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Will This Put Me Over The Top?

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erico541

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i am currently rated 80% 30%left hand 30%right hand 20%left foot 20%right foot 10%tinnitus 10%broken clavicle equaling 120% i just had a c and p exam for depression and the psychiatrist said he was going to say he felt my depression was due to sc conditions...additionally i am a manic depressent as well. i am currently on prozac and several other meds as well. does anyone have some insight to help me know what the board may decide? thanks god bless ameica

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Here is the criteria for rating mental disorders (depression, mood disorder)

chronic adjustment disorder

9440 Chronic adjustment disorder

General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders:

Total occupational and social impairment, due to such symptoms as:

gross impairment in thought processes or communication;

persistent delusions or hallucinations; grossly inappropriate

behavior; persistent danger of hurting self or others; intermittent

inability to perform activities of daily living (including maintenance

of minimal personal hygiene); disorientation to time or place; memory

loss for names of close relatives, own occupation, or own name .................... 100

Occupational and social impairment, with deficiencies in most areas,

such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood,

due to such symptoms as: suicidal ideation; obsessional rituals

which interfere with routine activities; speech intermittently illogical,

obscure, or irrelevant; near-continuous panic or depression affecting

the ability to function independently, appropriately and effectively;

impaired impulse control (such as unprovoked irritability with periods

of violence); spatial disorientation; neglect of personal appearance and

hygiene; difficulty in adapting to stressful circumstances (including

work or a worklike setting); inability to establish and maintain

effective relationships ................................................................................

........ 70

Occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and

productivity due to such symptoms as: flattened affect; circumstantial,

circumlocutory, or stereotyped speech; panic attacks more than once

a week; difficulty in understanding complex commands; impairment

of short- and long-term memory (e.g., retention of only highly learned

material, forgetting to complete tasks); impaired judgment; impaired

abstract thinking; disturbances of motivation and mood; difficulty in

establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships ............... 50

Occupational and social impairment with occasional decrease in work

efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform occupational

tasks (although generally functioning satisfactorily, with routine

behavior, self-care, and conversation normal), due to such symptoms

as: depressed mood, anxiety, suspiciousness, panic attacks (weekly or

less often), chronic sleep impairment, mild memory loss (such as

forgetting names, directions, recent events) ...................................................... 30

Occupational and social impairment due to mild or transient symptoms

which decrease work efficiency and ability to perform occupational

tasks only during periods of significant stress, or; symptoms controlled

by continuous medication ................................................................................

.. 10

A mental condition has been formally diagnosed, but symptoms are not

severe enough either to interfere with occupational and social

functioning or to require continuous medication.................................................. 0

Get your C&P report from the ROI office at your local VA clinic. It should be in there. Look for the key words in the report and match them to the percentage group above. Your GAF score is also important. It will be in the report. 61 or above is considered minor and normally a 10% rating. 51-60 is moderate and can be in the 30-50% range. Usually any GAF below 51 has a good chance of being rated at 50-70%, but it takes having a lot of the above conditions in the appropriate category. They are going to low ball you initially. It happens to everyone. Hopefully, your psych put the right buzz words in your report. when you file your claim this time, you should definitely include TDIU if that is what you are working towards. What is your work status? Are you on SSDI or filed for it? This diagnosis will help.

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Here is the criteria for rating mental disorders (depression, mood disorder)

chronic adjustment disorder

9440 Chronic adjustment disorder

General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders:

Total occupational and social impairment, due to such symptoms as:

gross impairment in thought processes or communication;

persistent delusions or hallucinations; grossly inappropriate

behavior; persistent danger of hurting self or others; intermittent

inability to perform activities of daily living (including maintenance

of minimal personal hygiene); disorientation to time or place; memory

loss for names of close relatives, own occupation, or own name .................... 100

Occupational and social impairment, with deficiencies in most areas,

such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood,

due to such symptoms as: suicidal ideation; obsessional rituals

which interfere with routine activities; speech intermittently illogical,

obscure, or irrelevant; near-continuous panic or depression affecting

the ability to function independently, appropriately and effectively;

impaired impulse control (such as unprovoked irritability with periods

of violence); spatial disorientation; neglect of personal appearance and

hygiene; difficulty in adapting to stressful circumstances (including

work or a worklike setting); inability to establish and maintain

effective relationships ................................................................................

........ 70

Occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and

productivity due to such symptoms as: flattened affect; circumstantial,

circumlocutory, or stereotyped speech; panic attacks more than once

a week; difficulty in understanding complex commands; impairment

of short- and long-term memory (e.g., retention of only highly learned

material, forgetting to complete tasks); impaired judgment; impaired

abstract thinking; disturbances of motivation and mood; difficulty in

establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships ............... 50

Occupational and social impairment with occasional decrease in work

efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform occupational

tasks (although generally functioning satisfactorily, with routine

behavior, self-care, and conversation normal), due to such symptoms

as: depressed mood, anxiety, suspiciousness, panic attacks (weekly or

less often), chronic sleep impairment, mild memory loss (such as

forgetting names, directions, recent events) ...................................................... 30

Occupational and social impairment due to mild or transient symptoms

which decrease work efficiency and ability to perform occupational

tasks only during periods of significant stress, or; symptoms controlled

by continuous medication ................................................................................

