How to Get Social Security Disability for Mental Illness
When you’re living with mental health conditions that get in the way of your ability to work, economic support from Social Security Disability benefits is a blessed relief.
Maybe during your mental health treatment, you got a “GAF score” from a doctor. Now you wonder, should you use your GAF score for a disability benefits claim?
The GAF score—Global Assessment of Functioning—was a scale that mental health professionals used to grade the severity of someone’s mental illness. It came from an older edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders by the American Psychiatric Association.
It’s not always used by psychiatrists and psychologists anymore, but the Social Security Disability program may still look at it as part of your disability claim.
Since 2017, Social Security has said it considers a GAF score to be “other medical evidence.” That means medical opinions and reports separate from the GAF score must be the foundation of your claim, but you can add your GAF score on top.
Mental disorders—including anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, personality disorders, PTSD and schizophrenia—are the second most common type of health problem for workers who get Social Security Disability. More than 2 million workers got benefits for mental conditions in 2023.
Still, like everything else when you’re struggling with mental health, getting disability benefits isn’t easy.
You need any information you can use to prove you can’t work because of your disorder. That can include a GAF score. But your GAF score might also look outdated.
An experienced disability lawyer can help you sort this out and determine how best to approach your GAF score in your disability claim.
Nash Disability Law in Chicago is one of the top disability law firms in the country by the total amount of benefits we win for clients.
Thousands of people in the Chicago area have gotten help from us.
WE’VE HELPED MORE PEOPLE IN THE CHICAGO AREA WIN BENEFITS THAN ANY OTHER LAW FIRM.
What Is a GAF Score? What Do the Points Mean?
The Manual of Mental Disorders spelled out a 100-point scale for the GAF score.
Your points on the scale indicate where you fall from severe mental illness to near-perfect functioning.
A low GAF score can be supporting evidence in your Social Security Disability application. A high score may signal to Social Security that you don’t need benefits.
Mental health professionals assigned GAF scores in 10-point increments:
- 1-10: Significant danger of hurting oneself or others, minimal personal care and hygiene
- 11-20: Moderate danger of hurting oneself or others, struggles with hygiene and communication
- 21-30: Experiences delusions or hallucinations, has communication and judgment problems, behaves inappropriately, struggles to manage daily life
- 31-40: Trouble with communication and rational thinking, struggles to function in work or school and relating to other people
- 41-50: Obsessive behavior, inability to function in work, school and social settings
- 51-60: Panic attacks, speech difficulty, trouble getting along in work and social situations
- 61-70: Depressed mood, sleep problems, some difficulty in work, school and social situations but mostly able to function and have personal relationships
- 71-80: Intermittent mental health symptoms, slight loss of functioning after a stressful event, minor impairment in school, work and social settings
- 81-90: High functioning with mild symptoms like anxiety, socially healthy, has concerns and problems of the type most people experience
- 91-100: Successful in a range of activities, problems well under control, looked up to by other people, no mental illness symptoms
An experienced disability lawyer knows when to use a GAF score as part of the evidence in your disability claim, what information about your GAF score to get from your health care providers and how to present your score.
Talk to the Chicago disability lawyers at Nash Disability Law to understand what evidence could go into your particular Social Security Disability claim for mental health issues.
There’s no attorney fee until you win benefits. You can always start with a free disability attorney consultation from Nash.
Challenges Using Your GAF Score for Disability: What Should You Do?
Remember, a GAF score you get from your doctor or therapist can be part of your disability claim, but only part of it.
In one of its training documents for the administrative law judges (ALJs) who decide appeals of disability denials, Social Security spells out weaknesses it sees in relying too much on GAF scores to decide disability claims:
- A GAF score is an opinion, not a precise measurement. Different mental health professionals score people differently.
- The score reflects one moment. It doesn’t give a picture of how your condition has developed over time, which Social Security likes to see.
- Social Security itself says the mental health professionals who assign GAF scores don’t always provide enough detail backing up why they picked a certain number.
- The administrative law judges can’t base their decisions entirely on GAF scores.
- ALJs may not always put much weight on GAF scores.
Have your disability attorney tell you how your GAF score fits into your benefits application.
More importantly, have your disability attorney guide you on the most crucial treatment and evidence in your case —in addition to the GAF score—for a strong disability claim for mental illness.
That means reports from mental health exams, interviews doctors or psychologists conducted with you, neuropsychological and IQ test results, details about your medications, details of your therapy plan, side effects and results of your treatment, how your condition has progressed over time, testimony from friends, family, neighbors, co-workers and more.
It also means your doctor or therapist’s opinion on how your mental conditions affect your ability to work.
We’ll save you stress by taking on the work of compiling your information, guiding you in filling out the forms, meeting the deadlines, answering Social Security’s questions, and preparing you to speak to a disability judge, so you can qualify for benefits.
The Chicago Social Security Disability lawyers at Nash Disability Law are here to help you—using your GAF score and other evidence—to make your strongest case to get support for a better, healthier life.
