Use Of Civilian Phyciatrists

[kookiebean2001]

Anyone use a phyciatrist in a non post tramatic stress syndrome claim. Attorney says with my lack of sight, I would be surprised how much it effects other different areas of my life (for example my vision problems effect my social skills, learning, playing sports, etc.) My attorney wants to use a phyciatrist to help further my claim. I said ok until the phyciatrist quoted me $1500.00. Not sure if it's a waste of time and money.

Please no negative feedback necessary !

[Pete53]

Shrinks with MD's I think.

[kookiebean2001]

I think we got off track with this post Civilian Phyciatrists ?

[Josephine]

This is only my opinion.

I fought the VA system over a Personality Disorder Discharge. It took me going to the BVA and the AMC and back to the BVA Judge to receive my due benefits.

I was discharged from service with Librium for my nerves ( Anxiety).

I began treatment with the same drug within a year of service discharge and continued treatment for same for 44 years.

I filed with the VA in 1978, I cannot locate the papers, so they state 1992. I must go with this date as this is the date the BVA Judge assigned me.

I went to Psychiatrist in the early years and just a regular General Practioner. In 1979, I began seeing an internist and he treated me for the anxiety as other illnesses.

When I located my long lost psychiatric records from the Archives in 2004, the VA sent me for a C&P and the denials began coming in stating my illness was personality disorder.

Not true.

I paid $4000.00 for an Independent Medical Opinion.

I sent my expert Forensic Psychiatrist all of my military and post medical records for him to study for almost three weeks.

This was enough medical records to scare most away. probably well over 600 sheets of papers.

I then went to D.C to see him in his office and spent well over three hours with him.

Yes, the $4000.00 was a lot of money, but in the end due to his knowledge and name, I was paid back to 1992 by the BVA Judge.

Without his expertise, I would never have won 100% P%T.

Here is a copy of his Independent Medical Opinion.

*Introduction:* On January 11, 2008, I saw Betty xxxx in my office for independent medical (psychiatric) examination. She was accompanied by her husband of 42 years. XXXXX. He met her in U.S. Navy Corps School in 1963 at Great Lakes Illinois. He described her as then having been a very attractive, youthful female, who took part in on-base activities, but her hands perspired a lot and she was fearful of the swimming pool.

*Review of Medical and Personnel Records:*

I have reviewed the following service medical records and personnel records for this veteran, for the period when she was en-listed Navy Corps Wave during the period of Mar. 15, 1963- May 1964.

Psychiatric Consultation by Dr. F. D. Jxxxx 12 March 1964, Dr. G MCMxxxxx 27 March 1964, and a letter by Dr. B. C Campxxx, the veterans military treating physician clarifying his shorthand of his treatment for anxiety with Librium and Cafergfot for headaches.

The treatment records of Dr. George Smxx and Dr. Clarence Tayxxx, his partner.

Although stated in the SSOC of December 7, 2007, to be illegible. Dr. Georxxx Smxx. has written a letter of clarification of treatment of this veteran.

The treatment records of Dr. Milxxx Kxx, 1975-1976 also stated as illegible, I have read 4 letters by Dr. Michael Pxxx 4/5/04, 1/3/06/4/28/06, and 10/09/07 and reviewed the treatment records of Dr. Michael Payxx August 1979 - 2007.

*Medical History: *

Mrs. XX is a 63 year old female whose medical conditions are: TIA, Rheumatic heart disease, Hypertension, Diabetes, Anxiety, Depression, Headaches, Hypothyroidism, and inner ear/Vestibular disease and de-generative disc disease, Orthostatic hypotension.

*Psychiatric History:*

This veteran has a very long history of anxiety with depression, with treatment beginning in service by Dr. B.C Cxxxx with medication of Librium; treatment 1965-1979 with Dr. G. Smixx and Dr. Clarence Tayxxx; Radford Psychiatrist, Dr. Miltxxx Kibxxx, 1975-1976 to 2007 with Dr. Michael Payxxx and she remains in treatment with Dr. Michxxx Payxxx.

