ptsd Has Anyone Filed A "aggravated In-service Claim" For Ptsd?

[fogcloud]

I was just diagnosed with PTDS since age 9. On my entrance physical, I checked depression, excessive worry, trouble sleeping and diarrhea. I was told that I was just someone who worried a lot and there were men losing their lives in Viet Nam so "suck-it-up". In my judgement and in the judgement of my Licenced Profession Counselor (CSW), my PTSD was aggravated in-service. The trauma was real, but I won't discuss it here. I also had major documented diarhea problems through out my enlistment as well as an operation to remove fissures from my colon. When I was discharged, I still checked trouble sleeping and diarrhea on my discharge physical but checked no on depression. All of this is documented in my military health records. I checked no for depression on my discharge physical because they kept saying I didn't have depression as well as the fact that I was told if I checked "yes" I would not be discharged without a complete psychiatric evaluation.

I would appreciate any views or instances from the great communtity of posters here.

Thanks.

Edited July 2, 2007 by fogcloud

[Berta]

Regardless of a pre-existing condition or any after the fact diagnosis-you will still need to prove a stressor, event, accident, in other words that some traumatic event occurred while you were in the military that either aggravated your PTSD (not due to service) or gave you PTSD, anxiety or depression.

Obviously PTSD diagnosed with an early age as etiology had nothing to do with your military service so you still need proof of traumatic event in service to prove there was something to aggravate-and -in my opinion-this new diagnosis does not help any SC claim-for PTSD and the VA may not even consider it unless the doctor gave a complete medical rationale.

only my opinion-

[Jay Johnson]

If you were healthy enough to pass basic plus the rigors of war, than one should assume that your preexisting PTSD was not at a level that was terribly disabling. If, after the fact (due to the war), your PTSD symptoms now rise to the level of being disabling then the military did indeed aggravate your preexisting condition.

So, you should certainly file a claim, but PTSD is a hard fight these days and I'm sure the RO will use your prior issues to deny your claim. But, in the long run, it sounds like you have a solid claim provided you have a verifiable stressor and you can prove that said stressor led to a worsening of your condition.

If I were you, I would downplay the early PTSD as mild depression (which you admitted to) and/or anxiety, which had a minimal impact on your life. The less you talk about the past, the better in my opinion.

Edited July 2, 2007 by Jay Johnson

[fogcloud]

Thank y'all for the quick response. Yes, I do have a verifyable stressor in my military medical records. I better get busy. Now comes the time-consuming hard part, but I believe I am up to it. Again, thanks a million.

[theotherguy]

Regardless of a pre-existing condition or any after the fact diagnosis-you will still need to prove a stressor, event, accident, in other words that some traumatic event occurred while you were in the military that either aggravated your PTSD (not due to service) or gave you PTSD, anxiety or depression.

Obviously PTSD diagnosed with an early age as etiology had nothing to do with your military service so you still need proof of traumatic event in service to prove there was something to aggravate-and -in my opinion-this new diagnosis does not help any SC claim-for PTSD and the VA may not even consider it unless the doctor gave a complete medical rationale.

only my opinion-

Actually that is not entirely true, if PTSD manifests in service due to stressor(s) which occurred prior to active duty it will still become service-connected. The key part is that the disability had to manifest in service. I know that it seems strange, but it's really not any different than other disabilities which certain people are predispositioned to develop at some point in time such as Wolff-Parkinson White syndrome. VARO's have been notified of this fact in recent training.

I realize that this does not apply to this specific question, but I just wanted to point out that others may not necessarily be excluded and more and more people are being diagnosed with PTSD prior to their discharge from service.

Edited July 2, 2007 by theotherguy

[Jay Johnson]

Actually that is not entirely true, if PTSD manifests in service due to stressor(s) which occurred prior to active duty it will still become service-connected. The key part is that the disability had to manifest in service. I know that it seems strange, but it's really not any different than other disabilities which certain people are predispositioned to develop at some point in time such as Wolff-Parkinson White syndrome. VARO's have been notified of this fact in recent training.

I realize that this does not apply to this specific question, but I just wanted to point out that others may not necessarily be excluded and more and more people are being diagnosed with PTSD prior to their discharge from service.

That's a VERY shady area though, especially in terms of PTSD. Also, isn't there a difference between a condition "manifesting" itself while in service and one that existed prior to service that gets worse for no apparent reason (IE - not the military's fault)? I'm not 100% sure, but I think there's a difference between getting cancer while in the military and having cancer once you get in that is discovered after the fact.

I'm not entirely sure though...seems like a grey area.....

[theotherguy]

That's a VERY shady area though, especially in terms of PTSD. Also, isn't there a difference between a condition "manifesting" itself while in service and one that existed prior to service that gets worse for no apparent reason (IE - not the military's fault)? I'm not 100% sure, but I think there's a difference between getting cancer while in the military and having cancer once you get in that is discovered after the fact.

I'm not entirely sure though...seems like a grey area.....

I tried to point out that it didn't apply to the question in this thread, I just wanted to make sure that people were aware that it could be done. I don't see how it is a shady area if the regulations permit it to be granted and the VA is reinforcing training on this subject. It was listed directly as a FAQ on a PTSD information letter released to the RO's in an effort to help expedite the processing of claims in which they are unnecessarily developing to the service department for verification of stressors when the disability was diagnosed in service.

To help put it into context, two of the more commonly claimed disabilities are hemorrhoids and pseudofolliculitis barbae (razor bumps) which you will see become service-connected because they manifest in service. While each vet may be predisposed to developing the condition, the fact that a chronic disability initially manifest during military service is binding on VA. With any potential pre-existing disability, such as your cancer scenario or the conditions previously mentioned, there must be "clear and convincing evidence" per their regulatory criteria to refute or rebut the presumption of soundness upon a veteran's entry into military service. This is a very high burden of proof for them to reach without concrete evidence of treatment prior to military service (which is not there in the vast majority of claims).

I'll admit that there is no easy answer to any of this as the facts would have to be judged on a case by case basis. I'm just trying to help out anyone that might need it

Edited July 3, 2007 by theotherguy