Am I Qualified?

[chriscond]

Here's my issue..

I was discharged with the ever dreaded 'Personality disorder' DX in March of 08 and was informed that I was not eligible for Service Connection. I applied for SSDI in September of 2009 and was recently approved for Generalized Anxiety, Major Depression, and OCD. SSDI informed me that I should immediately apply for VA benefits because I most likely did qualify. Well, I followed their advice and just today had my C&P exam with someone from QTC. He asked me a lot of questions about my time in service, and about life before the service, etc. I explained that I have always been 'shy and introverted' but it was not until after service that I became unable to keep a job at all. He diagnosed me with Anxiety, Major Depression, OCD and Social Phobia AND then wrote that he cannot confirm the military Psychiatrists diagnosis of Personality Disorder because Social Phobia fit the description even more. I believe he also wrote that my time in service likely caused or aggravated my current problems. How much weight to the examiners give such a report?

[john999]

You don't need to show any incident that set off your anxiety disorder or depression. You just have to show that it started in the military and continues to this day. If you were treated for anxiety or depression in the military or within one year after discharge that is usually enough.

[chriscond]

You don't need to show any incident that set off your anxiety disorder or depression. You just have to show that it started in the military and continues to this day. If you were treated for anxiety or depression in the military or within one year after discharge that is usually enough.

Right, that's also a problem. They never treated me for Anxiety or Depression in the service. All of my medical records say 'Personality Disorder and Adjustment Disorder' because that's their way of blowing veterans off. It wasn't until after the service (about a year and 4 months after) that the Psychiatrist diagnosed me with Depression and Anxiety. I have since being seeing a doctor every month and been put on medication. I talked to the C&P examiner and he said the military diagnosis was bogus and agreed that they just did it to keep me from getting benefits. Well, I'll update this whenever I get the decision. The process seems to be moving fairly quickly so far...I sent in the benefits application on August 26th and had the C&P exam on September 14th. Hopefully the rest of the process runs smoothly but I won't hold my breath