bluevet

Many psycholgical C&P examiners simply go down the list of symptoms on the DBQ, asking you what you do and do not experience. These include: Depressed mood, anxiety, suspiciousness, panic attacks, sleep impairment, memory loss, suicidal ideation, impulse control, ritualistic behavior, etc. Your responses to these questions are used to get a picture of your current level of disability. GAF scores are no longer in use in the field of psychology or at the VA. Raters decide your percentage based on severity and frequency of symptoms.

Everyhting you've said is perfect in theory, however it simply doesn't happen that way. 99 out of a hundred times, when you file a claim, you are going to be scheduled for a C&P exam.

Submitting a DBQ from a private doctor won't really speed up anything. What it will do is increase your odds of getting your claim decided in your favor, by a huge margin. The Va will almost always schedule a C&P ( to include a dbq). As it stands, the odds of a VA contracted C&P examiner providing a favorable exam or medical opinion is not very good. There are a great number of C&P examiners who; have no idea what the Va is even asking of them; do not understand what constitutes service connection; are totally hostile toward veterans; or are just plain incompetent. If you get a well written IME or IMO (depending on your needs) from a private practitioner, and submit it with your claim, you are very very likely to have your claim decided in your favor on the first round. The reason for this is simple. If the C&P exam fails to support your claim, but the IME/IMO you submitted does, the benefit of the doubt goes to the veteran. There are many who will tell you that the VA will apply more weight to the C&P examiner. This is simply not true. Unless the VA has a valid reason to question the credentials or opinions of your private doctor, the VA will almost always give your private Doctor's evidence equal weight or better. What really gives one doctor's opinion more weight than another's is how well reasoned and backed up by the records the opinions are. This is why you should seek IMEs/IMOs from doctors who have experience in providing evaluations and opinions for VA disability claims. Although you may run into a jackass of a rater who wants to give less weight to a doctor simply because you hired and paid him, this policy is not endorsed by the BVA and claims denied this way will almost always be overturned.

Triman, When you file an FDC, you are simply certifying that you have submitted all available evidence with your claim. This allows the VA to avoid certain time requirements in processing your claim. For example, the VA's duty to assist requires them to seek any medical records that you identify for them and after they request them from a doctor or hospital, they must wait a specific amount of time before moving forward. By telling the VA that you have collected all of your evidence yourself and that you have no further evidence to submit, you are waiving these required waiting periods. This allows them to process your claim much faster, but an FDC is not always your best course of action. When the VA receives your FDC claim, they will still schedule a C&P exam for you, just like any other claim. This exam will result in a DBQ, so you don't need to send in one from a private doctor, but it's a good idea to have your own if you can. One real problem with FDC claims is that they put the VA rater under a lot of pressure to get your claim "completed" within 125 days. If they wait a month or two before scheduling your exam, and then the C&P provider is a little slow in returning the results, the VA will get your exam results at the same time that this target deadline is looming. Given the high number of C&P exams that are seriously flawed and need to be redone, this sets up a situation where the rater is often holding an exam that they know is "inadequate" to use in making a decision, but ordering a new one would negatively affect their own statistics on the completion time of FDC claims. This happens all the time! What do you suppose the rater does in scenario? They protect their own stats, by denying your claim and leaving it to you to jump into the 2+ year long DRO review or appeals line. I always recommend that veterans should not file FDC claims unless they have supporting evidence from a private source, such as an IME or IMO from a private doctor.

Right. What you really need to do is to prove a nexus between your in service hospitalization and you current bipolar diagnosis. This really is not difficult to do at all. I was in the exact same boat as you. I was discharged from the Army 20 years ago after a 30 day psychiatric hospitalization. They also misdiagnosed me with the dreaded "personality disorder". This was no mistake. For decades, the Army dished this diagnosis out to veterans with mental health issues, preventing them from gaining access to the benefits that they are entitled to. I filed my claim for service connected bipolar disorder 2 1/2, which was denied. I got an IMO from a psychologist who is an expert in VA disability examinations. This was not cheap, but it was worth every penny! This was the single piece of favorable nexus evidence in my file. I just won my DRO appeal last week. 100% rating. If I were you, I would get my IMO before I even bother filing the claim. Submitting your nexus evidence with your "Fully Developed Claim", could very well get you benefits within a matter of months. If you want the name of the doctor who did my IMO, send me a private message.

DIC benefits are handled through the VA pension center. There are 3 pension centers in the U.S. and the one in Milwaukee serves Indiana.

