Was your disability claim for a mental disorder denied by Social Security, an insurance company, or the VA? Do you worry your monthly LTD benefits might be terminated? As a national disability benefits law firm, a large portion of the cases we handle involve mental health-related claims. Mental illness affects every walk of life and every profession. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly one in five U.S. adults live with a mental illness. Depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide. Not everyone with mental health issues qualifies for disability benefits. Yet severe mental disorders, or a combination of …

If Your Claim for Anxiety Disability is Denied Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S. population. More than 18% of Americans, or 40 million people over 18, are affected. Although treatable, only 36% of anxiety sufferers receive treatment. Individuals suffering from anxiety disability face each day as a challenge. Because anxiety is difficult to medically and objectively measure, victims of anxiety disorders frequently see their claims denied when they file a claim to receive disability benefits. Many of the people we help suffer from anxiety disorders, fighting desperately to make sense of their lives. If you’re living with anxiety …

Our law firm has represented many people in their fight to receive disability benefits for obsessive-compulsive disorder. OCD is an illness that produces undesired, unshakable thoughts or beliefs (obsessions) in a person. These obsessions, in turn, cause the person to conduct certain actions or behaviors (compulsions) over and over again. For people with OCD, their brain cannot let go of a certain thought. They know that this makes no sense, and this causes them extreme anxiety. To get rid of these obsessive thoughts, the person creates rules, or rituals, that they repeat excessively to make their unwanted thoughts stop. Was your claim …

Illness anxiety disorder, previously known as hypochondriasis, has had a facelift of sorts in the DSM-5. The portrayal of hypochondriacs in media was so pervasive (and typically negative) that experts found both laymen and professionals approaching the disorder and those who seemed to have it from a place that was less than objective, resulting in confusion and misdiagnoses. The DSM-5 attempts to rectify that problem by both changing the name of the disorder itself and further clarifying the kind and degree of symptoms that professionals should look for when trying to diagnose it. Those filing claims for hypochondriasis – or, …

What Are the 8 Categories of Mental Disorders Eligible for VA Compensation Claims? Whether the inflicted party is eligible for VA compensation claims or not, mental disorders are a truly awful thing for anyone to have to live with. But establishing a mental disorder as service-connected can certainly make things somewhat easier by giving the veteran access to care. However, in order to qualify for these veterans benefits, the mental disorder in question must first fall into certain specific categories. The following are the eight categories of mental disorders that are eligible for VA compensation claims: Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders. This category …