You may have sustained an injury or illness because you took an illegal substance laced with toxic substances. It’s frequently easier to overdose on illegal substances because of their potency and the way people ingest them. It only takes one potent overdose of an illegal substance to become a fatality. Addiction often begins with a car accident or back injury for which you need prescription medication. It continues with substance misuse, leading to tolerance, dependence, and ultimately an addiction disorder.

The combination of emotional and physical frustrations can greatly contribute to lowered moods and a tendency to self-medicate with alcohol. Studies found that up to 50% of individuals with spinal injuries, orthopedic injuries, and traumatic brain injuries indulged in heavy drinking. The ease with which alcohol can be legally obtained greatly contributes to this problem. SAMHSA’s mission is to lead public health and service delivery efforts that promote mental health, prevent substance misuse, and provide treatments and supports to foster recovery while ensuring equitable access and better outcomes. If your employer does not know about your disability, it will not know of your need for accommodation. For example, if you are embarrassed about going to AA meetings and leave work to attend without informing your supervisor, you may be disciplined or even terminated, despite the absence of being related to your disability.

Find out if you qualify for SSDI benefits. Pre-qualify in 60 seconds for up to $3,627 per month and 12 months back pay.

The Americans with Disabilities Act ensures people living with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. This federal law, first enacted in 1990, prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in several areas, including employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications and access to state and local government programs and services. In addition to the title of Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, Kevin is also licensed by the state of Maryland as a Clinical Drug and Alcohol Counselor. He holds a Master of Science degree in Counseling and has over 26 years of experience as a substance use/mental health counselor with the Montgomery County Government. Whether he’s leading groups or providing individual and family therapy, Kevin’s passion for serving those suffering from substance use disorders is always on display.

An addiction, however, causes physical and psychological changes to your body and brain chemistry that can affect your ability to make rational decisions. Withdrawal symptoms are a sign that the abused substance has changed your body. Your treating doctor may prescribe you oxycodone after a car accident with instructions to take no more than two pills orally twice a day. Strong opioid drugs like oxycodone stimulate tolerance in certain people, who will continually need higher-dose pain medication to relieve their symptoms. Soon, you find that two pills don’t have the desired effect or manage your pain.

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Don’t become a statistic when you claim individual or group long-term disability benefits during substance abuse treatment, because you need time to recover with peace of mind and your benefits. Many people – including some health care providers – don’t realize that withholding services from someone based on their addiction history or ongoing treatment is illegal discrimination. In April 2022, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights eco sober house rating Division released guidelines explaining how the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to addiction, aiming to make people with substance use disorders more aware of their rights. For some conditions, deciding whether substance abuse is material isn’t very difficult. Drug use won’t be considered material if you’re applying for disability because of an unrelated condition, such as thyroid cancer or degenerative disc disease.

Anytime you apply for Social Security Disability, you will want to make sure that any and all physical restrictions are clearly listed, regardless of the cause. It is not, however, in your best interest to list drug addiction as a contributing factor if it can be avoided, though lying about it isn’t a good idea either, if you are directly questioned. As the Medical Director, Mark works with the staff to coordinate the appropriate level of care for each individual client. He works directly with the clients on management of medical issues both related to and separate from their addiction, ensuring comprehensive health care plans that ensure our clients’ chances at recovery. What he has found to be most rewarding about working in the addictions treatment field is being able to help suffering addicts and alcoholics to realize their fullest potential. Cheryl is a Clinical Social Worker licensed by the state of Maryland with over 30 years of experience in the field.

Alcoholism and Drug Addiction as a Disability

The disability model accepts this but under the disease model, addiction is only treated as a medical problem. A person with addiction is first treated as a patient, which has profoundly affected how society treats an addicted person. This encourages only viewing addiction on a clinical and public health level – as something that needs to be treated and cured. People with recognized disabilities understand that only viewing the disability from a clinical perspective leaves out the lived experience of a person with a disability.

• For example, any functional limitations imposed by intoxication itself would not be considered, since these symptoms are obviously reversible.
• Drug use won’t be considered material if you’re applying for disability because of an unrelated condition, such as thyroid cancer or degenerative disc disease.
• Sometimes, disability labeling also coincides with medical conditions such as genetic disorders such as muscular dystrophy, Down syndrome, or autism.
• Co-occurring disorders, like depression, anxiety, and unhealed trauma, are especially common among disabled Americans, leading many to seek a false sense of comfort with harmful substances.
• As noted above, SSA will use a more rigorous and thorough evaluation to determine whether alcoholism or drug addiction is a material factor in your case.
• Unfortunately, the SSA has started to crack down on those seeking SSD benefits after discovering that many applicants obtained benefits through fraudulent means.

