silke

Thank you for your thoughts kind sir, He was in Doha, Qatar during desert st\shield, in a combat communications squadron...pretty much in the rear with the gear....was then redeployed for operation Provide Comfort, which was an operation to protect the Kurds who were fleeing the wrath of the Iraqi army, he was at a humanitarian camp in northern Iraq. He did mention that he saw the dead and the dying, mostly children and the elderly......but never talked about it again. He was never the same again after that and he began a downward spiral a couple of years later. Unfortunately, his memory is shot, I had to attend his c&p exam to give his full history, as he could not tell the examiner the day of the week, the month, or where he was...I did mention the above, but no mention of ptsd was given although it helped the examiner determine that the onset was due to military stress....I suppose this issue could be further examined on an appeal if neccesary.

a medical opinion or examination is required if the information and evidence of record does not contain sufficient medical evidence to decide the claim, but there is- (1) competent evidence of a current disability or persistent or recurrent symptoms of a disability; and (2) evidence establishing that an event, injury, or disease occurred in service or establishing certain diseases manifesting during an applicable presumptive period for which the claimant qualifies; and (3) an indication that the disability or persistent or recurrent symptoms of a disability may be associated with the veteran's service or with another service-connected disability. I got this from the BVA site....Im by no means an expert on VA claims....but it seems to me that when you are scheduled for a c&p exam, they are acknowledging that your claim has some credibility and merit. Based on the above statements, I would assume they are looking for a nexus to decide a claim, therefore an examiner's opinion would hold a bit of weight....if favorable, that would be a good thing for the vet. Ive poured through hundreds of BVA decisions and have noticed many were remanded for a c&p exam....seems silly and a waste of time, many should have had one in the first place....JMO.....good luck

Further, Op.G.C. 8-88 (11-7-88) held that service connection may be granted for hereditary diseases which either first manifest themselves during service or which preexist service and progress at an abnormally high rate during service. The presumption of soundness (38 C.F.R. § 3.303©) is not rebutted merely by the fact a disease is hereditary, as a genetic or other familial disposition to develop a disease does not constitute having the disease. This opinion, too, we continue to find persuasive. Accordingly, service connection may be granted for diseases of congenital, developmental or familial (hereditary) origin where such disease was first manifest during service or progressed at an abnormally high rate during service. .....and the examiner said: He has a family history of schizophrenia and may have been predisposed to develop the disorder, but it was the stress of military service that apparently provoked his first symptoms and the disease progressed from that point on. Well, if its denied because of family history, his lawyer is gonna have a field day with this. Statisticly, according to medical literature, with an uncle that had schizophrenia, his odds of getting it too are 5%. So chances are, there had to be an enviromental trigger.....military service. I couldnt have asked for a better examiner!

yes, I figured that might be an issue. It wasnt in his immediate family, he had an uncle with schizophrenia. His father was a 30 year army career man and we have my husbands army dependent medical records that go from birth to inception into the military, and there was no contact with any mental health providers. Im hoping that helps, as well as the examiners statement that although he had a predisposition for the disorder, it was the stress of military service that brought it on. John: Im pretty sure it would be rated 100%, the report was 7 pages long and in there it mentioned he is unemployable. He failed the subtract 7 from 100's and memory tests and didnt know what month it is or where he was at. He doesnt have a chance at employment. Thank you all for your responses...it brought tears to my eyes. A win would be a life changing event for us, SSD is hard to survive on.

Got it...with permission. Iptomsm just gonna include opinion and rationale w\gaf: OPINION: In my opinion, the veteran suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and secondary depression NOS. His current condition is a continuation of symptoms first treated while he was in military service and diagnosed at that time as an adjustment disorder with depressed mood. Because I believe the current condition is a continuation of symptoms first evidenced during military service, I would say that the current disorder is most likely caused by or a result of military service. RATIONALE FOR OPINION GIVEN: In my opinion, the veteran was experiencing predomal symptoms of schizophrenia while he was still in military service. Typically, people who develop schizophrenia have a 1-2 year period when they begin to have changes in mood and coping ability but before they experience full-blown hallucinations. The military note indicates a diagnoses of adjustment disorder with anxiety and avoidant personality traits. This would be a typical diagnoses of symptoms that occur in the predomal stage of schizophrenia. It is only in retrospect that they can be recognized as early symptoms of the disorder. The veteran indicates that he was starting to have some changes in his personality and ability to cope and that he initially refused treatment for the symptoms when he was discharged. When symptoms continued to worsen, he was hosptialized and diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. This course of symptoms and delays in getting diagnosed and treated is typical for the disorder. He has a family history of schizophrenia and may have been predisposed to develop the disorder, but it was the stress of military stress that apparently provoked his first symptoms and the disease progressed from that point on. xxxx xxxxxxxx Psychologist GAF: 35 What do you's guys thing!

