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Home :: FAQ :: Issues - Social Security Disability Hearing

What about if I have Seizures? What are the appropriate considerations which must be made in determining my case in addition to my other physical restrictions, if any?

If a claimant is found to have seizures described as generalized or localized whether or not there was a loss of consciousness and the average frequency of the patient's seizures was one or two or more than twice per month, this may be the basis of a disability finding based on the severity of the symptoms and postical periods.  Employability of sufferers of seizures is problematic as they would not always have a warning of an impending seizure and are not always able to take safety precautions when he/she feels a seizure coming on.  Seizures do not normally occur at a particular time of the day and there may or may not be precipitating factors such as stress or exertion.

The patient’s postictal manifestations may be described as confusion, severe headache, exhaustion, muscle strain, irritability and paranoia and may last from a few minutes to a few days.

The type of medication and response that the claimant has to said medications is an important consideration and whether the patient was or was not compliant with taking medication.  If non compliance does make a difference in the frequency of seizures and the claimant is noncompliant benefits may not be awarded.  However, often a seizure claimant may suffer side effects of seizure medication which would include dizziness, double vision, eye focusing problems, coordination disturbance, lethargy, lack of alertness, and other side effects may be as disabling as the seizure disorder itself and may well be a basis for an award of disability benefits by an ALJ.

Since a claimant’s seizures may be likely to disrupt the work of co-workers and the claimant may need more supervision at work than an unimpaired worker may not be able to work at heights or with power machines that require an alert operator or operate a motor vehicle and may have associated problems of depression, short attention span, irritability, memory problems, social isolation, behavior extremes and poor self-esteem and sometimes need to take unscheduled breaks during an 8-hour working day and  rest before returning to work, such that the claimant  may be incapable of even low stress jobs and be classified by an ALJ as “disabled” because this would affect the claimant’s ability to work at a regular job on a sustained basis.