Psych C &p

[pdandrea]

I hear alot of negative stuff about C&P's how does someone prepare for a psych C&P and what should I expect? Also I heard you can get a copy of the C&P just like any other visit to the VA. How long should I wait before I see if they have a copy available.

One more, after the C&P where does my claim go next and how long does it take?

[cowgirl]

Hello and I hope this helps a bit.

Read on here about others pysch exams, use search and FAQs. Here is the VA web addy for worksheets and recall doctors are 'professionals' meaning they may present nice, warm and freindly, but are still taking notes on all responses. My thoughts if I had to redo my C&P exam for pysch, r e l a x, think about military days and current life since then. If you struggle with issues, be honest, if you are doing ok, say ok or just shake your head, uhm, yes, sure, not much more is needed to be 'said'.

My exam report described in detail my physical carriage, conversation and efforts. It aalso described apptitude, strength and weak areas in educational efforts. The only regret I ever had after reading the report is taking it too personally! Really!

I saw the descriptive words from this one time visit and thought I was a mess, he was a mess, that the exam was crazy, good word? Asking me about my family so much, less about my military time and job performance along side of the harrassement I endured. As a result I ended up with a probable 'personality disorder' because I think I responded with too much information about my childhood because I wanted to present my family in a positive way. It could have also been a direction that I was being guided to by questions. My guess only.

I now know that the report words the contracted doctor used were somewhat 'canned' and expected from that professions standards. Also I know now that I would say I had a normal childhood/ The truth, I had grandparents, mom&dad, siblings,went to church, got good school grades and gradutated from high school. Basically I had no major health issues except the chicken pox.

Read up on how a claim is 'developed' and you'll know how the claim is processed, Best to ya, cg. http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/Benefits/exams/index.htm

I hear alot of negative stuff about C&P's how does someone prepare for a psych C&P and what should I expect? Also I heard you can get a copy of the C&P just like any other visit to the VA. How long should I wait before I see if they have a copy available.

One more, after the C&P where does my claim go next and how long does it take?

[Wings]

Hello and I hope this helps a bit.

Read on here about others pysch exams, use search and FAQs. Here is the VA web addy for worksheets and recall doctors are 'professionals' meaning they may present nice, warm and freindly, but are still taking notes on all responses. My thoughts if I had to redo my C&P exam for pysch, r e l a x, think about military days and current life since then. If you struggle with issues, be honest, if you are doing ok, say ok or just shake your head, uhm, yes, sure, not much more is needed to be 'said'.

My exam report described in detail my physical carriage, conversation and efforts. It aalso described apptitude, strength and weak areas in educational efforts. The only regret I ever had after reading the report is taking it too personally! Really!

I saw the descriptive words from this one time visit and thought I was a mess, he was a mess, that the exam was crazy, good word? Asking me about my family so much, less about my military time and job performance along side of the harrassement I endured. As a result I ended up with a probable 'personality disorder' because I think I responded with too much information about my childhood because I wanted to present my family in a positive way. It could have also been a direction that I was being guided to by questions. My guess only.

I now know that the report words the contracted doctor used were somewhat 'canned' and expected from that professions standards. Also I know now that I would say I had a normal childhood/ The truth, I had grandparents, mom&dad, siblings,went to church, got good school grades and gradutated from high school. Basically I had no major health issues except the chicken pox.

Read up on how a claim is 'developed' and you'll know how the claim is processed, Best to ya, cg. http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/Benefits/exams/index.htm

Good post Cowgirl!

[Pete53]

Reading what the Docs say about us can hurt but its just an opinion CG.

[tssnave]

Cowgirl - I guess I've been off the board a while, I don't recall you having a lucky charm clover for your picture. FTR, I said the same thing you did at my C&P exam ".... I had ... mom&dad, siblings,went to church, got good school grades and gradutated from high school." and also stated that the kids were either in sports or (my sister) in piano. The C&P examiner wrote it down pretty much verbatim and luckily didn't see a possible PD from my remarks. I have no idea how they got PD from a normal childhood, the whole PD after service is stupid not just from a presumption of soundness but also from a common sense standpoint - if you had a PD you wouldn't have been able to operate in the military very well.

pdandrea - here's what tripped me up on my psych C&P exam: ignorance and pride.

1. Ignorance: when the C&P shrink asked me if I had any psychotic aspects to my bipolar disorder I told her no and she wrote "no psychotic symptoms". In the course of getting an IMO for my NOD my civilian shrink took several hours with me and my spouse to get a clear clinical picture of my symptoms. Imagine my surprise when he writes all about my psychotic symptoms. Turns out that the whispers I hear before I crash and the patterns that appear to be coming out at me in stationary objects are, in fact, psychotic symptoms. I had no idea and I've been bp for several decades. I thought the whispers had to be voices for them to be psycotic and thought the patterns had to take some sort of action to be psychotic. In talking with the new shrink I realized that I had taken a warning from my previous shrink to make sure and tell her if my whispers became voices or if the patterns started actually doing anything to mean that I wasn't psychotic (which makes no sense to me now but I've been under than mistaken idea for about 15 years). So, make sure you understand yourself what your symptoms are and if you are not 100% certain what the examiner means by a word such as "psychotic" then by all means ask so you will be able to give them the correct answer.

