GeekySquid

@paulstrgn since no one has answered you yet I will throw in some info here. If the C&P was done at the VA by a VA doctor you will see it in your My Healthy Vet info. if it was done by an outside contractor it will not show there. You can request it be mailed to you or if you VARO or VAMC is nearby go there and request access and a printed copy. I think the VAMC office is typically called something like Records Management. According to my VARO, Seattle, they don't have anyone or any workstation for veterans to use to look at their VBMS file where the results of the C&P would be located. The DBQ results are also in your C-file but obviously would take time to get to there and more time for you to get it mailed to you, even just the few pages of that particular document. If any of the elders have better information I hope they share it.

Maybe this will help you https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=d2f003512d5aedce7915d4aea9a977f0&mc=true&node=se38.1.4_114&rgn=div8 §4.14 Avoidance of pyramiding. The evaluation of the same disability under various diagnoses is to be avoided. Disability from injuries to the muscles, nerves, and joints of an extremity may overlap to a great extent, so that special rules are included in the appropriate bodily system for their evaluation. Dyspnea, tachycardia, nervousness, fatigability, etc., may result from many causes; some may be service connected, others, not. Both the use of manifestations not resulting from service-connected disease or injury in establishing the service-connected evaluation, and the evaluation of the same manifestation under different diagnoses are to be avoided. As I read it, and based on your post, if the vertigo is connected as a secondary to your TBI, then no it is not pyramiding. If you have other rated or documented conditions that your are trying to get vertigo connected to and or rated for then you enter the pyramid zone. Maybe Berta or one of the other wise elders here will chime in.

@ArmySgt2014 Did you get an update on this? a rating? the job with congress? The VA system is really hosed up in many ways and their "notification" or "status" indicators are a crock of %$!&. I just received a bump from 70% PTSD to 100% P&T, which sounds great. I did get paid the new rate as of 1 Oct check, great, but the retro pay is tied up in a revolving hell because they attached it to a supplemental claim I had initiated to re-open a Bilateral Hearing loss claim and a claim for SMC-K for ED. I had the C&P for the ED and the results are that the examiner wrote ---------------------------snip from Medical Opinion (completed) DBQ-------- 5. Medical opinion for secondary service connection a. [X] The claimed condition is at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) proximately due to or the result of the Veteran's service connected condition c. Rationale: 1. Veterans with PTSD are more likely to have sexual dysfunctions, including erectile dysfunction than the control population (1). The chronic stress of PTSD, compounded by Depression and anxiety interferes with sexual arousal, libido and erection. 1. Sexual dysfunction in veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. Tran JK1, Dunckel G, Teng EJ.J Sex Med. 2015 Apr;12(4):847-55. ----------------------------------------------snip----------------- So right now, because of the timing of the re-opened claim, this C&P result and the recent bump on PTSD, all the retro-pay and any new SMC-K compensation are tied up in the bouncing ball of VA status indicators. There are several interesting statements in the full C&P results but I have to maintain patience to respond to them until I get a decision. I also have no choice but to wait to do more than file "intent to file" statements for a couple other issues. I was able to get my Amer Legion rep, located in the VARO office not at a post, to dig into my VBMS file (and the other database the VA uses) to find out that my claim in actually NOT at my VARO in Seattle but in region 320 which I don't know where that is. Region 321 is the New Orleans VARO where my claims were originally rated. The rep said that the VARO's farm out "excess" work to other regions with a lower work load and apparently once they are assigned the veteran is SOL on finding out anything until they get done with the file. I also found in relation to the ED DBQ that the VA was for some reason spending time trying to get records from VAMC Tampa but I was never treated at Tampa. I did apply for help at Jax, Orlando and Miami, but never Tampa. None of those other VAMC's are showing as having information requested from them. I don't understand where Tampa shows up in this equation. My SMR's from Sigonella are in the C-file and show problems even back then while in service. My whole point in sharing this is to point out that trying to make sense out of VA status codes and times could drive you crazy. I know, because every new question or oddity adds to my neurotic need to find out what it means. Good luck and let us know the rating results

sorry if you updated this elsewhere, but did you get a decision?

