Both the Huffington Post and the Deseret News have recently discussed the greater occurrence of Chronic Traumatic Encephelopathy (CTE) amongst military veterans due to bomb blasting and football players due to the tackles received on the field. Both cases generally appear as Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), but later degenerates more fully into CTE. Let’s be clear, TBI can be deadly, and can also give the claimant headaches, nausea, vomiting, ears ringing, difficulty balancing, fatigue, ringing in ears and blurred vision, just to name a few symptoms. All of these symptoms, if severe enough, can interfere with a claimant’s inability to work. CTE can be even worse, showing disorientation, overt dementia, staggard gait, confusion, impeded speech, tremors and deafness. These symptoms, if severe enough, can make it near impossible for a claimant to maintain the pace and persistence of competitive employment. Many claimants with conditions like TBI and CTE, who’s conditions are a result of the work activity they knowingly entered into, wonder if Social Security is even an option, due to an “I brought this on myself” mentality. This concern is unfounded. Even if a claimant’s injury is the result of being in a risky environment that the claimant knowingly put him or herself in, Social Security can still be there for the claimant. The real issue is whether the claimant has a severe mental or physical impairment that prevents him/her from being able to work consistently 8 hours per day, 5 days per week. For many people with the degenerative condition that is Chronic Traumatic Encephelopathy, the answer will be a clear yes. Social Security claimants generally don’t run into trouble on the sole basis of assuming the risk that caused the condition unless the condition is directly linked to the abuse of drugs or alcohol. If that is the case, then the claimant would have to show sobriety (often times of 12 months or longer), before being able to prove their claim. CTE is generally not linked to the abuse of drugs or alcohol and exists separate and apart from that use. Furthermore, the debilitating effects of CTE, in many cases, may result in faster treatment from Social Security. As one article discussed, the debilitating mental effects of CTE has resulted in suicidal tendencies. If the claimant’s condition has shown to cause recent suicidal ideation, then Social Security should assign a Critical Case designation and expedite the claim. While this doesn’t cut much time off the claimant’s processing on the initial application and request for reconsideration, due to the time it takes to request and review medical records, it can result in a substantially shorter wait time for a hearing. The policy behind this expedite is that it allows the claimant quicker means to get the level of medical treatment that being on Social Security provides, and possible save the claimant’s life. For the Huffington Post article, click Here. For the Deseret News article, click Here.
