New Listing For Childhood Mood Disorders

In our continuing effort to provide information related to Social Security’s new listings on mental impairments we are going to look at changes made to the childhood Mood Disorder listing. And, as just a reminder, Social Security’s set of listings are used in evaluating disability claims judging a condition’s severity and how it limits a person’s ability to function. We will post the current listing for childhood Mood Disorder followed by the new listing, which will take effect January 17, 2017.

Current Childhood Mood Disorder Listing

112.04 Mood Disorders: Characterized by a disturbance of mood (referring to a prolonged emotion that colors the whole psychic life, generally involving either depression or elation), accompanied by a full or partial manic or depressive syndrome.

The required level of severity for these disorders is met when the requirements in both A and B are satisfied.

1. Medically documented persistence, either continuous or intermittent, of one of the following:
2. Major depressive syndrome, characterized by at least five of the following, which must include either depressed or irritable mood or markedly diminished interest or pleasure:
3. Depressed or irritable mood; or
4. Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in almost all activities; or
5. Appetite or weight increase or decrease, or failure to make expected weight gains; or
6. Sleep disturbance; or
7. Psychomotor agitation or retardation; or
8. Fatigue or loss of energy; or
9. Feelings of worthlessness or guilt; or
10. Difficulty thinking or concentrating; or
11. Suicidal thoughts or acts; or
12. Hallucinations, delusions, or paranoid thinking;

or

2. Manic syndrome, characterized by elevated, expansive, or irritable mood, and at least three of the following:
3. Increased activity or psychomotor agitation; or
4. Increased talkativeness or pressure of speech; or
5. Flight of ideas or subjectively experienced racing thoughts; or
6. Inflated self-esteem or grandiosity; or
7. Decreased need for sleep; or
8. Easy distractibility; or
9. Involvement in activities that have a high potential of painful consequences which are not recognized; or
10. Hallucinations, delusions, or paranoid thinking;

or

3. Bipolar or cyclothymic syndrome with a history of episodic periods manifested by the full symptomatic picture of both manic and depressive syndromes (and currently or most recently characterized by the full or partial symptomatic picture of either or both syndromes);

and

112. For older infants and toddlers (age 1 to attainment of age 3), resulting in at least one of the appropriate age-group criteria in paragraph B1 of 112.02; or, for children (age 3 to attainment of age 18), resulting in at least two of the appropriate age-group criteria in paragraph B2 of 112.02.

New Childhood Mood Disorder Listing

112.04 Depressive, bipolar and related disorders, for children age 3 to attainment of age 18, satisfied by A and B, or A and C:

1. Medical documentation of the requirements of paragraph 1, 2, or 3:
2. Depressive disorder, characterized by five or more of the following:
3. Depressed or irritable mood;
4. Diminished interest in almost all activities;
5. Appetite disturbance with change in weight (or a failure to achieve an expected weight gain);
6. Sleep disturbance;
7. Observable psychomotor agitation or retardation;
8. Decreased energy;
9. Feelings of guilt or worthlessness;
10. Difficulty concentrating or thinking; or
11. Thoughts of death or suicide.
12. Bipolar disorder, characterized by three or more of the following:
13. Pressured speech;
14. Flight of ideas;
15. Inflated self-esteem;
16. Decreased need for sleep;
17. Distractibility;
18. Involvement in activities that have a high probability of painful consequences that are not recognized; or
19. Increase in goal-directed activity or psychomotor agitation.
20. Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, beginning prior to age 10, and all of the following:
21. Persistent, significant irritability or anger;
22. Frequent, developmentally inconsistent temper outbursts; and
23. Frequent aggressive or destructive behavior.

AND

1. Extreme limitation of one, or marked limitation of two, of the following areas of mental functioning:
2. Understand, remember, or apply information.
3. Interact with others.
4. Concentrate, persist, or maintain pace.
5. Adapt or manage oneself.

OR

1. Your mental disorder in this listing category is ‘‘serious and persistent;’’ that is, you have a medically documented history of the existence of the disorder over a period of at least 2 years, and there is evidence of both:
2. Medical treatment, mental health therapy, psychosocial support(s), or a highly structured setting(s) that is ongoing and that diminishes the symptoms and signs of your mental disorder; and
3. Marginal adjustment, that is, you have minimal capacity to adapt to changes in your environment or to demands that are not already part of your daily life.