Buck, Have you looked into, seriously looked into, what CPT does or is expected to do, and how? The reason I ask is two fold, one of which is that much of CPT depends on the idea that you have a sense of responsibility for the event, which can include survivors guilt and other things. With my experience with VA MSW's I asked about CPT and the three MSW's I spoke to provided indications that the path they put you on may depend on their own view of your events, not yours. What that means to me is that if the MSW or Doc "thinks" you feel guilty that is the tact they are going to push and will expect you to come to a conclusion you are not guilty of anything to demonstrate "success". Not everyone who has PTSD feels guilt about the events. We know and feel that the events happened are/were outside our own influence. The other reason is that CPT requires you essentially "relive" the trauma over and over again to desensitize you to it and alter your views and outcome-related behaviors. They start in an oblique manner but the process builds to you "facing" (my word not theirs) your trauma in a detailed way for the CPT to be considered successful. For me I relive things every night and have manifestations of it every day during waking hours. I know and feel that the events were not of my doing, that I had no influence over the outcomes for myself and the others involved. Having some jackhole try to 'guide' me through a conversation just pisses me off and makes matters worse. The short version is that for me CPT is not the right therapy. This could be, in part, because for decades the VA refused to even acknowledge my claim and I had to figure out how to deal with things on my own. I admit to being stubborn and pig headed about somethings, but having found a "way" that I can generally function and knowing that reliving the experiences and talking about them leads me to not functioning, I will continue to be pig headed on the subject. If you are considering CPT, look into it deeply before you commit or attempt it. I don't know your personality or your situations but I do know that the last thing you want is to make your life "worse" or undo whatever levels of control you have established. On a more personal note, and this may be paranoia or may just be a result of my experiences with the VA, I SUSPECT veterans with PTSD who have a non-permanent rating may get reevaluated for a lower rating if their VA CPT records show some level of success. I am now 100% P&T for PTSD, but that jump just happened and I know that even for P&T designations there are time frames that effect exactly how "Permanent" the P&T designation may actually be. With that in mind, if you can afford it, maybe try the CPT with a civilian doctor at your own expense instead of letting the VA build a record to justify reducing your rating. I don't know this or that it applies to you, it's just my two-cents. Hopefully if you try CPT it helps you. The research says it does help "some" people with PTSD.

Buck, Thanks for the reply. The blood and BP tests done by the VA I have, I need those from back in my service days. The Apnea Test was done at the request of the VA at Tulane and Tulane has more barriers for vets getting direct test results than the VA has in letting us call any number but Peggy. I called the VBA and they are the ones who said there was no computer at Seattle for me to access the VBMS and no personnel to help. They would not produce the records I wanted. Right now I have a major argument brewing with the local head of VR&E over a different subject ( i really hate it when an employee flat out lies to me and then and tells a VA employee a different lie about me, and I can prove both) so I don't have the energy to fight on them on this issue when a little patience (not that I do patience well) will see the c-file showing up. Thanks for the input, right now I will settle for the Intent to File setting the date. IF the c-file is not here by Jan I will go stand on a desk at VBA.

that's a tasteless meal. sorry about your boys, but it happens.

funny. I actually like the Cowboys, but as a new resident I will probably have to go with the Seahawks. The Seattle RO told me they don't have a computer or person available where I can go into the VBMS and get the files I need and the one person in the American Legion up here that I have found who can see into the VBMS does not have printing rights. She works in the same building as the RO and is willing to try and get them to print stuff, but that is a lot of extra work for her considering the number of vets and hearings she is involved with. Right this minute I have placed an Intent to File for Sleep Apnea which needs documents from my Military records. I have had a VA sleep study and they issued a CPAP, but I cannot see the actual test results from that to take to an IMO to provide additional support. I did find out that a change to the law and regs has occurred for SA, in that yes the VA MUST do a sleep study but they now acknowledge that in-service documentation of testing is not the required evidence of a nexus, but it is helpful if it exists. This link is what triggered me to look into the change in law https://avvamartinsburg.org/2017/02/08/sleep-apnea-sample-letter/ I also need Military med records for the issues with my feet and my blood glucose problems, weight and my pre-diabetic readings. When I was getting out being checked for Cholesterol was a brand new thing and even the base docs at Jax didn't know what to do with the information. So with the ITF's in place I have some breathing room for that C-File CDROM to show up. Until that CD arrives I will probably continue to obsess and ask lots of questions about stuff others just know or accept. LOL

