiety

·      Sudden and unexpected panic attacks

·      Somatic symptoms like stomach pain

·      Hallucinations

·      Delusions

The Social Security Administration (SSA) provides disability benefits programs. They often define episodes of decompensation as symptoms that cause people to withdraw or exacerbated symptoms. These are considered in the context of work since the goal of the SSA is to determine whether disabilities prevent people from working.

For withdrawal, the SSA considers how an episode of decompensation makes someone withdraw from situations at work. When this impacts the ability to accomplish work tasks, then this may increase someone’s chances of receiving disability benefits. The same thing applies when symptoms are exacerbated and interfere with work performance.

Part of determining eligibility for disability benefits is looking at how often these episodes of decompensation happen. The severity, duration, and reoccurrence of these episodes are all considered. There are also several other eligibility criteria considered by the SSA when deciding your need for disability benefits.

Other Mental Health Disability Benefits Criteria

Other mental health disability benefits eligibility criteria revolve around medical evidence and documentation. The SSA requires medical evidence to come from acceptable medical sources. Many of these sources are licensed professionals like therapists, counselors, psychologists, and psychiatrists.

Medical evidence must show documentation of a diagnosis, prognosis, and responses to treatment. Cooperating with treatment is just as important. Failure to cooperate with treatment could impact your eligibility for disability benefits. The SSA needs to know whether treatments are improving or failing to improve your mental health condition.

Other evidence may come from therapy notes, psychological testing reports, medication prescriptions, and documented episodes of decompensation. Some of this evidence may come from yourself or your loved ones. This evidence often looks like journaling your daily symptoms, how daily functioning is impacted, and decompensation episodes.

The more details you can provide on how your decompensation episodes impact your mental and physical functioning, the better. Consider contacting a Pennsylvania disability lawyer to find out more about ways you can improve your disability claim. A lawyer can guide you through the complex application process.

Call Edelstein, Martin & Nelson Today

Applying for disability benefits due to a mental health condition can be difficult. Feel free to talk with a Pennsylvania delayed insurance benefits attorney if your disability benefits were denied. All you have to do is contact Edelstein, Martin & Nelson today at (800) 300-0909 for a consultation about your situation. Our legal team is ready to evaluate your case and find ways to increase your chances of receiving disability benefits.