Obtaining Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits can be an arduous process. You may be anxious that you’ll be denied for any number of reasons and you’ll likely have questions about the process and your specific circumstances. If you have a history of drug or alcohol abuse, you may be particularly concerned about how that fact will affect your application.
Drug and Alcohol Abuse determination
At the outset of an application for SSD benefits, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will make a decision as to whether your disability satisfies their threshold requirements. If it does, you will likely be eligible for benefits. However, in some cases, the SSA receives evidence that an applicant has abused drugs or alcohol. The evidence may come from the applicant themselves or from medical records provided to the SSA.
When this occurs, the SSA will add an additional step – the Drug and Alcohol Abuse determination (DAA). The key thing the SSA is looking for during a DAA is whether or not the abuse is a contributing material factor to the existing disability. If the abuse is current and ongoing, and the disability would not exist but for the abuse, then it is considered a contributing material factor and benefits will be denied.
However, if the disability would still be present, even if the applicant stopped using immediately and entirely, it is not a contributing material factor and the applicant remains eligible for benefits. Because of this standard, prior abuse of drugs or alcohol is largely irrelevant. Even if the prior abuse directly caused the current disability – such as liver failure due to excessive drinking – the disability itself would not go away.