*Mental Status Examination:*

Mrs. xxxx presented in my office as a pleasant, cooperative white female, appearing about her stated age of 63. She was in good contact with the examiner, understood the purpose of this examination - independent evaluation, regarding veterans benefits - and gave permission for me to write this report. She was well oriented for time, place and person. There was no abnormality of thought process or content. She spoke of having had much difficulty with anxiety and depression over many years.

She reports she had no psychiatric difficulties whatsoever prior to military service. Her file contains records related to her Honorable Discharge due to unsuitability regarding emotional difficulties.

She spoke of chronic anxiety with depression over the years. She became emotionally labile and tearful as she described some of her experiences in the service and feeling like a disgrace upon leaving the military. She has panic attacks, fear of driving a vehicle, fear of the unknown, fear of heights and water, white -coat syndrome, headaches, dreams of the stairs leading to the pool. She has night terrors and is desperately trying to get her husband to wake her up. She sleeps about 6 hours a day, but states this does not harm her much;her hands stays visibly wet and becomes wetter as she talks about her service time. There were some memorable upsetting experiences in her Navy service including a near drowning, etc. She has never bee able to have any gainful employment for any substantial time since the military and had to give up and seek veterans compensation in 1978. She last worked part time in 1983.

The veteran was given tranquilizer Librium by Dr B. C. Campxxx for the treatment of anxiety as documented in her SMR'S and it is also clarified in his letter of May 10, 2005, and has continued with symptomatic treatment for anxiety for the last 44 years with the physicians listed above.

After the brief evaluations by Drs. MC Mahxxx and Jones in March 1964, the veteran was deemed unsuitable for continuing military service due to a Personality Disorder, and was discharged without medical or other benefits.

*Summary of Professional Opinion:

*

My review of the records show no documentation which would support the diagnosis of Personality Disorder. There simply are no data which would support that diagnosis under the criteria provided in the Diagnostic and Stastical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. No psychological or personality testing was done. There was never any showing of an " enduring pattern of inner experience and behavior that deviates markedly from the expectations of the individual's culture... is inflexible and pervasive across a broad range of personal and social situations... is stable and of long duration... (and) is not better accounted for as a manifestation or consequence of another mental disorder." DSM IV TR, pages 287 - 288.

The " other mental disorder" which she clearly *DID* and *DOES *have, and for which she has been treated for 43 years, is *Anxiety Disorder. *

The veteran had no childhood psychiatric, difficulties or treatment, Her anxiety disorder began during her time in service. She has been treated for anxiety disorder for 43 years by a number of physicians.

*Diagnosis: *300.00 Anxiety Disorder, NOS,Chronic, Severe, with Depressive Features.

This chronic, and in this veterans' case, disabling, mental disorder first manifested itself while in service and has required treatment ever since. There is no evidence to support the diagnosis of personality disorder made in 1964 and used as a basis for her separation from service.

Sincerely.

B. Cxxx M.D. D.L.F.P.A.

*Forensic and Clinical Psychiatry

Expert Witness*

Brian Crowley, M.D., a forensic and clinical psychiatry expert and a Yale Medical School graduate, specializes in Psychiatry, Forensic Psychiatry, and Psychoanalysis. He is Senior Attending Psychiatrist and Past Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. A Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, and Executive Councilor, American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, he has served as consultant to attorneys, examiner, and expert witness in state and federal courts and in courts martial.

Services

Dr. Crowley's areas of expertise include Malpractice, Testamentary Capacity and Undue Influence, Fitness for Duty, Independent Medical Examinations (I.M.E.), Dangerousness Assessments, Suicide, Sexual Misconduct (and Sexual Misconduct by Professionals), Sexual Harassment and Abuse, Stalking, Hospital Treatment Standards, Outpatient Treatment Standards, Workplace Violence, PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder), Stress, Psychotherapy, Psychoanalysis, Psychiatrists Peer Review, Ethics, Civil Commitment (of mentally ill to hospitals), Criminal Responsibility, Sanity, Diminished Capacity, Pre-sentence Recommendations to Court, Competence for Trial, Courts Martial, Psychiatric Evaluations, Psychiatric Malpractice, Professional Malpractice, Psychotic States, Psychosomatic Medicine, Personal Trauma: Adult, Adolescent, and Child, Medical Malpractice-Psychiatric and Custodial Issues.

