Does any illness automatically qualify me for disability benefits?

The short answer to this question is simply: no. There is no condition that automatically qualifies you to receive Social Security benefits. However, there are conditions that have their own criteria for qualifying as disabilities as far as the Social Security Administration is concerned. These criteria alone, however, do not determine whether or not any individual gets Social Security benefits at all. The determination of whether somebody is disabled is more complex than assessing whether or not they have one particular illness. If you feel overwhelmed by this process, a Palatine Social Security disability attorney can help.

There are some tough criteria for qualifying for a disability under Social Security. For example, you either have to have been unable – because of the disability – to pursue gainful employment for the last 12 months or be able to establish that you will be unable to pursue gainful employment for the next 12 months. This is only the beginning. There are other criteria that are even tougher to meet and each case is actually looked at individually. There is no, however, particular physical or mental condition that will automatically qualify you on its own.

The myth that such a condition exists likely stems from a publication that used to be used by the Social Security Administration. This publication listed many different illnesses that had criteria that could be checked to see if those illnesses ascended to the level of something that could cause a disability. Even this desk reference, however, was not so highly regarded that benefits were given or denied based on what it said about a particular illness. The Social Security Administration still made that determination based on several other factors, including medical history. If you’ve been denied benefits and have a condition that somebody else receives benefits for, there are other factors that likely qualified them to receive Social Security benefits.