2. Pride: I was not talking to my kid during the weeks before my C&P exam which contributed to my depression. Even though my DAV rep told me to tell the C&P examiner how my bp impacted my work and social life I was unable to bring myself to admit to the shrink that my bp was tearing my family apart. It was stupid pride and embarrassment and the only thing that allows me to give myself a break about that is that other vets have said they have the same difficulty telling a perfect stranger just how truly horrible their mental illness impacts there family life. I didn't want to say that my kid wasn't speaking to me or that I'm basically a recluse to neighbors and we won't even get into how it tears up my marriage time and time again. Nope, Pride here just stated I was married and had a kid. The examiner asked me how old was the kid and how long had I been married and wrote it down as I stated it and then the rater turns it into my having a "good" home and social life. So, be honest, brutally honest, even if you would rather rip your heart out than tell a stranger what it is really like dealing with your mental illness at home.

I know a lot of people have had bad experiences with C&P examiners, especially psych evals, but I have to say that other than giving me a rather high GAF score, I thought the C&P examiner did a very good job of capturing what I said accurately. It was rather odd to have her type my answers to her questions as we went along. While I think that is effiecient (the VARO has your C&P exam that day when it's done electronically) it is a bit disconcerting to have someone ask you such personal questions and then not even look at you in response but just type away. However, having said that, we got into what I thought was a good rythm with her asking me a question, me answering, her nodding as she typed so I knew when I could add more, and then on to the next question. The thing that was nice about the computer based exam is that I asked her in the end if she felt like my nexus was adequate for the VA and she said yes and even offered to read me what she had written. When I realized she was willing to do that I asked her what she said about my working and she read her comments back to be before I left so I knew she had captured at least the 2 essential elements I had wanted to convey to the VA - that it started in service and kept me from working. Again, I have nothing but praise for the manner in which the examiner took my comments and put them into the system.

Aside from all the above, just tell the truth. Tell your story. Be honest about your symptoms, especially those that make you the most uncomfortable to talk about. If you have memory problems, take a piece of paper or a spouse of family member. I had a piece of paper with my notes from what the DAV told me to talk about which was basically my worst day and how it impacted me socially and in the job setting and even with that I blew the family part. If I had to do it all over again I would have brought my spouse or at a minimum done what I had on the silly piece of paper I ignored once I got in there and realized I had to spill my guts to a perfect stranger.

That would probably be my last piece of advice: recognize that even if you have been in couseling that a C&P exam is very stilted. You have to delve into your worst symptoms with a perfect stranger and that ain't easy. I needed a couple of weeks to pull myself back together after my psych eval which caught me off guard. So, have somebody lined up who will give you some TLC after the exam.

Ok, now that I've given you my last piece of advice, here's my best piece of advice: pray. Ask God for clarity of mind to tell the whole story. I will pray the same.

I don't think I've seen you post before but I'm on and off the board due to my bp so I may have missed your introduction. Either way, welcome to hadit. This is a great place to get claims advice and while my experience is quite limited there are others here who have a lot of experience helping vets with their claims. I will offer to pray for you unless you tell me otherwise, in which case I will respect your wishes (though I ask in advance if I forget that you would forgive me).

I hope this helps,

TS Snave

[Nekoiinu]

I just thought that I would add a statement here. The main thing about preparing for your exam is being consistant with what is is in your records. Also being honest is a key factor. I have a degree in psycology, and can tell you that there are all kinds of trap doors in the psychological world. I am not trying to say in anyway that you would not be honest, the consistancy will ensure that you will get the best rating. If things look as though they are not fitting together, there are red flags that will go up, and may hold up your claim. They are already looking for reasons to not give you anything.

It is true that it may be hard to say some things, but remember, they already read it in your file. And you are not going to say anything that will shock them. This is your time, your compensation, and your life. So tell the truth, be accurate, and be willing to share what is on your mind and share what has happened. You want the most favorable decision.

I hope all goes well for you, because I know what it is like personally. There are a lot of people who know a lot here. They will be glad to help you.

[cowgirl]

So True Pete, but once I got my SOC and tried going for a rebuttal I had no advice to do anything but read and try to NOD by myself. That vso advice at that time was useless. Misunderstanding that 'opinon' and taking it very personally really ate me up for many years, oh my word. Its not like me to rant&rave, so pardon me in advance and thanks Pete.

Ya' see, I didnt totally give up and honestly, one of those 'preprogrammed' questions the PCP reads off the computer screen while they type a million strokes a minute; well that question caught me off guard. Went something like this "do you have post traumatic stress syndrome?" or 'do you need to be seen by a someone in mental health?'. Well that PCP caught me offguard and I was stumped, then said a quiet 'ok'. Its then I got help to understand that not only did they service connect me for some lil pysch thing 'somatazation disorder'10%. Didnt even know what it was, asked a clerk at another desk. So I learned through the PCP referral that I could get other 'as needed' psych care there also.

Now its about four years later, my first head doc moved on (no notice to me?) then I called back a year or so later and asked 'whats up'? The clinic was surprised I wasn't kept on the books, rescheduled or continued to be seen. Now, thank God and Hadit I aint gone, er, 'Roy Clark'?. Yes, I am sc for mdd and other valid issues; getting needed care, 2 psych drs. 3 others and appreciative of the compensation even though way overdue. Its true I should have been forewarned of the C&P sensitive details, I didnt have a clue, the exam worksheet or hadit to watch my back. In fact, the report from that C&P doc stuck in my throat all those years, nearly put me out to pasture, but cg's dont give up too easy! Ha! cg

Reading what the Docs say about us can hurt but its just an opinion CG.