With the Covid pandemic currently in retreat, Social Security has begun to grapple with how to deal with those people who have yet to recover from C19. The problem is the same one presented by those claiming to suffer from such conditions as POTS, chronic fatigue, dystonia, and other similar conditions. There is simply little to no objective medical evidence to support such claims.
What Is Long Covid?
As with most such illnesses, there is no set definition of long Covid. The simplest way to describe it is a collection of subjective symptoms. People complaining of long Covid will often cite things like fatigue, muscle pain, heart palpations, and mental confusion. Almost all of these complaints are also symptoms of anxiety disorders. For most people who think they have long Covid, all of the objective medical tests fail to reveal any pathology.
The Problem With Long Covid and Social Security Disability
Before Social Security can approve someone for disability, it must find objective medical evidence of the alleged impairments. If all the X-rays and MRIs and CT scans and blood work come back negative, Social Security really can’t approve a disability claim. Subjective complaints, however real they may seem, will not suffice. Given how long medical researchers have failed to discover objective evidence of chronic fatigue syndrome, for example, it seems unlikely they will find such evidence for Long covid.
The Solution To The Dilemma–With A Big Catch
There is a way for Social Security to approve a person for disability based on long covid. But, those claiming to have it will not likely be happy. Social Security can find someone disabled on the basis of somatization disorder. This means simply that a person is so convinced she is ill that she makes herself ill. It is a species of anxiety disorder. Most people claiming to have Long Covid fervently believe there is something physically wrong with them. I cannot foresee many of them accepting the idea that they have a mental illness instead.
What To Do?
If you think you have Long Covid, you can apply for Social Security disability. But, unless doctors find some genuine, objective evidence of this condition, Social Security is very unlikely to approve you. If you can accept the idea that you are physically fine but mentally ill and claim a somatization disorder, you might get approved. This is a very difficult thing to do.
Read more about long Covid here.
