Sleep apnea is a medical condition that causes you to briefly stop breathing while you sleep, which interrupts your sleep cycle severely and can have many negative impacts on your day-to-day life. It is estimated that at least 22 million people suffer from sleep apnea, which means that it is a lot more common than most people actually know. Unfortunately, people with sleep apnea can and often do have problems with maintaining steady employment simply because their sleep interruptions have such a drastic impact on how they can perform through the day. If you suffer from sleep apnea and it has interfered with your ability to work, you may be considering filing for Social Security Disability (SSD). Here are a few things that you should know before you do. 

Having a sleep apnea diagnosis may not be enough to grant you SSD. 

The Social Security Administration (SSA) does not recognize sleep apnea as a listed disability all on its own. However, there are conditions that can be related to sleep apnea that are listed, such as cardiac problems or breathing issues. If you have sleep apnea and have also been diagnosed with one of these other conditions, you would have a better chance of having your claim approved.

It will be important for your claim to include a thorough explanation of your condition. 

It does not matter if you know that you have sleep apnea, if you have not had a proper diagnosis and have not had treatment from a medical professional, your SSD claim may not be taken seriously by the SSA. Your doctor should freely offer you medical records that properly document your condition and how it affects your ability to work. 

Residual functional capacity will have a direct effect on your odds of being approved. 

Residual functional capacity (RFC) is heavily considered no matter what kind of medical condition it is that you have. If your sleep apnea is causing you to be so exhausted through the day that you can't perform typical job duties that you have the skills or ability to do, you may be more likely to receive approval. For instance, if you have always worked as a nurse, but you are so sleepy that it puts you at risk of making dire mistakes on the job, your RFC may be so low that you could be approved for SSD. 

To see if you might qualify for SSD, contact a social security lawyer like Todd East Attorney at Law.