As I mentioned on the main case strategies page of this site, there is no Social Security listing for migraine headaches.  In the absence of a listing, how does one go about proving disability?  One alternative is to argue that your capacity to perform work has been so reduced by your condition that you would not be a reliable employee in any job situation.

This type of argument is known in technical terms as the functional capacity argument (aka the residual functional capacity, or RFC, argument).  An argument like this says to the Judge that you can no longer work because of:

• Your medical problems
• additional medical problems that diminish your reliability
• specific functional limitations (your limited ability to sit, stand, or walk, for example)
• pain and other “non-exertional” limitations
• medication side effects such as fatigue, drowsiness, nausea, poor concentration, etc.
• depression/anxiety resulting from your physical condition and inability to work

Keep in mind, Social Security’s definition of disability looks to your capacity for work rather than just your medical problem.  So be sure to highlight all of the limitations brought on by your illness, not just your illness itself.

Also, since Social Security is concerned with whether you could perform any work, you have to demonstrate to the Judge that you would not be a reliable worker at even the easiest, sit-down, low stress job that exists in the national economy.  In many Social Security disability hearings, Judges even call upon vocational expert witnesses to testify as to the kind of work they think you may be capable of given your past work history and current limitations.

So the best way to prove disability is to really show the limitations brought on by your conditions.  The more limitations, the better; with every limitation that the Judge accepts, one category of work is potentially eliminated.  For example, if we show that you have medication side effects that cause occasional drowsiness, we would eliminate all jobs that require driving, or those that require the use or ropes, ladders and scaffolds. If the judge accepts that you cannot lift more than 5 pounds, then we eliminate all jobs that have greater lifting requirements.