Can You Get Disability for Schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia is a chronic brain disorder that makes sufferers unable to distinguish between what is a real experience and what is not. As a result, many people with schizophrenia struggle to function day-to-day, which often makes traditional work impossible or hard to sustain.
You may qualify to receive disability for schizophrenia if your symptoms are sufficiently severe to affect your daily functioning. Disability Advice can connect you with an advocate who will explain your options and pursue the benefits you’ve earned.
What Is Schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia is a chronic disorder that disrupts how the brain processes information. Its symptoms reflect an inability to distinguish between real and neurologically generated experiences. Those symptoms fall into three categories:
- Positive symptoms, or experiences gained: Sensory hallucinations, paranoia, or distorted beliefs
- Negative symptoms, or abilities lost: Reduced emotional expressiveness, limited desire to socialize, and lost motivation to be active or accomplish goals
- Disorganized symptoms: Confused, disrupted, or strange-seeming thinking, speech, or movement patterns
People with these experiences often struggle to function in conventional communities and workplaces. Many cannot sustain employment.
Symptoms of Schizophrenia That Affect Your Ability To Work
While treatment helps some people manage schizophrenia, severe symptoms can make daily life extremely difficult. Some particularly challenging symptoms include:
- Paranoid delusions: False beliefs that another person is harassing or seeking to harm the affected individual, with evidence to the contrary having no effect
- Hallucinations: Vivid sensory experiences of things that are not present in the physical world, auditory hallucinations of voices being particularly common
- Disorganized thinking and speech: Internal or expressed thoughts that don’t make sense to a rational mind, causing difficulties in holding a conversation
- Abnormal behavior or movement: Physical agitation or muscle movements that seem strange and interrupt the performance of day-to-day tasks
- Catatonia: Disconnected behavior involving minimal movement or response, making the person seem “dazed”
A person with schizophrenia may qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance, or SSDI, if these symptoms become so severe that working a traditional job is unrealistic.
Can You Qualify for SSDI With Schizophrenia?
People with schizophrenia may qualify for SSDI if they qualify as disabled according to the Social Security Administration. The SSA defines disability as the inability to engage in substantial gainful activity because of a terminal or long-term condition.
Paranoid schizophrenia may qualify as a disability, but approval isn’t automatic. Determinations hinge on documented medical criteria and the severity of each person’s symptoms and functional limitations.
SSDI Eligibility Requirements for Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia can be considered a disability if the symptoms are measurably severe, similar to how other mental and emotional impairments, such as depression and bipolar disorder, are treated. The SSA does not accept personal statements about a patient’s symptoms. Medically relevant testing must show clear evidence of an impairment.
How the SSA Evaluates Schizophrenia Claims
The SSA uses the claimant’s information to determine whether there is sufficient proof of a disabling condition that is severe enough to limit work. If there is insufficient evidence, the team may arrange a medical examination.
Medical Criteria for Schizophrenia
The SSA assesses schizophrenia under list 12.03 Schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders of its Blue Book, which provides the criteria for qualifying conditions.
To qualify for SSDI, a person with schizophrenia must have medical documentation of delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, or grossly disorganized behavior.
The person must also have one of two additional markers. The first option is the presence of “serious and persistent” symptoms, meaning the person has a documented history of the disorder for at least two years. Their record must include proof of treatment that reduces symptoms but does not let them adjust to normal changes in the demands of daily life.
Alternatively, the person may have a significant limitation in at least one of the following categories:
- Comprehending, remembering, or acting on information
- Interacting socially
- Concentrate on a task or keep up the pace of work
- Manage emotions and behavior while adapting to the environment
One limitation is enough if it is extreme. Significant limitation in two areas also indicates disability.
Assessing Functional Limitations
To determine whether your schizophrenia is severe enough to warrant disability benefits, the DDS will look at your residual functional capacity, or RFC. This is the maximum you can do based on your limitations. You may be eligible for benefits if your RFC is reduced to the point where you cannot perform your former occupation or transition into other work.
The DDS focuses on symptoms that limit work-related activities. Claimants must provide information about their condition’s effects on physical abilities, such as standing, walking, and lifting, as well as mental abilities, such as memory, concentration, and task execution.
How To Apply for SSDI With Schizophrenia
To apply for SSDI, you must complete a formal application and attach documentation of your disability. The four basic steps are as follows:
- Check your eligibility: Review the SSA’s guidelines for work history and medical condition requirements.