As noted above, HUD regulations define physical or mental impairment to include drug addiction, but current use of illegal substances cannot constitute a disability under the FHA. Individuals suffering from drug addiction who have successfully completed some form of rehabilitation program are considered disabled on the basis of their recorded history of addiction, or the fact that other individuals consider them to have been addicts. To determine a direct threat, the housing provider must engage in an individualized https://sober-house.org/ assessment that is based upon “reliable objective evidence” of current or recent post rehabilitation conduct that poses a direct threat to safety of others. The way the law works today is that a person cannot receive disability benefits if drug addiction or alcoholism (what Social Security calls “DAA”) is a “material factor” in their disability. What this doesn’t mean is that Social Security can deny a disability applicant benefits just because they intentionally abuse or are addicted to drugs or alcohol.

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With strong ties to Victory Christian Church and the 12-step community, Federico shares an amazing personal story of redemption and long-term recovery. With over 32 years in the arena of addiction and sobriety, he uses his vast experience to provide a unique approach to mentorship and guiding our clients toward a supportive lifestyle of recovery. Mr. Douglas’ experience, strength, and hope inspires those in our program, and prepares them for the real-world journey of recovery. With a robust foundation in 12-step philosophy, Federico can not only educate the clients on the model, but also integrate the tried-and-true principles in a more personal, clinical setting.

• Vanessa also holds a Bachelor’s of Arts in Behavioral and Social Sciences from the University of Maryland, College Park and a Master’s of Business Administration-Human Resource Management from Columbia Southern University.
• As recently as the 1990s, you could receive Social Security Disability benefits on the basis of drug addiction if your drug addiction made it impossible for you to maintain gainful employment.
• Instead, the liver condition is the material factor whereas alcoholism is a secondary factor.
• If you are regularly hungover and show up for work late or cannot complete assignments on time, you may be disciplined for poor performance.

This may lead many applicants to believe that alcoholism and drug addiction are also covered under the SSI and SSDI benefits. After all, in their severe degrees, both conditions can prevent a person from keeping a gainful employment. Your individual or group long-term disability insurer may severely limit substance abuse benefits, but many addictions arise from underlying conditions. Injuries related to traumatic car accidents, nerve damage, spinal injuries, fractures, and compartment syndrome can all cause extreme pain.

Yes, George is protected under the ADA because he can’t be denied health care that he would normally qualify for on the basis of his current use of illegal drugs. A public entity can’t deny health services, or services provided in connection with drug rehabilitation to an individual on the basis of that individual’s current illegal use of drugs, if the individual is otherwise entitled to such services. This exception is important, because people often go to jail with legal Suboxone in their system, but may also have additional drugs in their system that they are illegally using. In this case, the illegal use of Gabapentin doesn’t mean that the jail can withhold the legal use of Suboxone unless there is a legitimate medical reason to do so. Jason is a person with a disability covered by the ADA because he is a person in recovery, i.e., no longer illegally using drugs.

Some of the most commonly used drug types in the United States include antidepressants, analgesics, antidiabetics, and beta-blockers. For example, any functional limitations imposed by intoxication itself would not be considered, since these symptoms are obviously reversible. Similarly, the reversible components of stimulant drugs, such as increased blood pressure, are not considered limiting in physical impairment claims.

This is because alcoholism is no longer a material factor in the disability application. Instead, the liver condition is the material factor whereas alcoholism is a secondary factor. The same principle may apply where drug addiction is no longer a material factor. Most sedentary jobs require sitting for long periods of time, paying attention to detailed work, and dealing with other people. While one person with a drug addiction’s ability to do these things will differ considerably from another’s, it won’t really matter if the reason you can’t perform available sedentary work is determined to be because of your drug addiction. If, at any time, it is found that you could perform available work if it weren’t for your drug addiction, your Social Security Disability claim will be denied.

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However, if you’ve stopped taking drugs and the Social Security Administration (SSA) believes you’re in recovery, you should be able to get disability benefits for drug-related damage and other impairments. Read on to learn how substance abuse can affect your disability claim, how the SSA treats addiction, and how to qualify for benefits. The Social Security Administration (SSA) recognizes that drug addiction or substance abuse can cause irreversible physical or mental conditions. While the agency no longer awards benefits solely on the basis of drug addiction, you might still qualify for disability benefits if you have separate impairments that prevent you from working—even if the impairment was caused by substance abuse.

Forcing people off the medications can sometimes lead to people returning to illicit drug use. In 2018, the Justice Department first advocated for the legal theory that “discrimination on the basis of treatment is discrimination on the basis of disability,” Dorchak said. It came in an investigation of Charlwell House, a skilled nursing facility in Massachusetts that refused a patient who took Suboxone. Change the prescription, the nursing facility told the patient, and we’ll reconsider.