This is an amended Reconsideration Decision. The claimant sought reconsideration after being found not to have a catastrophic impairment . Vice-Chair Lester found that a failure to decide on the claimant’s diagnosis was not an error of fact and law. It was not necessary to rule on the claimant’s diagnosis since the level of psychiatric disorder is not determinative of the degree of impairment in an area of function. Vice-Chair Lester found that not mentioning an expert report in the hearing decision was not an error. The report did not address the claimant’s functionality and was not persuasive for the adjudicator. Vice-Chair Lester found that even if she accepted the claimant’s evidence for a limitation regarding Adaptation, those limitations were considered moderate impairments. Vice-Chair Lester found that a claimant must demonstrate that he has repeatedly failed to adapt to stressful circumstances to meet the high bar of being markedly impaired, simply avoiding a situation is not necessarily a demonstration of a repeated failure to adapt, and an inability to complete a task because of a psychological or pain disorder is not necessarily a demonstration that a person failed to adapt to a stressful situation. The claimant was able to regulate his emotions and cope in a series of occupational therapy tests, contrary to his claim to have difficulties at work. The claimant was only able to provide one-off examples of losing emotional control at work. The claimant was found not to have a CAT impairment. The request for reconsideration was denied.
