Opinion ID: 620395
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Mental Limitations

Text: Murphy also argues that the ALJ failed to properly find that she suffered from mental limitations. In particular, Murphy faults the ALJ for not adopting all of Dr. Glen’s opinion with regard to Murphy’s mental limitations and for not giving more weight to the opinion of Dr. Radomska, who opined that Murphy had a possible delusional disorder. We again find no error in the ALJ’s decision. The ALJ did not find that Murphy had no mental limitations—in fact, the ALJ accepted the position of Murphy’s treating physician, Dr. Woodard, who opined that Murphy suffered from depression. Instead, the finding of the ALJ was that Murphy’s mental impairment of depression did “not cause more than minimal limitation in [Murphy’s] ability to perform basic mental work activities and is therefore nonsevere.” Coming to this conclusion, the ALJ properly evaluated Dr. Glen’s report. Though Dr. Glen noted that Murphy had “moderate” functional limitations in some areas such as maintaining concentration, Dr. Glen’s final conclusion regarding Murphy’s functional capacity assessment was that she was “able to do simple, unskilled work,” and this was the assessment that the ALJ adopted as his own. Moreover, the ALJ did not erroneously reject Dr. Radomska’s opinion. Dr. Radomska, the psychiatric consultative examiner, examined Murphy on only one occasion, and then opined that a mental disorder was “possible,” without identifying any specific functional limitation. Based on Dr. Radomska’s limited relationship with Murphy, the ALJ’s failure to give controlling weight to Dr. Radomska’s opinion was not in error. See 20 C.F.R. § No. 10‐3779 Page 6 404.1527(d)(2). Later, Dr. Glen reviewed Dr. Radomska’s report and ascertained that although a serious mental condition might be possible, because of the absence of any family history and the absence of past psychiatric treatment, an actual diagnosis of a serious mental condition could not be made. As mentioned above, Dr. Glen’s final assessment after considering Dr. Radomska’s opinion was the one adopted by the ALJ—that Murphy was capable of doing simple, unskilled work. Finally, the ALJ noted that Dr. Radomska’s opinion was “not supported by the record as a whole, including [Murphy’s] past as well as her current work history as a certified nurses aide, as well as [her] testimony at the hearing in which she denied being depressed.” The evidence in the record supporting the ALJ’s finding that Murphy’s depression and any resulting mental limitations were not severe included the opinions of Drs. Woodard and Glen, as well as Murphy’s testimony and medical history. This evidence is adequate to support the conclusion that Murphy did not suffer from severe mental limitations that compromised her ability to do simple, unskilled work, and so we must defer to the ALJ’s judgment.