.. 10

A mental condition has been formally diagnosed, but symptoms are not

severe enough either to interfere with occupational and social

functioning or to require continuous medication.................................................. 0

Get your C&P report from the ROI office at your local VA clinic. It should be in there. Look for the key words in the report and match them to the percentage group above. Your GAF score is also important. It will be in the report. 61 or above is considered minor and normally a 10% rating. 51-60 is moderate and can be in the 30-50% range. Usually any GAF below 51 has a good chance of being rated at 50-70%, but it takes having a lot of the above conditions in the appropriate category. They are going to low ball you initially. It happens to everyone. Hopefully, your psych put the right buzz words in your report. when you file your claim this time, you should definitely include TDIU if that is what you are working towards. What is your work status? Are you on SSDI or filed for it? This diagnosis will help.

i have not filed for ssdi, i am currently unemployed. i went up to the va outpatient clinic place today and requested for the c and p results to be mailed to me. the examiner and i got along well and he said he was definately saying my depression was sc and the part that worried me was the manic depressant...is that bad? what is tdiu? if the examiner states my depression is sc that should be to my benefit? thanks for all of your help

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i am really learning the wealth of info you folks have. wow i have not filed for ssdi and currentl.y i am unemployed. the examiner and i really got along well although i did get rather emotional though he said that was ok . when he said he was going to put in the results he felt my depression was definately sc that made me feel good about the exam,though i am not sure about the manic depressant part. i did go up to the outpatient clinic today and requested for the exam file to be sent to me. what is tdiu? how many more % points will it take to get to one hundred if i am at one twenty(total) now? i realize i have a lot of questions but you folks seem to have really great answers thanks

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i am really learning the wealth of info you folks have. wow i have not filed for ssdi and currentl.y i am unemployed. the examiner and i really got along well although i did get rather emotional though he said that was ok . when he said he was going to put in the results he felt my depression was definately sc that made me feel good about the exam,though i am not sure about the manic depressant part. i did go up to the outpatient clinic today and requested for the exam file to be sent to me. what is tdiu? how many more % points will it take to get to one hundred if i am at one twenty(total) now? i realize i have a lot of questions but you folks seem to have really great answers thanks

You should apply for TDIU yourself if you are unable to work due to your SC disability(ies)

and also apply for SSA.

Did he state that you were unemployable due to your SC?

If so that will get you "over the top"

He would have to give a medical rationale for that.

Was this at a C & P exam for higher rating?

Did he add manic depressive as part of yur overall SC for depression?

Va will only rate for one mental disability.

I helped good friend manic bi polar go from NSC- no SC at all to 100%.

But it all boiled down to one single thing-medical evidence (and in his case his SRB personnel file helped a lot.)

But this claim took him 12 years.

The actual copy of the results of the exam might give a better picture of what rating you can expect.

It wont be 100% or TDIU unless the doc fully stated your SC rendered you unemployable.

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thanks for the reply berta i am going to find out what the psychiatrist put in my exam as soon as i get it in the mail. yes it was for c and p. he only said that he would put in his report that my depression was directly caused by the sc disabilities i have. and that i am a manic depressant...he also added he hoped that all of this would work in my favor ,and good luck! i will let you know what the report says if you are interested thanks so much also no i have not for for ssdi or anything else

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thanks for the reply berta i am going to find out what the psychiatrist put in my exam as soon as i get it in the mail. yes it was for c and p. he only said that he would put in his report that my depression was directly caused by the sc disabilities i have. and that i am a manic depressant...he also added he hoped that all of this would work in my favor ,and good luck! i will let you know what the report says if you are interested thanks so much also no i have not for for ssdi or anything else

My va psych just increased my meds. seems I may have severe somatoform disorder related to my service connect pain caused by my service connected conditions. pain causes depression and depression pain and then depression can cause pain in areas where there is nothign physicial but the pain is real. soemthign liek that i was told. so i have pain form what they knwo and pain form what they cannot find i guess. and the pain causes depression and the depression causes pain. guess it never ends. guess i have had so much pain for so long i do not know what is real or not real anymore. i just know it all hurts.

my wife looked this up later and foudn somethin gon the mayo clinic .com website about this. hold on i will get the link.

ok i foudn it.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/pain-and-depression/AN01449

so i have bene diagnosed with dysthymic with major depression since back in the 90's and now it looks liek they may have changed that.

would have my wife type this but she is in bed. she types better. she always gets me in to see the doc when i get bad off and maybe she thinks i am having suicidal thoughts and maybe want to hurt someone. why would a vet want to hurt somone? the va benefits people treats us all great right?

i also got a new walker that is easier to use. my va doc got me a smaller walker. va psych asked me about ti and i tiold the psych the old one i was using it was hard to use and i had to have my wife help me with it. i still fall down sometimes though. i just didn't think about aksing the va doc for a new one. i kept forgetting to aks him.

psych wanted to talk to my wife also. va medical peopel have traeted me okay but those at the va benefits do not. i sent four letters for clothign allowance last year and i got that allowance for five years and they kept telling me they never got it. did the same with four nods a few years ago sent certified mail return recepipt and when I complained they did nothing. so i sent a form 9 and they ignored it also. no where else to complain after sending letter to head of the regional va. nothign was ever done. never got a soc or anything.

they just ignore nods. DAV was not help either. i can't even get a reply form them even when I leave messages. so now i got a lawyer. wife got the lawyer for me. i think we cna also prove because of this they are prejudice against me and retaliating.

oh well i have rambled enough.

take care everyone and i hope you get what you all deserve.

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