That is my intention. I plan on making multiple copies of the CD and have them securely stored. I am also going to write a script to first index all of them, pull out every doc by form number and date and content and organize those into folders. I should then be able to automate a naming/numbering convention to be able to print copies and sort by the cross-tabs. This will beat manually going through the two plus reams of paper that came with my printed copy and doing that same thing that way. Scripts can make our life so much easier when dealing with data. Once the sorting is done, I can do things like looking in the Med folder for instance, pulling out all the hearing exam results or blood pressure results and chart them showing patterns over time. Just looking at the Ebenefits data I see a few dozen blood pressure tests (all in the stage 1 hypertension range and have yet to have a VA doc say anything about that). I expect to find around a 100 BP readings in my full c-file. Digging through all those pages one at a time, transferring data into excel, noting the dates etc, and then creating a graph would take hours if not days. A script will do it in minutes. the same goes for weight, eye exams, hearing exams, blood tests etc. IF it works out well, I may even ask veterans here to try it on their own docs to see if it might be a good tool to help us understand our files and patterns in our tests.

Buck, Thanks for the reply. your reasoning about your own awards does make a kind of sense. It might be that since this was a Review of the existing award with a bump in rating, that VA has decided to save paper. Gee the VA going Green, whodathunkit. I do agree with "saving" everything, but in this particular moment I have moved from one state to another and I have my paperwork in storage back in New Orleans until I settle in here. It is the same reason I don't have the paper copy of my C-file that took me 8 tries to get and finally showed up 3 years after my last request for it. DERP! I felt it safest to put all that paper in storage until life was settled here as I was not expecting to be hit with the Review C&P that showed up when I changed RO's to Seattle from New Orleans. I am still not sure I will permanently stay here in Seattle so the 3K shipping cost to move my stuff here doesn't make financial sense. Storage units in New Orleans are way cheaper than in Seattle, go figure. Don't get me wrong, I am glad for the Review and the bump, but it has added to my anxiety about different things and since I have not yet been paid for the bump, my mind keeps digging up questions that add to the anxiety. thanks again for your response, now back to my obsessing over things I cannot change...DUH!

Thanks for the reply. The only significance is if one contains information that is different than the other, hence the question. Since my last decision came in an 9.5 x 11 manila envelope and contained a whole lot more pages, and this one came in a 7 x 5ish white envelope with just 11 pages (mostly junk), there is an observable reason to ask the question. A difference and reason made more questionable since getting our c-files, the C&P exams, etc has such large time barriers. Not everyone lives down the block from their RO like @jfrei does We all know what "assume" means so I chose to ask instead.

Jfrei, thanks for responding. I guess I could be more clear on the size of the white envelope. Think of a Big Christmas Card that you can open with one hand. about 7 x 5. papers folded in half. I unfortunately would have to drive in horrible traffic 52 miles and then pay to park to get to my RO, so I will avoid that if I can. Besides last time I tried to get something from the VBMS I was told they don't have a computer I could use to view my file or a person who could sit with me while I did it if they had a machine. I will call Peggy again on Monday and see what s/he says. As a last resort the American Legion has an office in the same building as the RO and the woman who works there, apparently the only one, is a former marine and tries to be helpful, unlike the AL folks at my nearest post who seem to only be interested in working when the in-house bar is open at their Legion office. Go figure. The one guy I spoke to there claimed none of them could see into the VBMS and said he did not know of any VSO who could...DERP. As we all know Ebenefits is basically useless, not totally but mostly, and c-files take forever to get. Leaving the BBE as our only avenue to see what the Rating codes are for our claim decisions and other pertinent information. It is interesting because the letter with the conditions repeats 4 of the items at least twice so I am curious what the actual file says. My last BBE had maybe 50 pages in it, this white envelope has like 11, 2 of which have the C&P conditions found but no rating codes. The other two are forms and general noise like you can apply for CHAMPVA or DEA etc. I freely admit that waiting is not my strong suit, particularly since VA has a secured email system that could, but isn't, used to at least provide a copy of information and save a tree. I love the c-file on CDROM idea, I just hate waiting for 6 months or more to get it. Thanks again for the reply.

