52 plain-English guides on by condition, written from public Social Security Administration sources: SSA.gov, the Listing of Impairments, POMS and 20 CFR. Every figure carries the year it applies to, because these rules change and an undated number is worse than no number. Start anywhere in the list below, or use the navigation above to move to a different stage of the process.
- Adult ADHD and SSDI Eligibility
Adult ADHD can win SSDI under Listing 12.11 when records prove childhood onset plus serious limits in concentration, persistence, and pace at work.
- Ankylosing Spondylitis and Inflammatory Back Pain
Qualifying for ankylosing spondylitis disability benefits under Blue Book Listing 14.09 requires proving spinal fusion, joint limits, or severe fatigue.
- How SSA Evaluates Anxiety and Panic Disorders
How SSA evaluates anxiety and panic disorder SSDI claims under Listing 12.06, from panic attack criteria to the four areas of mental functioning.
- Autism Spectrum Disorder in Adult SSDI Claims
Adult autism claims under Listing 12.10 turn on extreme or marked limits in social interaction and adapting to change, not on childhood milestones.
- Bipolar Disorder and Paragraph C Criteria
Discover how to qualify for SSDI with bipolar disorder under Listing 12.04 Paragraph C by proving marginal adjustment and ongoing mental health treatment.
- How SSA Evaluates Chronic Asthma for Disability
Explore how SSA evaluates chronic asthma under Listing 3.03, focusing on the three-hospitalization rule, spirometry criteria, and functional RFC limits.
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and SSDI Under SSR 14-1p
How SSA decides chronic fatigue syndrome SSDI claims under SSR 14-1p, including the medical signs and lab findings that prove the impairment is real.
- Chronic Kidney Disease: Meeting Listing 6.05
Listing 6.05 lab rules for chronic kidney disease: eGFR of 20 or less, creatinine of 4 mg/dL, two readings 90 days apart, plus one complication.
- How SSA Evaluates Pain When Tests Look Normal
How SSA weighs chronic pain when imaging and lab tests look normal: the two-step symptom analysis of 20 CFR 404.1529 and SSR 16-3p, explained plainly.
- Chronic Pain Without Objective Test Results
You can win SSDI on chronic pain without a matching test result, but objective signs or lab findings must anchor the impairment under 404.1521.
- Cirrhosis and Liver Failure: Meeting Listing 5.05
Learn how cirrhosis and liver failure qualify for SSDI under Listing 5.05, including MELD scores of 22 or higher, ascites, and variceal bleeding rules.
- Congestive Heart Failure: Meeting Listing 4.02
How SSA evaluates heart failure under Listing 4.02: systolic ejection fraction rules, diastolic measurements, and the three severity options in B.
- SSDI Criteria for Congestive Heart Failure
Learn how the Social Security Administration evaluates congestive heart failure under Blue Book Listing 4.02, including ejection fraction and RFC rules.
- Qualifying for SSDI with Coronary Artery Disease
Explore SSDI criteria for coronary artery disease under Listing 4.04, covering exercise tolerance testing, angiographic blockages, and RFC guidelines.
- Crohn's Disease, Colitis, and Listing 5.06
Learn how Crohn's disease and colitis qualify under Listing 5.06, from bowel obstruction hospitalizations and anemia to severe involuntary weight loss.
- Crohn's Disease and IBD: Meeting Listing 5.06
Meeting Listing 5.06 for Crohn's disease: obstruction hospitalizations, hemoglobin and albumin labs, fistulas, nutrition support, and repeat flares.
- CRPS: Getting Disability for Complex Regional Pain
How SSA evaluates complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS/RSD) disability under SSR 03-2p, from objective autonomic signs to medical equivalence and RFC.
- CRPS (RSD) and SSDI: Proving a Pain Disorder
Learn how to win CRPS disability benefits under SSR 03-2p by proving objective autonomic signs, severe neuropathic pain, and functional work limits to SSA.
- Epilepsy Seizure Frequency Under Listing 11.02
Understand seizure frequency rules under SSA Listing 11.02 for epilepsy, including monthly tonic-clonic counts, weekly dyscognitive rules, and seizure logs.
- Evaluating Pain and Credibility Under SSR 16-3p
Learn how SSA evaluates pain under SSR 16-3p, why adjudicators assess symptom consistency over credibility, and how to prove severe limitations.
- Fibromyalgia Medical Evidence Under SSR 12-2p
Understand how SSA evaluates fibromyalgia under SSR 12-2p, comparing the 1990 tender point exam and 2010 preliminary diagnostic criteria for SSDI claims.
- Fibromyalgia and SSDI: What Ruling 12-2p Requires
SSR 12-2p sets out the proof a fibromyalgia SSDI claim needs: a physician who knows the condition, 3 months of widespread pain, and tender point findings.
- Hearing Loss and Cochlear Implants in SSDI
Understand SSA hearing loss rules under Listing 2.10 and cochlear implant evaluations under Listing 2.11, audiometric thresholds, and SSDI criteria.
- Hepatitis C, Cirrhosis, and Chronic Liver Listings
Hepatitis C can qualify for SSDI when cirrhosis meets Listing 5.05 standards for bleeding, fluid buildup, lab scores, or transplant. See each stage.
- HIV and the Immune Disorder Listings Today
HIV claims are evaluated under Blue Book Listing 14.11 today, not the old 14.08. See the CD4 counts, hospitalizations, and functional criteria SSA applies.
