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nomorewars

Seaman
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About nomorewars

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  • Service Connected Disability
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  1. Have you seen a doctor for these conditions regularly since your discharge? Establishing continuity and chronicity are two key factors in getting service connection. Is there a diagnosis for Hearing Loss and an Elbow Condition? Pain in itself is not sufficient enough to grant service connection. If you can show any of these, then you’ll have a good chance of getting service connected—especially with the Hearing Loss issue (the VA is very liberal when it comes to Hearing Loss and Tinnitus), considering your MOS and all (another important factor). Moreover, if you do have a diagnosis for Hearing Loss, ask your doctor if he/she thinks it’s related to your military service. If he/she responds favorably, have him/her annotated in your records, or prepare a statement, and submit to the VA. The VA will also look @ what you did for a living after the military, which could harm your case for Hearing Loss service connection. Hope this helps.
  2. Don't sweat it. Time gaps are common with PTSD claims. It took me roughly 5 years before I could even begin to just think about seeking help for my experiences in Kosovo; it was another 5 before I finally reached out for assistance. I was service connected for PTSD shortly thereafter. The most important thing is to prove your stressor! Based upon what you wrote, it appears as though there might be some documentation. Just point the VA in the right direction, and they will get it!
  3. I wouldn't worry too much about meeting the criteria. Here's why: special consideration is given to vets when they meet certain criteria. The VA will review your claim to see: (1) Is the veteran considered unemployable due to a service-connected disability(ies) but fails to meet the minimum percentage standards, and/or (2) Is there evidence of exceptional or unusual circumstances to impairment of earning capacity due to disabilities (for example, interference with employment or frequent periods of hospitalization). If you can prove either of these conditions, then the VA should grant you IU. I know they will in Houston. Did your request IU and an increase in your PTSD simultaneously? Did you infer IU at all?
  4. The rule that you speak of pertains to the VA’s recognition of certain illnesses/diseases that are diagnosed within one year of discharge from service. These are known as “presumptive disabilities.” The VA presumes or concedes that specific disabilities diagnosed in veterans within one year of their discharge were caused by their military service. VA does this because of the unique circumstances of military service. If the veteran is diagnosed with one of the presumptive conditions within one year of his/her discharge from service, the VA concedes that the circumstances of his/her service caused the condition, and disability compensation can be awarded. Additionally, you don't even need a diagnosis in your service treatment records to be granted service connection.
  5. Mental health physicians use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders multi-axial system to organize mental health conditions into five levels (axes) which relate to different aspects of disorder or disability. These levels are: Axis I: Clinical disorders, including major mental disorders, and learning disorders Axis II: Personality disorders and mental retardation (these disorders are now included on Axis I) Axis III: Acute medical conditions and physical disorders Axis IV: Psychosocial and environmental factors contributing to the disorder Axis V: Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), which is a numerical scale used to subjectively rate the social, occupational, and psychological functioning of adults. Your examiner diagnosed you with: PTSD and Major Depressive Disorder (with recurrent, severe, psychotic features. He/she stated that Hypertension, Migraines, Ankle Injury/Pain are your acute medical conditions and/or physical disorders. Your GAF score is indicative of serious symptoms. Based upon the information you have provided—and solely on this information—I think you will receive a favorable outcome.
  6. Grid, This sounds like the classic case of one medical opine versus the other. In my experiences as a VSR--and I stress "my experiences"--I can't tell you how many times I've seen a vet get his/her claim denied just because one medical opinion is believed to hold more "weight" against the other. I'm not sure what your psychiatrist is annotating in your records, but you should make sure he/she is properly documenting your condition. Get copies of your records from the hospital and check. If everything appears to be kosher, get a third medical opinion to support your claim and your psychiatrist's assessment. I instructed my father-in-law to do this, which he did, and he was finally approved for PTSD. Ask your psychiatrist if he/she can arrange this with one of his/her peers. Hope this helps, Mike
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