Can Borderline Personality Disorder Qualify You for SSD Benefits?

There are many disabilities that may qualify you to receive Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits in order to provide you with the support you need to live. One such condition is Borderline Personality Disorder.

What Is Borderline Personality Disorder?

Borderline Personality Disorder is a disease that includes maladaptive patterns of behavior, such as patterns of distrust, odd beliefs, or suspiciousness. Other potential symptoms may include avoidance of others or social detachment. Those with Borderline Personality Disorder may be very sensitive to criticism, may have great difficulty making decisions on their own, may have impulsive anger or aggression, may be grossly preoccupied with perfectionism and control, and more. Those with Borderline Personality Disorder may believe that they are the only ones who can do their work correctly or may get angry with co-workers or supervisors, often losing their temper.

Having Borderline Personality Disorder can sometimes make it very difficult to maintain a job – especially one that involves working with others.

This type of mental illness may include a variety of other disorders, such as:

• Borderline
• Paranoid
• Schizoid
• Schizotypal
• Intermittent explosive disorder
• Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder

Listing 12.08

There are a number of disabling symptoms of these types of personality and impulse-control disorders. In order to qualify for SSD benefits under the Social Security Administration (SSA)’s Blue Book, this would fall under listing 12.08.

• Medical documentation of a pervasive pattern of one or more of the following:
  • Distrust and suspiciousness of others;
  • Detachment from social relationships;
  • Disregard for and violation of the rights of others;
  • Instability of interpersonal relationships;
  • Excessive emotionality and attention seeking;
  • Feelings of inadequacy;
  • Excessive need to be taken care of;
  • Preoccupation with perfectionism and orderliness; or
  • Recurrent, impulsive, aggressive behavioral outbursts.

AND

• Extreme limitation of one, or marked limitation of two, of the following areas of mental functioning (see 12.00F):
  • Understand, remember, or apply information (see 12.00E1).
  • Interact with others (see 12.00E2).
  • Concentrate, persist, or maintain pace (see 12.00E3).

In order to receive SSD benefits, not only must your disorder meet the requirements, but you must also be sure to properly submit the correct application. While you can submit your own application online a ssa.gov, a knowledgeable and experienced SSD attorney can help to make sure that you take care of things properly. This includes appealing a denial of benefits.

The Las Vegas SSD Attorneys at Roeschke Law, LLC Can Help

If you or a loved one is struggling with a disability that prevents you from working, you may not know how to proceed. Fortunately, the attorneys at Roeschke Law, LLC can help. We understand the impact that a disability can have on your physical, emotional, and financial health. That’s why it’s our mission to help you. To learn more, or to schedule a consultation, contact us today!