Can You Get Disability Benefits for Drug Addiction?
We bring 10+ years of knowledge to ensure that you get the VA disability benefits you deserve. We’ve developed a vast network of legal and medical professionals who can study your case from every angle, provide nexus statements, and help you make informed decisions regarding your case and the evidence that will help strengthen it. Here, you can get a consultation from a trained VA counselor about the homeless and health care programs available in your area. Here’s what you need to know about how the Social Security Administration (SSA) considers alcoholism in making a disability determination, and how being dependent on alcohol can affect your benefits. Alcoholism is a chronic and progressive drinking disorder where you have problems controlling your drinking or having withdrawal symptoms when you stop or rapidly decrease drinking. There are a lot of factors that come into play when trying to decide if an individual is disabled, and alcoholism certainly falls into a gray area.
How do I prove my short or long term alcoholism claim?
It is the phrase “willful wrongdoing” that is often the problems in these sorts of cases, and it can be difficult to demonstrate to the VA that the substance abuse is not misconduct, but a symptom of the veteran’s mental illness. Typically, the best way to do this is with an independent medical opinion wherein the doctor provides medical research showing the clear connection between substance abuse and mental illness. Studies show, of VA patients with mental illness, around 21 to 35% also have co-occurring substance abuse disorders.
What Is Alcohol Use Disorder?
- Social Security won’t treat your claim any worse because your impairment is a result of chronic alcoholism.
- Alcoholism can significantly impair your ability to maintain gainful employment and perform your occupational duties.
The District of Columbia’s alcohol-related death rate increases faster than any U.S. state’s, alcoholism statistics and the rate of binge drinkers is very high. Connecticut’s alcohol-related death rate is slightly below the national average. Alabama has the third-highest rate of under-21 deaths related to excessive alcohol use. Veterans are eligible for TDIU benefits if they can’t sustain “substantially gainful” employment due to their service-connected conditions.
Veterans Also Ask
When you combine addiction with low income and no job prospects, it creates a situation that’s almost impossible to get out of. When it comes to employment specifically, the ADA makes it illegal for any employer to discriminate against an employee with AUD as long as they are qualified to do their job and can safely do it. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal civil rights law prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities. These conditions and accompanying symptoms can affect your ability to maintain employment. Alcoholism can cause peripheral neuropathy, often because many alcoholics also have a thiamine (B1) deficiency. This deficiency can cause pain, weakness, and numbness in your extremities (hands and feet).
They truly are the veterans’ attorneys
This means that if you become disabled due to alcohol abuse, you will be eligible amphetamine addiction treatment to receive benefits for alcoholism for only up to the specified period, regardless of your ongoing disability. How the VA handles disability ratings for liver disease depends on the type of illness and the severity and frequency of symptoms. Most liver conditions are rated using diagnostic code 7312 for cirrhosis or 7345 for chronic liver diseases without cirrhosis. For example, if a veteran with service-connected PTSD turns to alcohol to cope with their symptoms and develops cirrhosis of the liver, they may qualify for additional disability benefits for the liver condition on a secondary basis.
- Here’s what you need to know about how the Social Security Administration (SSA) considers alcoholism in making a disability determination, and how being dependent on alcohol can affect your benefits.
- Be careful not to compare the use to when there was a diagnosis because often veterans are not diagnosed with a mental health condition until after there has been a substance or alcohol problem for quite a while.
- Alcohol-related deaths are more likely to involve older, female, and chronic users.
- A secondary service-connected disability is one that was either caused or worsened by an already service-connected condition.
- It is the phrase “willful wrongdoing” that is often the problems in these sorts of cases, and it can be difficult to demonstrate to the VA that the substance abuse is not misconduct, but a symptom of the veteran’s mental illness.
If you are struggling with alcoholism, it is essential to seek help from a qualified medical professional to ensure that your condition does not spiral out of control. If you are struggling with alcoholism and feel like you can’t manage independently, you may be wondering if you could qualify for disability benefits. Here, we will look at the criteria for disability and how alcohol addiction might fit in. The answer is yes, but not for alcoholism per se – you can get disability benefits for the related conditions. Alcoholism can significantly impair your ability to maintain gainful employment and perform your occupational duties. When grappling with the symptoms caused by alcohol addiction, you may be considering filing for short or long term disability.
- About 7% of veterans experience PTSD at some point in their lives, which is higher than the civilian average.
- Combining alcohol with other depressants, such as opioids, is an especially high-risk activity.
- This would imply in most clinical areas that the alcohol abuse was secondary to the depression, in other words, the depression caused or led to the alcohol abuse.
Filing for VA benefits with substance abuse
But no matter what impairment you’re claiming, to win disability benefits, you’ll have to show that your disabling medical problems would exist even if you stopped drinking. And if you have a history of alcoholism but don’t currently drink, you may need to prove that you’re no longer drinking. If you or someone you care about is struggling with a substance addiction disorder, you may be wondering if it’s possible to qualify for disability benefits. The answer is yes, but specific criteria must be met for an individual to be eligible. In general, alcoholism is only considered a disability if it significantly impairs someone’s ability to live everyday life. You can overcome this disease and lead a healthy and productive life with the proper treatment and support.
Alcohol-related deaths in Kansas are slightly more likely to involve males and underage drinkers. Death from excessive alcohol use is on the rise in Colorado, catching up to national averages, and the rate of binge drinkers is high. Children aged 17 years and younger are much more likely to live with an alcoholic parent than they are to be diagnosed with a learning disability or ADHD. As a client, you can be assured that your case will receive special care and consideration. Contact our team of experienced legal professionals by filling out the form below. Whether you take that first step by reaching out to a trusted friend or a healthcare professional for support, you don’t have to go through the recovery journey alone.