Many people who suffer from mental health impairments turn to illegal drugs or alcohol as a way of self medicating. Some people who are prescribed legal medications also abuse those medications for the same reason, but Social Security looks at substance abuse different than it did just a couple of years ago.
Social Security listed substance addiction as a disabling condition in its listings of impairments until 2016. When the listings were revised substance abuse was removed from the listings and Social Security would not consider it a disabling condition on its own. Social Security’s listings of impairments are used to determine the severity of a condition in disability cases. Below is the listing for substance abuse before it was removed.
12.09 Substance Addiction Disorders: Behavioral changes or physical changes associated with the regular use of substances that affect the central nervous system.
The required level of severity for these disorders is met when the requirements in any of the following (A through I) are satisfied.
- Organic mental disorders. Evaluate under 12.02.
- Depressive syndrome. Evaluate under 12.04.
- Anxiety disorders. Evaluate under 12.06.
- Personality disorders. Evaluate under 12.08.
- Peripheral neuropathies. Evaluate under 11.14.
- Liver damage. Evaluate under 5.05.
- Gastritis. Evaluate under 5.04.
- Pancreatitis. Evaluate under 5.08.
- Seizures. Evaluate under 11.02 or 11.03
We have seen many denial letters, after the changes were made, come from Social Security with language indicating Social Security cannot provide benefits to someone addicted to drugs or alcohol because it is not a disabling condition. Rarely is substance abuse a condition most people have without other types of mental health impairments. Substance abuse or alcohol abuse is a roadblock to a successful disability claim, but people who suffer from this epidemic should not be ignored because there are many other types of impairments that usually accompany substance abuse.
