Esselstrom

Craig Esselstrom appeals the district court’s order affirming the decision of the Secretary of Health & Human Services denying his application for disability insurance benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act. Esselstrom claims that he is disabled by schizophrenia. We reverse.

BACKGROUND FACTS

Esselstrom, who was born in 1950, worked in a timber mill from 1974 to 1979, at which time he quit to attend college. Shortly thereafter, however, his mental condition began to deteriorate. His strange public behavior and self-destructiveness caused him to be hospitalized several times in 1981 and 1983. He was ultimately diagnosed as suffering from chronic undifferentiated schizophrenia, with some paranoid tendencies. Es-selstrom is also apparently hindered by alcoholism.

Esselstrom applied for and was granted Title II disability benefits effective September 1984. With medication, his condition stabilized. In December 1985, he began working at a plywood mill. In July 1986, the Secretary determined that he was no longer disabled and terminated his benefits. In August 1991, Esselstrom was laid off from the mill. Others who were laid off at the same time have since been rehired,…