Disability by Condition
What it actually takes to win with your diagnosis: which listing applies (if any), the tests and records Social Security looks for, and how a claim is built on function when the listing is not met — for back pain, mental illness, cancer, heart and lung disease, diabetes, autoimmune disease, neurological conditions, and more. Most claims are won on function, not on a diagnosis.
All Disability by Condition guides
- Getting Disability for Dementia and Early-Onset Alzheimer's
Dementia diagnoses can be fast-tracked by Social Security. How Listing 12.02, residual functional capacity, and Compassionate Allowances work, and how caregivers can help apply.
- Getting Disability for Epilepsy and Seizures
How SSA evaluates epilepsy claims under Listing 11.02, why treatment records and witness descriptions matter, and how safety restrictions affect the work-capacity step.
- Getting Disability for Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis
Crohn's and ulcerative colitis can qualify for SSDI or SSI. How Listing 5.06 works after the 2023 update, and how most claims actually win on residual functional capacity.
- Getting Disability for HIV and AIDS
HIV can qualify for SSDI or SSI under Listing 14.11 or through an RFC built on documented complications, neurocognitive symptoms, fatigue, and comorbid conditions.
- Getting Disability for ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease)
ALS is a Compassionate Allowance with no 5-month SSDI wait and Medicare from the first month of entitlement. Here's how to file and what evidence SSA needs.
- Getting Disability for ADHD and Learning Disorders
How Social Security evaluates ADHD and learning disorders under Listing 12.11 - the listing path, the RFC path, the evidence that counts, and the age-18 SSI redetermination.
- Getting Disability for Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia
How SSA evaluates bipolar disorder and schizophrenia for disability: Listings 12.03 and 12.04, the paragraph B and C criteria, the RFC path, and what evidence actually matters.
- Getting Disability for Hearing Loss and Deafness
Social Security's hearing-loss listings (2.10 and 2.11), the audiogram evidence SSA requires, and how residual functional capacity decides most claims that don't meet a listing.
- Getting Disability for Parkinson's Disease
How Parkinson's disease qualifies for SSDI or SSI: Listing 11.06, medication fluctuations, and building a strong RFC-based claim.
- Getting Disability for Kidney Disease and ESRD
How Social Security evaluates kidney disease and ESRD, plus the separate early-Medicare pathway for dialysis and transplant patients.
- Getting Disability for Back and Musculoskeletal Problems
How Social Security evaluates spine, joint, and post-surgical disability claims, and why most win on functional limits, not a Listing.
- Getting Disability for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)
ME/CFS has no SSA listing, but SSR 14-1p explains how it can still qualify. Here are the medical signs SSA looks for and how these claims are actually won.
- Getting Disability for Rheumatoid Arthritis and Inflammatory Arthritis
How Social Security evaluates rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis under Listing 14.09 - and why most approvals turn on function, not the Listing.
- Getting Disability for PTSD
How Social Security evaluates PTSD claims under Listing 12.15, what evidence helps, the appeal deadlines, and how VA disability for PTSD differs from SSDI/SSI.
- Getting Disability for Liver Disease and Cirrhosis
How Listing 5.05, the liver-transplant listing, and residual functional capacity evidence each open a path to SSDI or SSI for liver disease and cirrhosis.
- Getting Disability for Sickle Cell Disease
Sickle cell disease and disability: how Listing 7.05 works, why many claims are decided on residual functional capacity instead, and what evidence matters.
- Getting Disability for Depression, Anxiety, and Mental Illness
Depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses can qualify for SSDI/SSI. How the mental Listings, records, and RFC work.
- Getting Disability After a Stroke
How Social Security evaluates stroke disability claims: Listing 11.04, the 3-month rule, and winning on residual functional capacity.
- Getting Disability for Heart and Lung Conditions
How SSA evaluates heart failure, coronary disease, COPD, asthma, and pulmonary fibrosis claims, and how a claim can still succeed on RFC when it doesn't meet a listing.
- Getting Disability for Long COVID
Long COVID can qualify for SSDI/SSI as a medically determinable impairment—here's how SSA evaluates the evidence and effects.
- Getting Disability for Traumatic Brain Injury
How Social Security evaluates traumatic brain injury under Listing 11.18 and Listing 12.02, the 3-month evidence rule, what proof matters most, and how TBI claims are decided on residual functional capacity.
- Getting Disability for Migraines
Migraines have no SSA listing, but SSR 19-4p explains how they are evaluated. Here's what a well-documented migraine disability claim looks like.
- Getting Disability for Cancer
How SSA evaluates cancer for disability: Listing 13.00, Compassionate Allowances, RFC from treatment effects, appeals, and closed periods.
- Getting Disability for Lupus and Autoimmune Disease
How Social Security evaluates lupus and related autoimmune disease claims, why flares make them hard to prove, and what evidence actually carries a case.
- Getting Disability for Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain
How Social Security evaluates fibromyalgia and chronic pain claims under SSR 12-2p, and how to build the medical record you need.
- Getting Disability for Vision Loss and Blindness
How Social Security defines statutory blindness, the special SGA and work-expense rules for blind claimants, and the RFC route for low vision.
- Getting Disability for Autism and Intellectual Disability
How SSA evaluates autism and intellectual disability claims for adults and children, what evidence helps, and what happens at the age-18 redetermination.
- Getting Disability for Spinal Cord Injury and Paralysis
How SSA evaluates spinal cord injury and paralysis claims — meeting Listing 11.08 vs. winning on residual functional capacity, and what evidence matters most.
- How Obesity Affects Your Disability Claim
SSA has no obesity Listing, but it must still weigh obesity when it evaluates your claim. Here's how obesity can support an SSDI or SSI case.
- Getting Disability for Multiple Sclerosis
MS can qualify for SSDI or SSI by meeting Listing 11.09 or through an RFC showing fatigue, flares, and cognitive symptoms rule out sustained work. Here's how to build the record.
- Getting Disability After an Organ Transplant
How Social Security's automatic disability period after a kidney, liver, lung, heart, pancreas, small intestine, or stem cell transplant works, and what happens at the review afterward.
- Getting Disability for Diabetes
Diabetes alone rarely qualifies an adult for SSDI or SSI - complications like neuropathy, vision loss, or kidney disease usually do. How to document your claim.