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What conditions are considered a disability for Social Security?

The Social Security Administration has a list of conditions on their website to determine the criteria for which people are eligible for payments.

Update:
Many have seen a significant increase to their checks in 2022.

Social Security payments don’t just cover seniors, they cover the disabled as well. Both the Supplementary Security Income (SSI) and the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) payments can be attained by having a disability, but both have different requirements.

The SSI is the simpler to attain, being designed to provide financial assistance for seniors or people with disabilities who have a limited income. Most state have their own support programs to assist people on SSI benefits.

A recipient can have both payments at once, if they satisfy criteria of both programmes.

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To qualify for the SSDI individuals must be registered as disabled, using the list below, and must also satisfy certain work history requirements. Bear in mind that family members working (spouse or parent) can also be used to satisfy the requirements, which would be difficult for many to achieve who are born disabled.

Individuals must also have had their disability prevent them from working for at least five months, although this stipulation does not exist for claimants who are suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

List of impairments

In-depth information for each section can be found with the links.

My disability isn’t on that list, what do I do?

The listing of impairments is not exhaustive and it is possible to qualify for SSDI or SSI if your disorder is not specified above. This is also true if it doesn’t exactly match the cited medical requirements.

However, you will have to make a case to Social Security that your illness or symptoms are as severe as those above in terms of limiting your work or daily functioning.