PTSD can be disabling enough to qualify for Social Security benefits — for <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/people/veterans/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">veterans</a> and civilians alike. Here’s what the SSA requires.
PTSD disability benefits under the SSA rules
PTSD is evaluated under the SSA’s mental-disorders listings. To qualify you generally need documented symptoms — intrusive memories, avoidance, hypervigilance, mood and sleep disturbance — plus evidence that they seriously limit your ability to function and work.
The functional test
The SSA looks at four areas: understanding and memory; interacting with others; concentrating and persisting; and adapting or managing yourself. Marked limitation in two, or extreme limitation in one, can establish disability.
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Request your free case review →Evidence that strengthens a PTSD claim
Consistent mental-health treatment, therapy and medication records, statements from providers, and — for veterans — VA C&P exams and rating decisions. Third-party statements from family about day-to-day functioning help too.
Why these claims get denied
Sporadic treatment, no specialist care, or a record that doesn’t connect symptoms to work limitations. Staying in treatment is both good care and good evidence.
You don’t have to explain it alone
Describing how PTSD affects your life to a judge is hard. A representative helps build the record and tell the story in the terms the SSA uses.
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