Anyone who has experienced a legitimate migraine knows that they are far more painful than a standard headache. Migraines don’t just cause pain in the head. They also cause nausea, light sensitivity, muscle tension and even visual disturbances, sometimes known as auras.
Many people who experience migraines require absolute quiet until their symptoms subside. They cannot care for themselves or their families, let alone perform challenging job functions. If people have persistent, regular migraines, they may wonder if they could be eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits.
Are migraines potentially a qualifying condition?
The situation must meet key standards
Migraines and other debilitating headache-related medical disorders can qualify for SSDI benefits. The applicant requires medical documentation affirming the frequency and severity of their migraines.
To qualify as a debilitating medical condition, it has to effectively prevent an individual from maintaining any sort of gainful employment. People who experience a handful of migraines each year can often use paid leave or even unpaid leave combined with documentation from their physicians to maintain their jobs.
However, if migraines become a weekly or more frequent occurrence, employers may not be able to accommodate the unpredictable absences of the employee. Medical records affirming how frequently the migraines occur and the severity of the worker’s symptoms can help establish that they may qualify.
The condition generally also needs to last for a year or longer. The more time that migraines have impacted an individual’s life and the more treatments they have tried without success, the better their chances of meeting the strict standards imposed on those seeking SSDI benefits.
Preparing paperwork and gathering documentation are both critical for those seeking SSDI benefits because medical challenges prevent them from working. Professionals may need help proving that their migraines are qualifying conditions based on their severity, frequency and lack of response to treatment, and that’s okay.