Body system 12.00 in the SSA Blue Book covers mental disorders for adult (Part A). SSA uses these listings at step 3 of its five-step disability evaluation. If your medical evidence meets one of the listings on this page, your claim is approved without the disability examiner moving on to past-work and labor-market analysis at steps 4 and 5.
Most claimants who do not meet a listing in this body system can still be approved at later steps based on their residual functional capacity, age, education, and past work. The medical evidence you build for a listing-match argument is the same evidence those later steps rely on, so the listing criteria are useful to read even when a claim looks like a step-5 approval candidate.
Body system code
12.00
Part A
Active listings
10
Specific impairments
Audience
Adults 18+
SSA disability evaluation
Step in evaluation
3 of 5
Listing match approves the claim
Active listings under 12.00
Every listing below has current SSA-published criteria. Codes that SSA reserved for future use or has withdrawn since 1985 are not included. Click a listing where a plain-English breakdown is available, or follow the regulation link for SSA's exact text.
| Code | Listing | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| 12.02 | Neurocognitive disorders | ssa.gov |
| 12.04 | Depressive, bipolar and related disorders | ssa.gov |
| 12.05 | Intellectual disorder | ssa.gov |
| 12.06 | Anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders | ssa.gov |
| 12.07 | Somatic symptom and related disorders | ssa.gov |
| 12.08 | Personality and impulse-control disorders | ssa.gov |
| 12.10 | Autism spectrum disorder | ssa.gov |
| 12.11 | Neurodevelopmental disorders | ssa.gov |
| 12.13 | Eating disorders | ssa.gov |
| 12.15 | Trauma- and stressor-related disorders | ssa.gov |
Source: SSA Blue Book, body system 12.00. Last synced 2026-05-04.
How SSA describes this body system
Excerpted from SSA's regulatory introduction at the top of the body-system page. Full text and all subsection cross-references live on ssa.gov.
A. How are the listings for mental disorders arranged, and what do they require? The listings for mental disorders are arranged in 11 categories: neurocognitive disorders ( 12.02 ); schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders ( 12.03 ); depressive, bipolar and related disorders ( 12.04 ); intellectual disorder ( 12.05 ); anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders ( 12.06 ); somatic symptom and related disorders ( 12.07 ); personality and impulse-control disorders ( 12.08 ); autism spectrum disorder ( 12.10 ); neurodevelopmental disorders ( 12.11 ); eating disorders ( 12.13 ); and trauma- and stressor-related disorders ( 12.15 ). Listings 12.07 , 12.08 , 12.10 , 12.11 , and 12.13 have two paragraphs, designated A and B; your mental disorder must satisfy the requirements of both paragraphs A and B. Listings 12.02 , 12.03 , 12.04 , 12.06 , and 12.15 have three paragraphs, designated A, B, and C; your mental disorder must satisfy the requirements of both paragraphs A and B, or the requirements of both paragraphs A and C. Listing 12.05 has two paragraphs that are unique to that listing (see 12.00A3 ); your mental disorder must satisfy the requirements of either paragraph A or paragraph B. Paragraph A of each listing (except 12.05 ) includes the medical criteria that must be present in your medical evidence. Paragraph B of each listing (except 12.05 ) provides the functional...
Read the full text on the SSA Blue Book 12.00 page.
What happens during a claim under 12.00
The disability examiner assigned to your claim looks for medical records that match the lettered criteria of one of the listings above. The examiner does not diagnose you and does not weigh symptoms in isolation. They line up the listing's required findings against your records and decide whether the records contain enough to satisfy the listing as written.
If your records meet a listing, the claim is approved at step 3. If not, the examiner moves on to evaluating your residual functional capacity (RFC) at steps 4 and 5. RFC is a description of what work activity you can still do despite your impairments. The listings inform the RFC because the same medical evidence the listings ask for is the evidence the examiner uses to write the RFC. The disability overview walks through the full five-step evaluation in plain English.
Work activity, SGA, and the SSDI gate
A claim under any Blue Book listing is denied at step 1 if you are working at or above the substantial gainful activity threshold. SGA is the monthly earnings test SSA applies before any medical evaluation. Earning above SGA in countable work activity means SSA never reaches the listings on this page. Earning below SGA, or being out of work entirely, lets the medical evaluation proceed.
Once you are approved and receiving SSDI, the trial work period and extended period of eligibility apply differently than at the initial-application stage. Both are explained on the SGA amount page with year-by-year thresholds since 1975.
Children's listings for the same body system
SSA publishes a parallel body system at 112.00 for the children's (under 18) side of the same conditions. Many listings cross over with tighter functional thresholds for the children's version. The Mental disorders (children) page covers the 12 active listings on that side.