How Does Epilepsy Qualify for Social Security Disability Benefits?
Also known as seizure disorder, epilepsy is a common brain ailment. It impacts about 3 million Americans and 65 million people worldwide, but it greatly varies in its causes, symptoms, and severity from person to person.
Some people know what causes their epilepsy. Others don’t. Some individuals have full-body seizures, while others may simply stare into space for a short time.
What’s important is how epilepsy is diagnosed—at least two unprovoked seizures in 24 hours—and how Social Security considers it to be a disabling condition that negatively impacts your work life.
Social Security says epilepsy is a disability if your experience meets one of the following scenarios:
- You have tonic-clonic (convulsive) seizures that occur once a month for three consecutive months despite following a prescribed treatment.
- You have dyscognitive (change in consciousness) seizures that occur at least once a week for three consecutive months, despite treatment.
- You have tonic-clonic seizures that occur once every two months for four months and are coupled with either limited physical functioning, limited ability to understand, remember, or apply information, inability to interact with others, inability to concentrate, or inability to manage oneself.
- Or you have dyscognitive seizures that occur once every two weeks for three months and cause similar limitations listed above.
Even if your case doesn’t quite fit one of these exactly, you still may qualify for disability benefits. At Hanley Disability, our disability advocates can evaluate your case at no cost to you.
