Psychiatric Assessment in the Social Security Program of Disability Insurance
KURT NUSSBAUM M.D.1,
ABRAHAM M. SCHNEIDMUHL M.D.2, , and
JOHN W. SHAFFER PH.D.3
1 Chief consultant in psychiatry and neurology, at the Bureau of Disability Insurance, Social Security Administration, Room 2405, Dickinson Building, P.O. Box 1075, Baltimore, Md. 21203 and assistant professor of psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md.
2 Psychiatric consultant, at the Bureau of Disability Insurance, Social Security Administration, Room 2405, Dickinson Building, P.O. Box 1075, Baltimore, Md. 21203 and instructor in psychiatry Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md. and an associate in mental hygiene, The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health
3 Consultant in medical psychology at the Bureau of Disability Insurance, Social Security Administration, Room 2405, Dickinson Building, P.O. Box 1075, Baltimore, Md. 21203 and assistant professor of medical psychology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md. and research assistant professor of psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md.
The authors describe the basic legal and medical requirements for psychiatric disability benefits under social security law and regulations. They outline procedures used in assessment of impairment, stressing the need for factual observations. The active interest of the psychiatric profession, the authors feel, will contribute to the scientific basis on which further refinement in the quantification of impairment criteria can be built.
