Can someone with clinical, chronic depression claim disability?

A friend of mine has terrible depression that is controlled by medication. Even though it is being treated, she still has her good and bad days. It has affected everything in her life and she finds it difficult to work. The problem is made worse by the fact that employer after employer seems to see her problem as a character flaw. Can she claim for some kind of disability insurance? I know people who are on disability for other kinds of chronic illnesses. Does depression count?

It is not likely since they can try her on another medication and "talk therapy" for her depression. It is hard to prove how bad depression affects your everyday life. She would have to have a psychiatrist or 2 or 3 to say she is depressed and can not get better even with treatment and it's hard to find 2-3 Drs that would commit to that. There is also electric shock that can be very effective for severely depressed people. Alcoholics can get disability in a heartbeat. That always ticked me off. You can't help it if you are depressed, you didn't do anything to get it but alcoholics choose to drink instead of getting help. Depressed people search everywhere for help but not alcoholics. I know, I have alcoholics in my family and in my husband's family and a couple of them are on disability, Just not fair in my opinion.

Yes. You can get disability for some pretty ridiculous things. There is a woman in my building who is an alcoholic and only pays $6 for her rent because she is on assistance.

Many people do claim disability when faced with chronic depression, however the process is not easy and can take many years before it finally goes through.

Yes but it is an extremely long and drawn out process