ptsd Ptsd - Is This A Fair Statement?

[Bill (USAF Retired)]

My paralegal work puts me in close proximity to folks who give legal advice to Soldiers who are facing medical evaluation boards.

A lieutenant colonel stated "those who talk the most about their PTSD tend to have the least PTSD."

Would the Been There Done That folks here on Hadit consider this a fair statement, or oversimplified?

(My thoughts: That's the ultimate in Catch 22. How are you supposed to file for something that if you discuss it, you must not really have it?)

:: thinking I really need to do this law school thing so I can advocate for folks who need it ::

[Berta]

"A lieutenant colonel stated "those who talk the most about their PTSD tend to have the least PTSD."

In my opinion that is sometimes true-but rarely true-

but I base this on some wannabees I have dealt with-

if a vet cannot prove a stressor or makes absolutely no attempt to find a buddy for a buddy statement and is not willing to do all they can to prove an inservice event (even if they have PTSD diagnosis)

yet wants to continually talk about the stressors that gave them PTSD-this is a big red flag for me-

still- it takes a psychiatrist to evaluate PTSD-

sure not me and not some Lt. Colonel-unless they also have a medical background in mental disorders.

This does bother me in light of the VCS lawsuit against the VA-

OIF- OEF vets claim that VA was nonresponsive to their

mental health needs.

The Perez email and the other testimony in the lawsuit as well as the recent H VAC hearings proves their point.

Too many OIF and OEF vets are getting PD or adjustment disorder diagnosis when in fact they either have full blown PTSD or TBI residuals or both.

Actually it should not even be a question for the Military evalution boards as to how much PTSD an active military man or woman has.If they have a proven stressor and a PTSD diagnosis then the VA will rate them as to how the PTSD affects them as to employability, etc.

The Perez email was from a VA shrink-

http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfJUN08/nf061108-3.htm

and was recently put into evidence in the major Veterans Lawsuit against VA in San Francisco.

Certainly if anyone on a Military medical baord has a biased concept of what PTSD is- along with the VA's recent

testimony before the House VAC and this email-

it certainly means that our men and women in Harm's way are not getting any sort of a fair shake regarding proper diagnosis.

would you be willing to share this information with the lawyers who are representing these vets?

"My paralegal work puts me in close proximity to folks who give legal advice to Soldiers who are facing medical evaluation boards.

A lieutenant colonel stated "those who talk the most about their PTSD tend to have the least PTSD."

[Stretch]

"those who talk the most about their PTSD tend to have the least PTSD."

That the Vet does talk about PTSD kind of implies that the Vet has a choice. That the Vet can not talk about it means that the Vet does not have a choice.

I changed this because it was too long.

Edited June 13, 2008 by Stretch

[mountain tyme]

you wrote: "A lieutenant colonel stated "those who talk the most about their PTSD tend to have the least PTSD."

In all reality PTSD is a condition that evoles over time...it just does not happen. PTSD is the end result of PTS and if not treated in a timely manner and left unchecked it will develop into PTSD (d as in disorder) once PTS reaches the point of a disorder is when it becomes disabling due to the emotional damaging effect it plays in one's mental process. That is why there are many veterans of earlier conflicts that suffer from PTSD due to it not be detected when it was most treatable. Today with a new understanding of how PTS effects our veterans the condition is detected in it's early stages...most veterans will start out by having advanced aniexty sympoms as an early trigger sign for the doctors to diagnoses and hopefully get them into treatment as to how to cope with the horrors of what the veteran went through.

Early intervention is the key to helping the veteran stay healthy.

So I would say is someone is always talking that they have PTSD it would send up a red flag...due to many suffers do not discuss what happened to them due to avoidance or fear some even shame depending on the trigger.

Like Berta said only a doctor that is trained in the field can make that determination.

MT

[steve Mck]

My paralegal work puts me in close proximity to folks who give legal advice to Soldiers who are facing medical evaluation boards.

A lieutenant colonel stated "those who talk the most about their PTSD tend to have the least PTSD."

Would the Been There Done That folks here on Hadit consider this a fair statement, or oversimplified?

(My thoughts: That's the ultimate in Catch 22. How are you supposed to file for something that if you discuss it, you must not really have it?)

:: thinking I really need to do this law school thing so I can advocate for folks who need it ::

[Pete53]

I would say that people who have PTSD do not want to talk about it especially to people who don't have it.

[john999]

They used to say that people who talked about suicide never did it, but we know now that that is untrue. I don't know if people talk about PTSD, but I think they act it out. If you have it then it will manifest itself in the person's life. Probably the significant others are the best judge because a symptom of PTSD is denial.