hello all, just an update....its been a month now since the c&p and havent received a copy yet....got a letter from the va and it said it is processing our request for the record and it will be sent within 30 days......hmmmmm...they told us two weeks ago it went to the ratings department and would take 16-21 days...so its possible we could have a rating before we get a copy of the c&p...LOL...not gonna happen of course.....i just wish they were a bit more honest with their time estimations.....will hopefully post report soon.......thanks all

From my research...adjustment disorders are compensable...generally in the 10-30% range. I saw that they changed that in 96. Citation Nr: 0926541 is a good example. The psychologist (MD), said the axis I and the axis II (avoidant personality traits), are symptoms of a prodromal phase of shizophrenia, especially when she got a rundown of his entire military history. He had two achievement medals, a good conduct medal, was selected for NCO leadership school before he was even an nco, had 45 credits toward a college degree, campaign medal for op. desert storm/shield, the highest ratings on his enlisted performance reports and had an intention of making the military a career. After five years of exemplary service his mental meltdown began.....and now he cant even subtract 7 from a 100......they had some gall calling this a personality disorder, your personality is well developed before military service age......ohhh, if only I knew back then what I know now,,,,heads would be rolling..LOL.... Sorry if it seems like im ranting and raging, I just want to see him get what he has deserved...thank you all for listening.

hello all,,,,,yes, John999, I agree with you.....my husband had 6 months left in service when he was given the adjustment disorder w/depressed mood w/avoidant personality traits. He was either misdiagnosed or it was a political diagnosis. If they could have caught this earlier, much more could have been done and his life might have been different. So, this isnt just about money. I went to the state veterans office last Tuesday, got signed up with a vso and he's getting us a copy of the c&p exam report. I will post it here when I get it..should be in a week or so. Last thursday, a week after the c&p, I received a call from the VA and they told me his claim is going to the rating department for a decision and it would take a few weeks. So i guess no more C&P's.....seems like its moving quick now.....dont know if thats good or bad....from the research ive done on here, thats unusual!!...any input on that? Thanks to all

Thank you all so very much for your replys My husband was 23 when the AF diagnosed with adjustment d.o. w/depressed mood.....I got his medical records, which took nine months, his diagnosis was in there, but the rest of his mental health records were not included...he saw a couple of psychiatrists and had many visits with a social worker. The C&P examiner, who is a doctor of psychology, said it was her medical opinion that schizophrenia was incurred in military service...so we r hoping that the VA will side with her......if they dont, could we still get comp for the adjustment disorder????

Thanks for all yur help.... My husband was diagnosed by the air force with adjustment disorder with depressed mood and avoidant personality traits in 1993 after a sudden character change ( got arrested twice, art 15, violent behavior, problems at work)...He got out on a voluntary separation, honorably. with 6 months of separation he became schizophrenic, he refused treatment and denied any problem...lack of insight and judgement is a typical symptom of schizophrenia, and with the mental health laws in place, he could not be forced into treatment or meds. In 2006 i was able to stage a intervention and get him into treatment and on meds at a county clinic...in 2007 he started going to the va clinic and the doctor there diagnosed him with p.schizophrenia, he suggested we apply for ssd and va comp. He got ssd within six months and last year we applied for va comp......we had a c&p exam last week...i went with him (his gaf is 35 and needs help to communicate)..pretty easy exam and at the end the doctor said she believes that his condition began in the service....essentially the adjustment do eventually became schizophrenia. How much weight does the doctors opinion at the c&p exam hold for a favorable outcome???