Ms. Berta, Have you considered writing an E-Book on CUEs, appeals and Fast Letters? Amazon will let you self publish and sell and frankly your experience and timeline/template setup with examples of cases of Real CUE's that were successful and even those that failed might help more vets than you can directly reach on here. Just a thought :)

Silver, I have a life long habit of wanting to learn all I can before I go to an attorney. I have found that often I can DIY things but if I have to go to an Attorney I don't want to be buffaloed by them, and that has happened to me on other legal matters. For example, my mind being what it is, in my reading here I keep seeing Bradley v Peake in relationt to TDIU and lower ratings. In effect what I am reading seems to indicate the when the VA rated me as 70% SC for PTSD they should have evaluated me for TDIU but as far as I can tell never did. Prior to and after my rating I had no taxable income and now I have been bumped to 100% P&T. That seems to indicate I might have been underpaid and that I might have a claim to fix that. But I don't know enough yet to see if that is possible and I certainly don't want to endanger my new rating. Just stuff I am looking into. Congrats again and I responded to your message.

Thank you I will.

Thanks for this, right now I am in limbo for my c-file to see what it exactly says from way back in the day, I know there is something. The sleep study was commissioned by the VA and done at Tulane hospital. As just more information, the study was supposed to be done in two parts, first 4 hours, being awoken, then the next 4 hours. The duty person woke me at 45 minutes (and had to dodge being hit because she failed to heed my warning about not touching me suddenly) and said "yep, you've got SA and at the worst levels." and then had me do the second half of the test which I awoke from midway through and that sort of freaked her out. I am positive that Tulane never offered an opinion on service connection, they were not asked to. I have never claimed SC as I did not know I could. The VA certainly did not inform me, even the C&P doctor who did my PTSD C&P never said squat about secondary conditions. I know the SA diagnosis was in VA my medical file when the C&P was done as was my ED information and the information about my Achilles tendons and plantar faciaitis. The same with my high blood pressure, elevated glucose and cholesterol, anxiety and triglycerides all being out of whack. Thanks for your help and input

thank you, I don't trust the Amer Legion post reps closest to me to file their nails much less my claims. The man who helped me get rated back in New Orleans has died of pancreatic cancer and his illness is one of the many reasons I didn't know of the possible secondary claims back then or that I could have gotten TDIU and still been eligible for VocRehab training. As it is that money is lost to me. I think I might have a claim for an EED but am not holding my breathe on that yet.

Silver, Thanks for the response here and congrats again on your awards. I know I tend to get impatient when left in limbo and ebenefits statuses are the definition of limbo in my mind. I worry about crossing up claims and unintentionally delaying my own claims. Until just a few days ago I did not realize the filing an intent hard sets the Effective Date and I don't have to actually complete the filing for year. This is of concern since I don't currently have my c-file which has the proofs I need for some claims Also before I got my C&P bump to 100% I was advised to file a TDIU claim, because "how much money can you afford to lose by waiting" logic. Had I known the effective date was set by Intent to File I would not have submitted the TDIU claim and several associated secondary claims. Now that I am at `100% P&T the TDIU claim should be moot and the bent brain secondaries will not likely go anywhere as I understand them. That leaves reopening my bilateral hearing loss which has no rating but is listed as not service connected. The C&P said I have bilateral hearing loss, but only looked at one of my enlistments to decide if it was service connected. I have not had jobs in high volume noise areas since leaving the service and my entrance hearing exam was normal, so that leaves SC. I need the c-file to prove the c&p error. I have a claim for ED and have had a C&P on that since the PTSD Review that bumpted me to 100% but it is currently listed as part of the same claim mentioned above. I have never claimed Sleep Apnea as SC primary or secondary so that claim will have to be on its own, and as I understand things with a 100% P&T on a single item, the secondary will not help me in terms of compensation. I have to get my c-file as I am now officially pre-diabetic, stage 1 hypertensive and have long standing foot and ankle issues that have not been claimed. I am overweight too. My records will show the weight increase, incidents of high blood pressure near current levels and high glucose readings independent of my PTSD nexus. If I had an extra 360 bucks I would buy Chris Attig's entire library of books and training but I just cannot afford it. Congrats again, check your messages I sent you one.

Silver, I do have an diagnosis of sleep apnea and there is some in-service documentation I will have when my c-file gets here. can you send me that information also? Thanks,

Bronco, I noticed this with another link you posted in another thread. The URL does not contain the search parameters so when it hits the search box, the box does not know what to look for. maybe a direct link to the actual PDF would work out better? or listing the case name and number? either way I found Frost was by reading the section you posted which includes that phrase " Secondary Service Connection on a Causation Basis Has a Single Temporal Requirement " and searching for that in the decisions. It can be tedious to find if you don't have explicit unique phrases to search for.

Bronco, Thanks for the response. I will file an intent today. I am curious though about the quoted line. How does one do "both"? I cannot visualize that process. any guidance is appreciated.

