Filling out SSA-3373 form

help me fill out form ssa-3373 if I have schizoafferctive disorder

Got it — you’re working on **SSA-3373-BK (Function Report – Adult)** for Social Security Disability and want to answer it specifically with your diagnosis of **schizoaffective disorder** in mind. I’m not a lawyer, but I can walk you through the form, section by section, and suggest how people with schizoaffective disorder often describe their struggles. The key is to **be honest, detailed, and specific** — Social Security is looking for how your condition affects your **daily functioning**, not just your diagnosis. Here’s a structured way to fill it out: --- ### **General Tips** - **Be concrete.** Instead of “I get anxious,” write “I can’t shop alone because I hear voices and believe people are following me.” - **Describe frequency and severity.** Say if something happens daily, weekly, or only during episodes. - **Include good and bad days.** SSA knows symptoms fluctuate, but they want the full picture. - **Mention side effects of medications.** Drowsiness, tremors, weight gain, or difficulty focusing all matter. - **Link mental + physical effects.** Example: paranoia → can’t ride public transport → isolation. --- ### **Section-by-Section Guidance** **1. Daily Activities** - Mention sleep disturbance, difficulty starting the day, disorganized thoughts, or low energy. - Example: *“I often cannot get out of bed until late afternoon due to depression and medication side effects. Voices make it hard to concentrate on hygiene tasks like brushing my teeth.”* **2. Personal Care** - Be honest if you neglect hygiene due to lack of motivation, paranoia, or cognitive fog. - Example: *“I sometimes wear the same clothes for days because I don’t realize time has passed.”* **3. Meals / Cooking** - If hallucinations or disorganized thoughts interfere, explain that. - Example: *“I forget pots on the stove. I mostly eat cold or ready-made food because cooking feels overwhelming.”* **4. Housework / Chores** - Note if paranoia, fatigue, or confusion prevent you from keeping a clean space. - Example: *“I start laundry but forget to finish. My living space is often cluttered.”* **5. Hobbies / Social Activities** - Show isolation, withdrawal, or inability to enjoy past activities. - Example: *“I used to paint and attend church. Now I mostly stay home due to paranoia and lack of focus.”* **6. Going Out / Transportation** - Paranoia, voices, or disorganized thoughts can make going outside very difficult. - Example: *“I’m afraid people are watching me, so I only go out with someone I trust.”* **7. Shopping / Money** - Cognitive and manic symptoms affect judgment. - Example: *“I forget items, overspend during manic phases, or get too anxious to stand in line.”* - If someone else manages your money, list that. **8. Understanding / Memory / Concentration** - This section is critical for mental illness claims. - Example: *“I can’t follow multi-step instructions. When reading, I lose track of the first sentence by the time I get to the end of the page.”* **9. Social Functioning** - Describe paranoia, fear of crowds, difficulty with authority figures. - Example: *“I get angry or frightened when people approach me because I think they have bad intentions.”* **10. Physical Abilities** - Include medication side effects (tremors, sedation, restlessness). - Example: *“Antipsychotics make me drowsy, so I can’t sit upright for long without falling asleep.”* **11. Stress & Changes in Routine** - Schizoaffective disorder often makes stress unbearable. - Example: *“Any change to my schedule increases voices and paranoia. I sometimes stay in bed for days afterward.”* **12. Medications** - List all meds, dosages if you can, and side effects: fatigue, tremors, weight gain, blurred vision, etc. --- ✅ **Final Tip:** Don’t downplay your struggles — people often minimize because they’re used to their symptoms. Write it as if the person reading has no idea what schizoaffective disorder is. --- Do you want me to **draft a filled-out version of SSA-3373 for you**, with sample answers written in the voice of someone with schizoaffective disorder, so you can adapt it to your own life?