Thanks Berta! Is there some way that I can send you a private message? Last time I tried to send you a PM, it wasn't allowed, but I have some info that I want you to have.

No rating prior to this, but I have had Va healthcare for years.

Great News Gaijin! Congrats!!

Received a call from the R.O. today. I've been awarded 100% P&T + Housebound benefits! It's been 2 1/2 years since I filed my claim for a single contention of bipolar disorder. Thanks to everyone here who contributed to my education on the inner workings of the VA disability claims process! I don't think that I would have ever understood how to overcome the "personality disorder" misdiagnosis and discharge had it not been for the veterans on this site. On the call, I was told to expect a retro payment of $92,000 to post to my account in 4 to 5 days. She also mentioned that there is an educational benefit for me as well. Honestly, I was expecting 70% so this decision has truly blown my mind. Anyone have anything that I should know about being 100% P&T?

Your MH history is a bit unique in that you were retained in service for a year following a diagnosis of personality disorder/adjustment disorder. You are correct in that personality disorders are not typically compensable, however you also have a diagnosis of adjustment disorder. In some cases, chronic adjustment disorder is compensable but would require a continuity of symptoms following your hospitalization and a current diagnosis that is relatable to that event. Did you receive any outpatient treatment during that year following your hospitalization? You mentioned that you have a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. When did you receive this diagnosis and are you currently being treated for bipolar disorder? I ask because bipolar disorder is compensable. Depression, mood swings, anxiety, drug and alcohol abuse are all symptoms and behaviors which can be attributed to bipolar disorder. A current diagnosis and ongoing treatment for bipolar disorder, along with a medical opinion that what you experienced in service was a bipolar event, mischaracterized as a personality disorder, is a very winnable claim.

I agree with andyman. Something doesn't seem right. Particularly, that the newly scheduled exams are with the same doctors. I can not think of a scenario where this would be appropriate. If one of your C&P exams was lacking something, I could see a new one being ordered, however If the Va just wanted additional information from an examiner, it wouldn't normally require you to be re-examined. If these exams are being conducted by one of the contractors (QTC for example) I would call them and inquire. If these exams are through the VA, I would call Peggy.

ReelnRod, Since your discharge in 1990, have you received a diagnosis for any MH disorder? Have you had any contact with any MH providers?

Berta, can a veteran file a request for reconsideration if he/she has already submitted a NOD and is pending DRO review? Would doing so have a chance of getting a faster result?

KC, that is exactly the correct position to take when it comes to IMOs. When developing any claim, a veteran should be developing the claim for the BVA, not for the raters or even the DROs. It is not necessary for a doctor to personally see a veteran, when that doctor is opining on service connection, which should be the primary purpose of any IMO. As long as the opining doctor has access to all available medical records, and there is no reason for the BVA to call the doctor's credentials or opinings into question on the basis of credibility, the BVA will assign the IMO it's due weight. Was your original claim filed as a FDC? If it was, and you only have mere months invested so far, it may be worth considering filing a new claim. You will lose those few months, but if you feel strongly enough about your new evidence, you can file a new FDC claim and submit the new evidence, which should result in a new decision within 125 days. You can also include a statement of the case pointing out that your previously denied claim did not afford you C&P exams for some of your claimed conditions; outlining any reasons why the C&P exam you did receive was not adequate, and requesting a new exam on that condition. I don't have a lot of faith in first line raters to get it right, even with a strong claim that is properly worked. But again, if you are in a hurry to have your new evidence reviewed and a new decision issued, and you don't have too much back-pay at risk, this would be your fastest route to a new decision. I'm not sure, but you may even be able to go this route and then, once you get a new decision, file a CUE claim on the original decision if you have the grounds for it. Unfortunately, as far as I know, the VA's breach in the duty to assist, by not affording you C&P exams, cannot form the basis of a CUE claim (See Cook v. Principi, 318 F.3d 1334 (Fed. Cir. 2002). That being said, when it comes to what does and does not constitute a CUE, I would direct you back to Berta.

Papawolfie, abusing alcohol or drugs (cough syrup) is something that often occurs in cases of undiagnosed mental illness. It's not a fact that should hurt your claim in any way. Typically, it's a behavior that is viewed to be a manifestation of a mental disorder, once a diagnosis has been made. Be careful about receiving diagnostic opinions from friends or family members who are not licensed, practicing mental health professionals. There are many possible diagnosis that can often share the same range of symptoms. For example, bipolar mania can often mirror the symptoms schizophrenia. Whatever MH diagnosis you end up with, they are all compensated the same way, using the same criteria. I'm glad to see you on this forum while you are still AD. Many veterans, like myself, go years without understanding the benefits that are available to them. Good Luck!