- Intellectual Disability Claims Under Listing 12.05
Listing 12.05 pairs early onset before age 22 with adaptive functioning limits, so IQ test scores alone are not enough to win an SSDI claim.
- SSDI Eligibility for Kidney Failure and Dialysis
Chronic hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis can meet Listing 6.03 for SSDI. Learn the 12 month rule, transplant effects, and the evidence SSA needs.
- Listing 11.02: Epilepsy Despite Three Months of Care
Learn how to meet SSA Listing 11.02 for epilepsy, including seizure counts, three months of treatment adherence, and maintaining an objective seizure log.
- Listing 12.04: What Depression Must Show SSA
Explore SSA Listing 12.04 for depression. Learn about Paragraph B functional criteria, longitudinal psychiatric evidence, and mental RFC rules for SSDI.
- ME/CFS: Proving Chronic Fatigue Syndrome to SSA
How SSA evaluates ME/CFS chronic fatigue syndrome disability claims under SSR 14-1p, including required medical signs, equivalence, and RFC limits.
- Meniere's Disease, Vertigo, and Disability
How SSA evaluates Meniere's disease and vertigo for SSDI under Listing 2.07, from caloric vestibular tests to audiometry tracked over serial exams.
- Meniere's Disease and Vestibular Listing 2.07
Discover how Meniere's disease qualifies for SSDI under Blue Book Listing 2.07, covering audiometry, vestibular caloric testing, and balance loss rules.
- Multiple Sclerosis Motor and Fatigue Limits
How Listing 11.09 measures MS: extreme limits from disorganization of motor function in two limbs, or marked limits with fatigue counted at every step.
- How SSA Evaluates Multiple Sclerosis for SSDI
Listing 11.09 criteria for multiple sclerosis SSDI claims, covering disorganization of motor function, marked limits, fatigue, and the RFC path.
- Obesity and SSDI: Evaluated With Other Impairments
Obesity has had no listing since 1999, but SSA must weigh its combined effects with other impairments at severity, equivalence, and RFC assessment.
- How Obesity Factors Into SSDI Decisions (SSR 19-2p)
SSR 19-2p requires SSA to weigh obesity at every step of a disability claim, alone or combined with other impairments, even without a Blue Book listing.
- SSDI Criteria for Parkinson's Disease Claims
How SSA decides Parkinson's disease claims under Listing 11.06, including two-extremity motor loss, marked limits, and the three-month treatment rule.
- Peripheral Neuropathy and Listing 11.14: SSDI Rules
SSA decides peripheral neuropathy claims under Listing 11.14: motor disorganization in two extremities, or marked physical and mental limitations.
- SSDI Criteria for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
SSDI for PTSD under Listing 12.15: trauma exposure, re-experiencing, avoidance, mood and arousal symptoms, plus the marked functional limits test.
- Qualifying for SSDI After a Stroke or Brain Injury
How SSA evaluates stroke under Listing 11.04 and brain injury under Listing 11.18, including the three-month evidence window and aphasia criteria.
- Qualifying for SSDI with Bipolar Disorder
Learn how to qualify for SSDI with bipolar disorder under SSA Listing 12.04, including manic and depressive episode criteria, mental RFC rules, and evidence.
- Qualifying for SSDI with COPD and Emphysema
Learn the medical criteria to qualify for SSDI with COPD and emphysema under Listing 3.02, including FEV1 spirometry standards and RFC requirements.
- Qualifying for SSDI with Epilepsy and Seizures
Listing 11.02 SSDI rules for epilepsy, including seizure frequency counts, three months of documented medication adherence, and seizure descriptions.
- How to Qualify for SSDI with Fibromyalgia
Learn how to qualify for SSDI with fibromyalgia under SSR 12-2p, including tender point criteria, longitudinal testing, and residual functional capacity.
- Qualifying for SSDI with Lupus (SLE)
How lupus qualifies for SSDI under SSA Listing 14.02: organ involvement, repeated flares, constitutional symptoms, the marked limitation test, and evidence.
- Qualifying for SSDI with Major Depression
Major depression can meet SSDI Listing 12.04 with five documented symptoms plus marked limits in two of four mental areas, or a serious 2 year history.
- SSDI Criteria for Rheumatoid Arthritis Claims
Review SSDI criteria for rheumatoid arthritis under Listing 14.09, covering joint inflammation, constitutional symptoms, and functional RFC limitations.
- SSDI Eligibility for Schizophrenia Spectrum
Learn about SSDI eligibility for schizophrenia spectrum disorders under Listing 12.03, including evidence for psychotic symptoms and mental RFC rules.
- Sickle Cell Disease and the 7.05 Listing
Sickle cell disease meets SSDI Listing 7.05 via six pain crises, three hospitalizations, or severe anemia within 12 months. See what evidence SSA needs.
- Spinal Cord Injury, Paralysis, and Listing 11.08
Spinal cord injury meets SSDI Listing 11.08 via complete loss of function or extreme limits in two extremities, with no vocational analysis at step three.
- Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Listing 14.02
Qualify for SSDI with systemic lupus erythematosus under Listing 14.02 by proving multi-organ involvement, constitutional symptoms, or frequent flares.
- Systemic Sclerosis (Scleroderma) and SSDI
Learn how to qualify for scleroderma disability benefits under SSA Blue Book Listing 14.04, covering skin changes, Raynaud's, organ damage, and RFC rules.