This may seem like an odd question, but for those who recently (meaning last 3-6 months) got a positive decision on their claim and got their BBE. Did they literally get a Big Brown Envelope, or has it changed to a White one? and how long before you got the envelope. Here is why I ask. With my original rating I got the literal BBE. it had lots and lots of paperwork in it. I wish I had it at my fingertips, but it is storage on the other side of the country. Jump forward to 2018 and on 8/24 the VA rated me at 100% PTSD P&T after a C&P review, which is a jump. Around 8/31 I called Peggy and they said my decision had been mailed. On 9/6 I got a white envelope with 3 packets of papers. 6 pages of benefits, 3 pages of how to appeal, all white pages and forms, and a two page letter listing the conditions noted in the review C&P. nothing else. The packet says that in 7-10 days I should get paid, which would be back pay to the Sept 1 Effective Date. Today is 9/22 and I still have not been paid the back pay and I still have not received a literal BBE. I suspect/hope to receive the new pay level on the Oct check and I hope to get that months back pay then too, what I don't know is if I should still be looking for that literal Big Brown Envelope or if it has changed format. Could my region, now seattle, use a different format? any insight would be helpful. I have enough real problems to worry about so I would like to be able to get this issue out of my thoughts. Thanks

Bronco, have a question for you on "new evidence" and procedure. I was diagnosed for Sleep Apnea in 2013 after the VA sent me to a sleep study. They did not rate for SC nor did I ask at that time as I did not know SA was a rated condition or could be a secondary condition to my rating for PTSD. I know in my SMR's there are documented sleep issues including snoring etc. that occurred after my nexus PTSD events. I am waiting on my C-file to find out the exact wording and dates. My question is this. If, as I believe, my SMR shows the sleep problems and as I am already rated 100% for PTSD, could/would I claim the SA as an independent condition or would I have to claim it as secondary to PTSD? I am positive it is service connected and that my records will prove that, but in context to compensation as I am at 100% P&T on PTSD, the SA as secondary would have no compensatory value to me, at least as I understand the rating rationale. any input would be helpful Thanks

Bronco, as a heads up the link to the case is not working. I have attached the actually pdf to his post For me the most interesting sentence in the file is "The Court holds that there is no such temporal requirement inherent in § 3.310(a), even when the veteran claims that the primary condition caused the secondary condition. Therefore, for a veteran to be service connected on a secondary basis under a causation theory, the primary disability need not be service connected, or even diagnosed, at the time the secondary condition is incurred. " the practical application of this ruling could be game changing for many veterans and might change the complexion of many initial claims if the Veterans and VSO's learn about the ruling. great find. cava case about secondary conditions FrostJL_15-3102.pdf

