Winning Strategies for Depression Cases | Social Security Disability

How do you win a depression disability case in 2023? I'm Jonathan Ginsberg. I'm a social security disability attorney and I represent clients in all 50 states because disability hearings are now virtual, done by phone or by video. And depression, as you might imagine, is a very common basis for someone to file for social security disability. Obviously, someone who's severely depressed is going to have difficulty maintaining attention and concentration at work, focusing and concentrating at the tasks of a job, or being emotionally stable. These are all factors that would make a person with severe depression unable to be a reliable employee. And I think that's the main thing to focus on that disability is about, whether you'd be a reliable employee. However, you can't walk in there and just say, I'm depressed, please pay me. And the reason for that is that disability judges see depression in almost every single case. Whether it's situational or more organic, a lot of people filing for disability say, I'm depressed, I can't work. So you have to have more than that. And generally speaking, by the way, if a condition is common, and that would be back pain, depression, anxiety, things like that, diabetes, you've got to show an extreme level of this before you're going to be able to move the meter with disability and win disability benefits. So I think that if you're pursuing disability on depression, what you need to have, and this is just my own informal observations. One is you've got to have treatment with a psychiatrist, really, and a psychologist. People that go to see a social worker, they're not on meds or anything like that, it's just not going to win. It's really unlikely you're going to win based on depression alone. I think secondly, you need to be on medications and you need to be compliant with those medications. Antidepressants can really change lives and obviously you should try to do what the doctor says and be compliant with that. But the winning disability cases are ones where the doctors keep upping the dosage because it's not working or they change medicines because of side effects or because the meds aren't working. So you really need to have almost an unsuccessful history of medication management for your depression. I think that the evidence of severity needs to be there. Things like suicide attempts or inpatient hospitalizations. It's got to be beyond, I'm just depressed and I cry a lot or I'm depressed and I don't get out of bed. It's got to be something external maybe is a good way to put it. Again, the suicide attempts, the inpatient hospitalizations where it's more than something that you can almost manage with medications and family support. So it's got to be beyond the pale there. I think that if you're over 50 or over 55 that's going to help. A lot of times people over 55 for example have a long work history and judges realize you don't work for 30 years and then all of a sudden decide you're not going to be able to work anymore because you're depressed. Something must have changed and I think that your age can make a big difference. There is a bias in the social security system in favor of people over age 50 and even more so at 55. So that will help. If your depression is more situational, meaning it was caused by some terrible trauma, that needs to be something that is documented. Whether it's the death of somebody you were very close to or something really traumatic that happened to you, that can be grounds for alleging disability based on depression. I think if you can get statements from former co-workers and supervisors talking about their observations about problems you were having getting through a day with emotional stability due to crying spells or things like that, that can make a difference as well. So these are some of the things. But the big picture I want you to take away from this is that depression is not uncommon. A lot of people, especially if you can't work or if you're in pain or your body's betraying you a little bit, can happen. People can feel depressed. I'm talking about a level of depression that basically makes you almost unable to function. You can't take care of your daily needs. You're not bathing. You're sleeping all the time. You're breaking the crying spells without any explanation. You can't stop. You can't stop yourself. That's the level of impairment. It's got to be way up here, not kind of a mild or moderate. It's got to be fairly extreme to win disability benefits. And if that describes you, please let me know. I'd like to help you if I possibly can. You can ask me for a case evaluation at ssdanswers.com or ask for the download, the Secrets to Winning a Disability Survival Kit download. That's at ssdanswers.com. And again, if I can be of help to you, please do reach out to me. So for now, this is Jonathan Ginsburg, wishing you the best. Thanks a lot. Hi, this is Jonathan Ginsburg, and I hope you found this video helpful. If you'd like to know more about how to win your social security disability case, I'd like to invite you to download my Secrets to Getting Approved Early Survival Kit that I created just for people like you. Currently, I'm making this survival kit available at no cost, and I encourage you to grab your copy now. Some of the topics I cover include, how do I know if I have a case? Is it the right time for me to file my claim? Nine common mistakes that can doom your case. The three must-have arguments you use to win your case. And a topic that every disability claimant wants to know, how to avoid trick questions from the judge. If you or a loved one need to win social security disability benefits, you'll find this survival kit essential reading. Download your survival kit right now and at no cost. Just visit ssdanswers.com backslash survival and sign up. It's that easy. Please act now. And as always, I wish you the best.