If I were you I would file a complaint through the OIG. You have a large amount of money due you that is unaccounted for. Here's the OIG website: http://www.va.gov/oig/ Click on the hotline button. Explain that the money is missing and that the VA has told you that they do not know who to contact. Also state that you have no other avenue of redress, since nobody at the VA is responding to you.

When disturbances of an adjustment disorder have lasted more than 6 consecutive months, it is specified as "Chronic", according to the DSM-V

The sections of the DBQ that are used for rating purposes are not in your original post. Can you post the part titled "Occupational and Social Impairment" and the part tited "Symptoms"? What you've posted are symptoms from the "diagnosis" section of the DBQ. What we need to see are the symptoms listed in the "clinical findings" section.

Thanks Berta, reading it in it's full context, it does indeed appear that the VSO was working against the veteran. It's a sickening thought.

Honestly, I think the judge read this note wrong. I think the VSO was trying to tell the BVA that he had discussions with RO-317 rating specialists and DROs in which they indicated that they were not assigning the appropriate probative value to the doctors opinion, based on inappropriate pretenses. I just think the VSO did a poor job of communicating his objection to the practices of the ratings specialists and DROs at that RO.

Yes, you will get retroactive pay dating back to the effective date of your claim, which is normally the date that you initially filed the claim.

They probably just misspoke. The VA will need to calculate your retro. You would think that once you win at the BVA, you would get your money fast, but that's not the VA's way of doing business. You could still have a bit of a wait on your hands. I've read of similar situations taking just a week or two, but I've also read posts where people where waiting months. Try not to drive yourself nuts watching the clock, just know it's coming. Please let us know how long it took from BVA decision to receipt of your retro, once it's completed.

CyberKnobby, Berta is on the right track, in that you do not need to necessarily have your discharge changed to win a claim for BD (Bipolar Disorder). With an OTH, the VA will make a determination on the character of your OTH discharge. T-Bird posted some great references. Pay close attention to this one: http://www.benefits.va.gov/BENEFITS/docs/COD_Factsheet.pdf To answer your questions: 1. Yes, you absolutely have a winnable claim, provided the evidence is available and the claim is handled properly. Keep in mind that all claims these days are tedious and require a commitment by the veteran to see things through to the end. The VA is administratively incompetent these days and even the simplest claims with straightforward evidence often result in years of unjustified denials and appeals. I'm not telling you this to discourage you from applying, I just want you to understand that if the VA initially denies your claim, it's more likely to be denied because someone didn't do there job correctly, rather than because your claim is not valid. Be prepared for a long battle and if you get approved on the first or second round, you'll be golden, but if you don't, DON'T GIVE UP! Just remember the longer the wait, the greater the payoff in retroactive pay. 2. As you will note in the fact sheet above, a 60 day AWOL will not disqualify you. This would require 180 days or more. Although, the VA could find 'willful misconduct", this could be easily overcome by a Psychiatrist/Psychologist finding that your AWOL event and behavioral issues were attributable to your psychiatric condition at the time. 3. Buddy letters shouldn't be needed for your claim. Buddy letters are typically used to; substantiate veterans claims of medical issues, where records have been lost; or to substantiate stressors for PTSD claims where the veterans personnel records or SMR's (Service Medical Records) do not indicate combat or other traumas. Your SMR's should be sufficient to allow your doctor to find that your psychiatric event in service was related to your current bipolar diagnosis. 4. Stressors, such as those issues involving your chain of command can be helpful in giving your doctors additional ammunition in their rationales. I have a very similar story. I did explain those circumstances to the specialist who did my IMO (Independant Medical Opinon) without actually naming anyone by name. He used these issues in his rationale and they were supported in my SMR's in the form of me complaining of these stressors while I was psychiatrically hospitalized. I only used terms like "my section chief." Nobody is going to open any investigation against any personnel. The very first thing that you need to do, is to request your SMR's and your .201 personnel file (if you don't already have them) and collect any medical records you can find for treatment you've received since your discharge. While you're waiting, see if you can locate a good Vet Rep with a good reputation, preferably in your area. Also, be prepared to spend some money on a Psychiatric Professional who understands how to write an effective IMO for the VA.