- Gather your documentation: The downloadable Adult Disability Starter Kit outlines the necessary information and records to provide. These include relevant health care records, a list of your medications, and the names and dates of medical tests.
- Complete the submission worksheet: The Starter Kit includes a PDF you can use to list your conditions, available medical information, and work history.
- Complete the application: You can apply online if you’re not receiving benefits and have not received a denial in the past 60 days. Otherwise, you can apply for disability by calling 800-772-1213 during business hours.
How To Improve Your Chances of Approval
The SSDI approval process can be lengthy, and the denial rate is high. Out of more than 1.7 million applications in 2022, the SSA denied 62%. While the SSA hasn’t published recent data on the schizophrenia disability approval rate, it’s important not to become discouraged. Eligibility is based on individual medical and vocational considerations, and submitting as much evidence as possible is key.
Hiring a disability lawyer or representative can also offer an advantage. Legal professionals understand the complex SSDI approval process and can help you prepare a strong application with your medical evidence. If your schizophrenia disability claim is initially denied, your attorney can guide you through the SSDI appeal process.
Frequently Asked Questions About Schizophrenia SSDI Claims
How Long Does It Take To Get Disability for Schizophrenia?
In our experience, applicants often wait months or years for approval. Filing a complete application with strong evidence may help you receive benefits sooner.
Can You Get Disability Benefits if Your Schizophrenia Is Controlled?
To be eligible for benefits, your symptoms must be severe enough to limit your ability to perform work activities. Some people may experience some improvement that still leaves them functionally impaired, but every case is different. An attorney can offer more personalized advice.
Can I Work Part-Time While Receiving SSDI for Schizophrenia?
You may work and receive benefits simultaneously if your earnings remain below the monthly maximum, which is $1,620 for non-blind individuals in 2025. If you earn above $1,160 per month, you trigger a trial work period, which allows you to retain benefits while earning. This may continue until you have completed nine months of qualifying work.
Can Schizophrenia Be Considered a Permanent Disability?
Many claimants wonder how long they can get disability for schizophrenia. As a chronic condition, it may affect you for a lifetime, but the SSA will review your case periodically. If you continue receiving benefits after reaching retirement age, the SSA will consider your monthly payments as retirement benefits.
Need Help With Your Schizophrenia Disability Claim?
If you struggle with schizophrenia symptoms in your day-to-day life, you may qualify for disability. The main requirement is that your symptoms must meet the criteria for severity.
It sounds simple, but the SSA often denies claims, and securing evidence can be challenging. Disability Advice can help with professional guidance and application support, whether you’re applying for the first time or appealing a denial. Don’t wait to apply for the benefits you deserve. Contact us today and learn how we can support you. Here are some additional reasons why an attorney can make the difference in a close case.
1. Schizophrenia and Drug and Alcohol Abuse (DAA)
According to SSA officials, medical literature suggests approximately 50% of people diagnosed with schizophrenia abuse drugs or alcohol, or both. Though research has produced no definitive correlation for the high levels of co-morbidity, there are indications that biological and social factors play a significant role.
If there is DAA, SSA will issue a DAA materiality determination when medical evidence confirms DAA is present and SSA is considering an award or allowance. Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) and Examiners are required to use extreme caution when evaluating the effects of DAA in relation to schizophrenia.
A person may have a significant alcohol or drug problem and still meet the requirements to be found disabled once SSA excludes any work-related limitations imposed by DAA. When it is not possible to separate the mental restrictions of DAA from the mental restrictions of schizophrenia, a finding of “not material” is the correct and most appropriate finding.
2. Inconsistent Treatment, Lack of Treatment Adherence, and Stability
Many people diagnosed with schizophrenia do not seek treatment, have large gaps in treatment, lose contact with treating sources, or discontinue treatment when symptoms dissipate. Inconsistent treatment or lack of adherence to treatment may be a symptom of the disease process. While SSA must evaluate each claim based on the individual case facts, SSA must give careful consideration when evaluating periods of inconsistent treatment or lack of compliance with treatment, as those may, or may not, be a result of schizophrenia or mental impairment.
Although symptoms of schizophrenia typically begin in the teens and twenties in males and at later ages for females, a later-than typical onset does not rule out schizophrenia. Claimants may have a longitudinal history of symptoms for which they never sought treatment, did not have access to care, or had financial challenges that precluded effective or consistent treatment.
