In a Social Security disability claim, you want to be specific when describing your symptoms and resultant functional limitations. Remember these three words when developing evidence about symptoms: frequency, severity and duration.

Whether you are talking about physical pain/fatigue, or mental health symptoms, these are the 3 things you must describe with medical evidence and with the client's testimony: 

• Frequency… how often do you have the symptoms?
• Severity… how intense are the symptoms?
• Duration… how long do the symptoms last?

These three words should be a mantra for any disability lawyer. Keep them in mind as you develop evidence for a Social Security disabilty claim, so that you can provide specific examples that demonstrate the frequency, severity and duration of symptoms.