ptsd Update On My Ptsd Increase C&p Exam

[octdevildog]

I seen the doc last week for C&P exam, seen my shrink today, he said that on the scale they use; leveled at 0-100, the doc but me right at 50. My shrink said most people who fall under that are recomended to be hospitalized. Does anybody know about this scale they use. Anyway back to my exam i told the examiner only half the stuff i needed to, 1st he was 15 mins late then when my time was about up in the middle of a sentence he said well i got all that i need; i almost went off the deep end, but knowing that won't help me much i said okay. Hopefully this is properly rated. Or maybe i should have gone off to show him my 1st reaction. Well going back for a scoliosis C&P in a few weeks.

[carlie]

oct,

The scale your doc mentioned is more likely than not

referring to the Global Assessment Functioning (GAF) score.

You can put GAF into the Hadit search engine for more information.

jmho,

carlie

[tssnave]

Make sure and get a copy of your C&P exam so you'll know what's in it. This is especially important if you have to get an IMO.

I got a 50 GAF on my C&P exam and the VA rated me 50% even though according to the DSM a 50 GAF would line up more closely with a 70% rating. I had to appeal my rating, get an IMO, and finally got 100% P&T.

We used to have a guy who worked at the VA on the board and he said that a lot of times the raters just don't want to give 70% (which can give you 100% for IU) or 100% out of the shoot so unless you've been hopsitalized recently, don't be shocked if they low ball your rating.

Good luck with your claim,

TS Snave

[mobie16r]

octdevildog this GAF formula

General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders:

Total occupational and social impairment, due to 100

such symptoms as: gross impairment in thought

processes or communication; persistent delusions

or hallucinations; grossly inappropriate behavior;

persistent danger of hurting self or others;

intermittent inability to perform activities of

daily living (including maintenance of minimal

personal hygiene); disorientation to time or

place; memory loss for names of close relatives,

own occupation, or own name.......................

Occupational and social impairment, with 70

deficiencies in most areas, such as work, school,

family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood, due

to such symptoms as: suicidal ideation;

obsessional rituals which interfere with routine

activities; speech intermittently illogical,

obscure, or irrelevant; near-continuous panic or

depression affecting the ability to function

independently, appropriately and effectively;

impaired impulse control (such as unprovoked

irritability with periods of violence); spatial

disorientation; neglect of personal appearance and

hygiene; difficulty in adapting to stressful

circumstances (including work or a work-like

setting); inability to establish and maintain

effective relationships...........................

Occupational and social impairment with reduced 50

reliability and productivity due to such symptoms

as: flattened affect; circumstantial,

circumlocutory, or stereotyped speech; panic

attacks more than once a week; difficulty in

understanding complex commands; impairment of

short- and long-term memory (e.g., retention of

only highly learned material, forgetting to

complete tasks); impaired judgment; impaired

abstract thinking; disturbances of motivation and

mood; difficulty in establishing and maintaining

effective work and social relationships...........

Occupational and social impairment with occasional 30

decrease in work efficiency and intermittent

periods of inability to perform occupational tasks

(although generally functioning satisfactorily,

with routine behavior, self-care, and conversation

normal), due to such symptoms as: depressed mood,

anxiety, suspiciousness, panic attacks (weekly or

less often), chronic sleep impairment, mild memory

loss (such as forgetting names, directions, recent

events)...........................................

Occupational and social impairment due to mild or 10

transient symptoms which decrease work efficiency

and ability to perform occupational tasks only

during periods of significant stress, or; symptoms

controlled by continuous medication...............

Mobie16r

[octdevildog]

yeah i line up with the 70% area with symptoms, I hope for the best and am prepared for the worst, not to get my hopes up with these people. Considering my exam left out half of my problems.

[tssnave]

Devil Dog,

Did you explicitly state that due to your PTSD that you were unable to work?

Check your C&P exam because if you did and they give you 70% then that gives you a clear opening for an IU claim (in VA parlance you would have an "inferred" IU claim if you brought it up to the C&P examiner).

Because of hadit, I knew to tell the C&P examiner in very clear terms that I could not work solely due to my sc bipolar disorder. She duly noted it (twice, no less to include her rationale for why I was 100% social and occupational disabled) but the VA initally ignored it.

Again, I hope they do right by you but that has not been my experience w/ a SC psych claim. Since you are going for an increase they might actually figure they may as well do it right. I am also hopeful for vets working their claims now that the whole shreddergate situation will cause the VA to more appropriately rate claims (one can hope).

Good luck w/ your claim - get a copy of the C&P exam and be ready to appeal with an IMO. A good shrink who works SS claims could do a voc eval and a good shrink in general could do a psych eval per the VA guidelines.

Keep us posted,

TS