Hello BlazeP and welcome I too am new to this forum, but not new to the VA cluster-ducking hamster wheel. I want to say first and foremost, on this site with all these Vets you are as anonymous as you want to be and everyone here knows to the marrow of their bones the feeling that asking for help makes you weak. It doesn't (make you weak) but it takes many of us a long while to come to that realization. Often making our own situation worse by trying to "manly" or "strong" looking in our own eyes. Blaze, post your story, or as much as you are comfortable sharing with strangers. Ask your questions. Ask for help. Learn the screen names of the wise elders on here and seek their opinions on any issue you have va related. Some of the elders are crabby, crass, and down right abrupt, others are confident and don't always include details a newbie might not know, such as terms and acronyms. What they all have in common is a real desire to help others, share their knowledge, and support other veterans on the path and just entering the path of VA disability claims and processes. First things first, since this is your first claim I highly recommend that before you have a Compensation and Pension (C&P) exam, you learn what the Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ) says constitutes being rated for that claim. What you say to your C&P doctor and what you say to anyone in the VA who is providing care is evidence, for or against your claim. If you try and put a fresh bright face on things when you talk to these people you are saying to the raters that you are handling things and don't need VA help. When asked by them or the C&P doc to describe an incident or condition, always describe the worst, most painful, most frequent, etc situation/problem or you give them the impression you don't need that much help. The DBQ's are on the VA website https://www.benefits.va.gov/compensation/dbq_disabilityexams.asp third paragraph gives you the options of how to look for the right DBQ I also recommend you look at Veterans Law Blog by Chris Attig and in particular several books/training he has for sale, https://www.veteranslawblog.org/shop/ Attig is well known on this site and frequently you will see posts and essays from his site on here. It is important to know the lingo of the VA, and how to properly fill out the forms, include lay evidence (stuff not from doctors), and what laws affect what in the VA system. There is a lot of information but the more you know the better prepared you become to be your own best advocate. Veterans often make mistakes in their claims that can harm and or delay the claim. we often accept the wrong answers from the VARO as being the final decision, which they frequently are not. Sometimes we get so freaking done with the barriers we just give up. This only harms us, not the VA, they often could care less what happens to us and only care if the paperwork meets their personal interpretation of what it needs to be. Just so you won't feel unique below is some of my story.. Please note this stuff is not posted for others to write books or articles about, it is about our own lives and no one should think they have the right to re-post or publish our information or stories without explicit written permission from the veteran or veterans spouse who posts it. My own story starts with the Military, the base doctors and my entire command telling me to "man up" and that if they document my complaints/treat me, they will be forced to kick me out and I would not be eligible for VA benefits despite my ribbons, medals, and evals including my multiple 'i didn't get caught' medals A.K.A Good Conduct Medals. In short I got out because I knew beyond a doubt I was becoming a danger to others and myself. Not by design, intention, or some sense of retribution/revenge, and not because Jodie the Pig was telling me to, but because I was becoming erratic in thought and behavior in every day things. My job was dangerous to begin with and a simple mistake could kill someone else. This was decades ago, long before the VA got smacked by their negligent and intentional actions that killed veterans, and long before the multiple times VA was smacked for shredding Veterans claims, files and documents. PTSD was a Johnny Carson joke not a documented medical condition during these years. From my discharge date until I finally got rated I had tried to get help at 12 different VAMC's and or RO's (regional offices) and was denied at all of them for almost thirty years. I had VA's tell me, with my DD214 in hand, that I was never in the service, that I had never visited them, had never applied for help, etc etc etc Pick an excuse, craft a lie and the VA told me something similar. Not to blow my own horn, but I am one of those smart guys, a geeks geek, and I figured out a way to structure my work life so that I could earn money and stash it for when things went south on me. It was not easy by any means and I had no personal life to speak of. Right out of the military (after VA Jax rejected me), in my first deep dive into crazy, I walked away from a house that I owed less than 5 grand on, a year old truck that i owned outright, a small business I ran on the side to keep myself busy when off duty, and 50K in unsecured credit with a 760 credit score, and went to live in a Mexican Desert cave for 18 months. Rats are not tasty, but lizards and snakes are. I did not aim for Mexico or a cave, but that is where I ended up feeling safe and was able to control my environment long enough for my demons to calm down. When I left the desert to return to the real world I figured out, with the help of friends who knew the situation, that I could operate my own company and work as a contractor for geek stuff on time limited contracts. With help from friends, but not the VA, I arranged my life so I would work as hard as I could for a long as I could and then take what I called really long vacations. This way I did not get a bad work reputation and had resources when I came back from those "vacations", which were mainly in swamps, deserts and or cold water shacks in the High Desert. This went on for years and worked for the most part, but my social world shrank to nothing as friends moved away or moved on from me. Forget relationships, they were not possible. Anyone I loved became part of my night terrors and I watching the flesh melt from their bodies on a nightly basis was too much for me so I finally stopped trying to have relationships. i lived through Hurricane Katrina and that messed me up more, and when I was finally getting over that Hurricane Issac smacked me again. Finally the VA, with the help of a VSO from American Legion who I met in a line waiting for FEMA help applications, took me in, rated me at 70% PTSD and began offering help. Their idea of help was Seroquel (sp?) Depakote, and lots more drugs. A range of "baby" MSW's (all half my age and right out of college before trying to get a PhD) all thought that telling me to put it in the past (meaning the VA's refusal to help me) but to "talk about it" was what I needed to do. They were wrong and were frankly shocked that when I talk about things I get angry, very very angry. Go Figure that they took it personal....it is personal to me but the baby msw's were only concerned with their own feelings. I am now rated 100% P&T PTSD plus a couple other things. Not enough to live on but at least it is an income stream when life gets squirrely on me. I am old, fat, am pre-diabetic, hypertension stage 1, have anxiety and am rated as bipolar as part of my PTSD... and those are the high points. The other things get depressing. I am also still trying and will until I die or get wrapped in an 'i love me jacket' and stuffed into a rubber room for the rest of my life. Keep posting, keep asking, Welcome.