The term “stable” in medical evidence is not synonymous with “asymptomatic,” “in remission,” or “not disabled.” Stable may be relative to a particular individual and the chronicity and severity of his or her condition. Symptoms may be “stable,” meaning not showing a significant change from previous visits. Adjudicators and Examiners cannot assume that notes of “stable” indicate a claimant is doing well, without any other supporting evidence.
Even claimants who are compliant with medications that control delusional thoughts or hallucinations may have a great deal of difficulty with social functioning or concentration, persistence, and pace, or may tend to decompensate without a great deal of structure. An experienced attorney will be aware of the “negative signs” of schizophrenia in the absence of psychosis or delusions. These would include blunted or flat effects, monotone or monosyllabic speech, absence of interest in the external environment, inability to sustain concentration, and inability to interact at least superficially in an appropriate manner, etc. Negative signs are often as significant an impairment in functioning as the psychotic signs and symptoms. Someone who cannot respond both verbally and in non-verbal communication in socially expected ways, or is socially withdrawn, is at a disadvantage in the workplace. Also, the absence of effect is often accompanied by deficits in maintaining concentration and persistence. These are signs and symptoms that skilled attorneys will emphasize with SSA Adjudicators and Examiners to strongly consider, in the absence of psychotic symptoms.
3. Evaluating Severity
Evaluating severity in schizophrenia cases is very challenging for SSA Disability Examiners and ALJ’s. It is common for people with schizophrenia to avoid treatment, which can result in limited medical evidence. SSA cannot generally consider the presence or absence of hospitalizations, or recent hospitalizations, to be a reliable indicator of severity. If the medical evidence is limited, SSA will request a consultative examination (CE). Longitudinal history is often crucial to establish chronicity and severity of schizophrenia or mental impairments. Adjudicators and Examiners will also consider the effects of structured settings, and other criteria in Listing 12.03C as described in https://www.ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/12.00-MentalDisorders-Adult.htm#12_03.
This evaluation cannot be formulaic. Every claim is different, and schizophrenia is a diverse and varied illness. When evaluating mental residual functional capacity (MRFC), the ALJ or Disability Examiner cannot use “canned” phrases such as “claimant is able to carry out one- or two-step instructions.” If so, you may want to contact an attorney.
4. Adjudicative Value of Third-Party Information
Third-party information can be extremely valuable in the evaluation of claims based on mental disorder, especially schizophrenia. Information from people who know the claimant prior to, and after, diagnosis can be helpful. Family members, teachers, or other people who have detailed knowledge of the claimant can often provide a clear picture of how the claimant functions day-to-day. This information can be especially important in cases where there is limited medical evidence.
5. Diagnosis versus Functioning
Your attorney will remind SSA Examiners that adjudication is not diagnosis driven. A claimant with a long mental health history may be diagnosed with many impairments, from multiple doctors, at different points in time. It is common for a claimant with schizophrenia to show different symptoms across time. It is SSA’s responsibility to assess whether those symptoms, independent of specific diagnosis, significantly limit the claimant’s ability to perform the basic work activities required for most jobs.
6. Basic Demands for Unskilled Work
A claimant with schizophrenia may not be capable of meeting the basic demands of unskilled work. If the claimant cannot understand, carry out, and remember simple instructions; make simple work-related decisions; respond appropriately to supervision, coworkers, and work situations; or deal with changes in a routine work setting, a medical-vocational allowance is appropriate even if he or she has favorable age, education, and work experience.
Severe schizophrenia may result in an allowance under one of the special medical-vocational profiles, may rule out the performance of past relevant work, or may preclude the claimant from using skills gained in other work, because skills do not transfer to unskilled work.
7. Failure to Cooperate or Follow Prescribed Treatment and Schizophrenia
SSA’s “Failure to Cooperate” and “Failure to Follow Prescribed Treatment” policies provide some protections for claimants who allege mental impairments. It is common for claimants with schizophrenia and other mental impairments to be resistant to demands for treatment records, other information, or requests to attend CEs. SSA must try to involve third parties who can assist the claimant in providing the information needed or helping the claimant keep CE appointments.
It is important to remember that a sporadic work or treatment history, with periods of non-compliance with medication, is typical of many people with schizophrenia. As such, an attorney can argue against applying SSA’s “Failure to Follow Prescribed Treatment” policy. SSA cannot penalize the claimant for this behavior, as it is often a manifestation of schizophrenia.
