Take the Next Step
If health problems are keeping you from working, you do not have to figure out Social Security’s process by yourself. A short conversation can help you understand where your case stands and what options may make sense.
More Than a Diagnosis
Rather than a list of diagnoses, Social Security starts with a different question: Is there a medically determinable physical or mental impairment supported by medical evidence from an appropriate source?
From there, the focus shifts to functioning. Social Security looks at how your condition affects physical activity, focus, memory, pace, attendance, social functioning, and your ability to keep doing tasks over a normal workday and workweek.
How Social Security Looks at Conditions
Social Security usually asks whether the condition has lasted, or is expected to last, at least 12 months, whether it significantly limits basic work activities, and whether it prevents substantial gainful activity.
For some conditions, the agency also has detailed medical listings. But many valid claims are decided not because someone exactly matches criteria on Social Security’s lista listing, but because the overall evidence shows serious functional limits that rule out full-time work.
Mental Health Conditions
Social Security evaluates mental health conditions by looking at how abilities such as memory, understanding, concentrating, social functioning, adaptation, and daily activities are affected.
That is why treatment records, therapy notes, medication history, specialist care, and honest descriptions of day-to-day struggles can matter so much in these cases.
Physical and Pain Conditions
Physical and pain-related conditions often involve questions about standing, sitting, lifting, walking, reaching, using the hands, staying on task, and maintaining regular attendance. Basic work activities under Social Security’s rules include these physical functions along with mental functions needed for most jobs.
Strong evidence may include imaging, lab work, specialist records, long-term treatment notes, and opinions that translate symptoms into practical limits.
Autism and Developmental Disorders
Autism and developmental disorders can affect communication, social interaction, attention, adaptation, and daily living in different ways depending on the person’s age and support needs. Social Security looks at intellectual and developmental conditions, and the agency considers how those conditions affect functioning in everyday life.
For children, the focus may be on how much their condition affects functioning in areas that Social Security considers. For adults, the question often becomes whether the person can manage the demands of sustained work activity in a competitive setting.
Why Daily Life Matters
Along with medical records and work history, Social Security asks about your daily activities, such as whether you can manage self-care, prepare meals, shop, follow instructions, interact with others, stay focused, and manage routine changes.
That is why we ask about good days, bad days, flare-ups, fatigue, pain, panic, and what happens after you push through an activity. Those details help connect your lived experience to the rules Social Security uses.
How Spector & Lenz Helps
We help identify missing records, organize treatment history, understand how your condition affects daily life, and present your limitations to Social Security. Because every condition affects people differently, we do not assume that two cases with the same diagnosis will look the same.
Our role is to connect medical evidence with the real-world limits that matter in a disability claim.
Find Your Condition and Take the Next Step
In this section, you find link out to pages about some common conditions such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD, bipolar disorder, chronic pain and fibromyalgia, back and orthopedic problems, neurological disorders, and autism or developmental disorders.
If your condition is not listed, that does not mean you do not have a case or that we cannot help. The key issue is not only what your condition is called, but how it limits your ability to function and work over time.
Questions About Conditions in Disability Cases
No. Social Security requires a medically determinable impairment and looks at how the condition limits your functioning and ability to work.
Usually yes. In most cases, the condition must have lasted or be expected to last at least 12 months, or be expected to result in death.
Yes. Social Security evaluates mental disorders and looks at how symptoms affect concentration, daily activities, social functioning, and adaptation.
Helpful evidence can include treatment records, specialist notes, imaging, lab work, therapy records, and provider opinions that explain practical limits.
Disclaimer
This page provides general information about medical conditions in Social Security disability claims. It does not provide legal or medical advice. Contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship. We represent clients only after agreeing to take the case and completing the necessary paperwork. We cannot promise results, and we only move forward with applications or appeals when there is a legal basis for further review.