Can you collect Social Security disability benefits due to substance abuse?

Answer 1

No. Not if your only disability is addiction.

Social Security pays benefits to people who cannot work because they have a medical condition that is expected to last at least one year or result in death. Although some programs pay benefits to people with partial disability or short-term disability, Social Security does not.

Substance abuse does not qualify as a disability unless it accompanies another serious condition, as outlined in the Social Security Blue Book listing of impairments:

12.09 Substance addiction disorders: Behavioral changes or physical changes associated with the regular use of substances that affect the central nervous system.

The required level of severity for these disorders is met when the requirements in any of the following (A through I) are satisfied.

A. Organic mental disorders. Evaluate under 12.02.

B. Depressive syndrome. Evaluate under 12.04.

C. Anxiety disorders. Evaluate under 12.06.

D. Personality disorders. Evaluate under 12.08.

E. Peripheral neuropathies. Evaluate under 11.14.

F. Liver damage. Evaluate under 5.05.

G. Gastritis. Evaluate under 5.00.

H. Pancreatitis. Evaluate under 5.08.

I. Seizures. Evaluate under 11.02 or 11.03.

Answer 2

Generally, no. Neither drug addiction nor Alcoholism are classified as disabilities under SSA guidelines unless they are accompanied by another qualifying condition.

Under Title II federal law, drug addiction and alcoholism are treated differently than other disabilities. According to 42 U.S.C. §423(d)(2)(C), if a medical condition is caused or aggravated by addiction:

"(C) An individual shall not be considered to be disabled for purposes of this title if alcoholism or drug addiction would (but for this subparagraph) be a contributing factor material to the Commissioner's determination that the individual is disabled."

While drug addiction and alcoholism are both disabling, as of 1996, federal law prohibits SSA from granting disability to anyone whose primary disability is a substance abuse disorder, or to anyone whose disabling condition would not meet the test for severity if the person stopped drinking or using drugs.

Once substance abuse has created irreversible damage that is not expected to improve if the person stops abusing, the condition becomes eligible for disability coverage if it prevents the person from engaging in Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA). SGA is often defined as being able to work full-time, but the SSA places a low ceiling of $1,000 per month (or $1,640, if blind) on wages considered evidence of SGA.

Conditions that may be approved with co-occurringsubstance-abuse problems, if they meet the SSA guidelines for severity include: "organic mental disorder, gastritis, seizures, liver damage, peripheral neuropathies, depression, anxiety, pancreatitis, or personality disorders."