Written by Colter Bloxom, LPC
Colter is a licensed psychotherapist and the owner and founder of Thrive Therapy. He specializes in the treatment of anxiety, OCD, anxiety, identity issues, and more.
Is Depression a Protected Disability? What to Do When You Live With Severe Depression
Living with depression doesn't mean you can't lead a fulfilling and happy life. Many people with depression thrive at work and in their personal lives with the right support and strategies.
But there are times when depression can become more severe – and it becomes necessary to seek additional help and explore available options. The fact is that depression can become debilitating for some people, and that’s completely valid. If you’re in this boat, you deserve all the support you can get.
In this article, let's go over the details of if depression is a protected disability, and the options that may be available to you when depression symptoms are severe.
Are you dealing with debilitating or severe depression? Our mental health IOP in Phoenix, AZ may be able to help.
Is depression protected under the ADA?
According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (the ADA), depression can be a disability. The ADA expanded its criteria in 2008 to include mental health and other “invisible” disabilities. That means that people with depression and other psychiatric disabilities are legally protected from discrimination, and could be eligible for accommodations and other benefits.
This means that if you’ve been diagnosed with depression, you could have legal protections and rights.
However, having depression doesn’t automatically qualify as a disability. The ADA defines disability as “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.” So for depression to qualify as a disability, it needs to be severe enough that it prevents you from functioning well in important areas of life, including (but not limited to):
- Taking care of yourself
- Socializing and maintaining relationships
- Working
- Sleeping well
- Learning or concentrating
- Driving
Even if you’ve been able to work with depression, if your functioning is very limited in another important life area, then you have a disability according to the ADA. (You do need to be impaired at work, specifically, to qualify for disability benefits – I’ll go over that in a bit.)
What if I’m on medication for depression?
One question we often get is, “What if I have a recognized disability now, but I receive treatment for my depression and I start feeling better? Will I no longer be eligible?”
The ADA is clear that medication (and other “mitigating factors”) doesn’t come into play when considering whether you have a protected disability. So if you’re taking medication for depression that has made you feel a lot better, but your symptoms would return if you were to stop treatment, then you’re still considered to have a disability.
What rights do I have under the ADA?
So you’ve figured out that your symptoms of depression qualify as a protected disability under the ADA. But what, exactly, does that mean for your life?
Here are the rights you have under the ADA as someone who lives with depression:
Protection from discrimination
It’s illegal to discriminate against you because of your depression. This includes places like work, housing, private businesses, public areas, public transportation, and more. So, for example, a landlord cannot deny you housing because you’re depressed. You also can’t get fired solely because of your depression diagnosis
Right to privacy
The ADA also ensures that you have the right to disclose your depression diagnosis – including at work. That means that, most of the time, your employer can’t ask you if you’ve been diagnosed with depression (or any other mental or physical illness), and it’s 100% your choice whether you want to tell them.
There are some important exceptions to this rule. Your employer can ask you medical questions (including if you’ve been diagnosed with depression) when:
- You ask for workplace accommodations
- After making you a job offer, but before you start working – but only if they’re asking every employee the same questions
- They have objective evidence that your symptoms could be preventing you from doing your job or are making you a safety risk
- They’re doing affirmative action for people with disabilities (these questions are typically optional and/or anonymous)
Workplace accommodations
Lastly, having a disability like depression entitles you to reasonable workplace accommodations. That means that if depression symptoms are getting in the way of doing your job well, your employer may need to provide you with accommodations that help you be successful.
Some examples of reasonable accommodations for depression could be:
- Flexible or part-time schedule
- Flexible deadlines
- Unpaid leave to attend a treatment program, like a mental health IOP
- Access to rest areas or private spaces
- Changes in supervisors or a different managerial style (like providing you with feedback in a certain way)
Keep in mind that, to get accommodations, you’ll need to tell your employer that you have depression. They may ask for your request in writing, or ask for a letter from your healthcare provider stating that you’ve been diagnosed with depression.
Can you get disability for depression?
Many people don’t know that even if depression is recognized as a protected disability under the ADA, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll qualify for financial assistance.
In the United States, people with disabilities can apply for government assistance through two different programs: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The good news is that depression is listed as a qualifying medical impairment by the Social Security Administration, or SSA (which runs both of these programs) – so if you've been diagnosed with major depressive disorder (or another type of depression), then you could qualify for benefits if you meet the other criteria.
Both SSDI and SSI have different eligibility requirements, which are not the same as the ADA criteria (although there are some similarities).
First of all, to be considered for SSDI or SSI, you need to have an eligible medical impairment – depression, along with other mental health conditions, are listed as conditions that are eligible. In the case of depression, this means that you must have or meet the diagnostic criteria for a diagnosis of clinical depression – including symptoms like loss of interest in daily activities, low mood, and suicidal thoughts.
On top of that, to qualify for benefits, your depression symptoms need to be so severe that they’ve prevented you from being able to work for a year or more. Unlike the ADA criteria, which considers depression a disability if you have limitations in any area of life, you must specifically be unable to work to qualify for these programs.
The SSA also examines your health records when deciding whether to approve or deny your application for either of these programs. If your records don’t show that you’ve been to consistent treatment for depression, then your application could get denied.
SSDI for depression
To receive SSDI for depression, you must:
- Meet the criteria for a depression diagnosis
- Experience such severe symptoms that they prevent you from working for a year or longer
- Have had a job where you’ve earned “social security credits” (how long you need to have been at the job depends on your age)
All W2 jobs automatically withhold social security credits from your paycheck, so if you’ve worked as a W2 employee, then you probably meet the third requirement. If you’ve only worked as a contract worker (or have never worked at all), then you may or may not be eligible.
SSI for depression
To qualify for the SSI program, you must:
- Meet the criteria for a depression diagnosis
- Experience such severe symptoms that they’ve affected your ability to work for a year or longer
- Have little to no income (you make less than $1971 per month)
- Have little to no assets (your assets, including things like your car and any money in savings accounts, are worth less than $2000 total)
You can apply for benefits through the SSA website, but I’d recommend talking to your healthcare provider first to make sure you’re prepared.
Treatment for severe depression in Phoenix, AZ
If you’ve found this post, then it probably means that you’re suffering from depression symptoms so severe that they’re impacting your ability to both work and enjoy your life. That can be such a painful place to be in – but life doesn’t need to be this way. There are effective treatments that can help.
When depression is severe, then seeing a therapist can be helpful – but you may also need a more intensive treatment. Our intensive outpatient program (IOP) in Phoenix, AZ is specifically tailored to support people, like you, who are dealing with severe or treatment-resistant depression. We meet 9 hours a week for 12 weeks, and work with many insurance plans.
Get in touch with us to learn more about how we can support you. We offer free 20-minute consultations to talk about your symptoms and answer questions you might have about our different treatment options and insurance.
