How Much Disability Can You Get For Depression and Anxiety?

Table of Contents

Depression and anxiety affect the lives of millions of people in the U.S., making them the most common mental health conditions. Although treatment options, including prescription drugs, exist, individuals struggling with severe symptoms may be unable to work.

If you have been diagnosed with depression or anxiety that interferes with your ability to do work activities, contact a disability lawyer for depression and anxiety. Disability benefits through the Social Security Disability Insurance program may be available to provide financial assistance with monthly benefit payments.

Monthly Benefits Payable Through SSDI For Depression And Anxiety

When you seek advice from a depression anxiety SSDI attorney, you learn that SSDI benefits require a work history with Social Security taxes paid on your earnings. The Social Security Administration uses your average earnings adjusted for inflation to calculate your monthly SSDI benefit payment.

A person’s earnings record determines the amount of their monthly disability benefits. The nature or severity of their disability does not affect how much they receive. The average monthly SSDI benefit payment in 2025 is about $1,580, but the amount you receive could be more or less, depending on your earnings history and the length of your work record.

Workers with high incomes and a long work history are subject to a monthly benefit limit. It changes from year to year. The 2025 maximum benefits limit is $4,018. An anxiety depression disability benefits lawyer can provide an estimate of what you may receive if your application for SSDI benefits is approved.

Anxiety And Depression Disability

The SSDI approval process focuses on determining whether you have a disability that prevents you from working. The standard used by the Social Security Administration requires medical documentation proving each of the following:

An inability to do substantial gainful work activity.
The inability to work is the result of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment.
The impairment must be expected to last for at least 12 months or be expected to result in death.

The application review process evaluates the severity of symptoms and their impact on your ability to work. Common symptoms associated with anxiety include:

Excessively worrying.
Impaired ability to concentrate.
Sleep disturbances.
Feeling nervous, tense, or restless.
Overwhelming sense of impending doom or panic.
Uncontrollable urge to avoid anxiety triggers.

Depression symptoms may include:

Suicidal thoughts.
Thoughts of self-harm.
Impaired ability to concentrate.
Inability to make decisions.
Sleeping too much or too little.
Feelings of irritability and frustration.
Lack of interest or inability to enjoy activities and things you previously enjoyed doing.
Excessively worrying.
Feeling sad and helpless.

Exhibiting symptoms of depression or anxiety may not be enough for approval of an application for SSDI benefits. The symptoms must be severe enough to meet the Social Security disability standard and cause you to be unable to do substantial gainful work activities. The assistance of mental health disability advocate services gives you a representative with knowledge of the laws and regulations to guide you through the process.

Applications Go Through A Sequential Review Process

Applications for SSDI benefits go through a five-step, sequential review process:

Step 1: Review of current work activity to determine if you can do substantial gainful work activities. If you do not work or earn less than the substantial gainful activity earnings limit, the process moves to the next step.
Step 2: Review the mental impairment to determine if it is expected to last 12 months or result in death. If it is, the process continues.
Step 3: Does your condition meet or equal an impairment in the Social Security Listing of Impairments? If not, the process proceeds to step 4.

The last two steps review your ability, with the limitations of your condition, to do past relevant work (step 4) or other types of available work (step 5).

Contact disability attorney for depression disability claims to learn more about the SSDI disability benefits process.