Social Security and VA
Claims for conditions nobody can see
The conditions that disable people most are often the ones a scan can’t show.
A reviewer reading your file sees a note that says “patient reports.” I help turn that into a record a decision-maker can rely on: treatment that tells one story, a treating provider’s opinion about what you can and can’t do in a day, and an honest account of the bad weeks, not only the good ones.
Social Security asks whether you can sustain full-time work. The VA asks whether a condition began or worsened in service and how much it limits you. The questions differ, and the work is the same: evidence in the form the agency reads.
Conditions I see often
Chronic pain and fibromyalgia
Migraines
Depression, anxiety and PTSD
Fatigue from long-term illness
The lasting effects of a brain injury
What I build into the file
Four things, in roughly the order I gather them.
- 01
Treatment that tells one story
A gap in care gets read as recovery. If you stopped seeing a doctor because you couldn’t afford it, or because the visits stopped helping, the file should say so.
- 02
A treating doctor’s opinion, in the agency’s terms
Not “she is disabled,” which the agency sets aside, but how long you can sit, stand and concentrate, and how often you would miss work.
- 03
Statements from the people who see the bad days
A spouse, a neighbor, a former supervisor: what changed, and when.
- 04
For the VA, a line back to service
A diagnosis, an event or exposure in service, and a doctor’s reasoning that connects them. Evidence rather than adjectives.
Asked about hidden conditions
Do I need a formal diagnosis?
Usually a diagnosis from an acceptable medical source helps, and Social Security requires an impairment shown by medical evidence. If you have symptoms but no diagnosis, tell me, and we’ll talk about the next appointment to make.
Can mental health conditions be claimed alongside physical ones?
Yes. Both agencies consider conditions together, and a mental health condition often changes what work a person can sustain. I’ll ask about both.
What if my doctor won’t write a letter?
It happens. Sometimes a different treating provider will, sometimes a form that asks specific questions gets a better answer than a blank page. I’ll bring the form and the questions.
Tell me about the bad days
Describe a typical bad day, even in a few lines. It’s the sentence the file is usually missing.