Profile

Dr. Crowley, a Yale Medical School alumnus and graduate of the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute, has been practicing psychiatry-- clinical, forensic, and administrative-- for over forty years. His office is on upper Connecticut Avenue in Washington, DC (where he sees adolescents, adults, and couples for consultation and treatment), and he also treats inpatients at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, where he is Senior Attending and Past Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry.

In his forensic practice, which is both extensive and varied, he has served as psychiatric consultant, examiner, and expert witness in all types of civil and criminal cases, in the courts of several states (CA, DC, FL, KY, LA, MD, MI, NC, NJ, NV, NY, OH, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WI, WV) as well as in federal courts and courts martial. He has worked on matters of all kinds where state of mind is at issue. His recent cases have involved issues of: malpractice; personal injury; stalking; sexual harassment; testamentary capacity; sexual misconduct by professionals; hospital standards; dangerousness assessments in the workplace; fitness for duty; criminal responsibility; competence for trial; presentencing recommendations to Court; eligibility for release from incarceration; Courts Martial.

Dr. Crowley teaches medical students at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, where he is Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry. In May 2003 he received the Roeske Award for Excellence in Medical Student Education from the American Psychiatric Association.

He is actively involved in the USUHS clinical research team which leads in the study of PTSD and other stress disorders. Dr. Crowley is a member of The Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress. He also does work at the Department of Defense’s Deployment Health Clinical Center at Walter Reed, for which in 2001 he was awarded the Army Certificate of Achievement by the Commanding General, North American Regional Medical Command.

Active in leadership roles in psychiatric organizations, Dr. Crowley is a Past President of the Washington Psychiatric Society; Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association; and Fellow of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis. In the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, he was recently elected to the Executive Council, and earlier served on the Committee on Peer Review of Psychiatric Testimony. For three terms he was Chair, Guttmacher Award Board, the joint committee of the American Psychiatric Association and American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law which annually judges and awards the prize for the best contribution to the literature of forensic psychiatry. Currently he serves on the Isaac Ray Award Committee, which annually selects a person who has made outstanding contributions to forensic psychiatry or to the psychiatric aspects of jurisprudence.

Licenses

Licensed: D.C. and Maryland

Distinguished Life Fellow, American Psychiatric Association

Fellow, American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry

Executive Council, American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law

Professional Experience

Present Professional Practice:

Private practice of Psychiatry, Forensic Psychiatry, and Psychoanalysis in Washington, DC

Senior Attending Staff and Past Chairman, Department of Psychiatry,

Suburban Hospital, Bethesda, Maryland

Psychiatrist, Deployment Health Clinical, Department of Defense, at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC.

Current Academic Positions:

Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of the

Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland

Member, Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress

Past Professional Positions:

1982-1995

Staff Psychiatrist and Coordinator of Not Criminally Responsible Hearings -

Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center, Jessup, Maryland

1972-1977

Executive Director - The Medical and Psychiatric Study Center, Inc.,

1969-1971

Founding Partner - The Potomac Foundation for Mental Health - Medical Director,

1963-Present

Private Practice of Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis, and Forensic Psychiatry - Bethesda, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.

1963-1968

Psychiatrist, Montgomery County Mental Health Center

1961-1963

U.S. Navy Medical Corps: Active duty as Psychiatrist

1961-1963

Staff Psychiatrist, St. Elizabeth's Hospital 1963

Legal Experience

Dr. Crowley has often served as consultant and expert witness for attorneys in most types of civil and criminal cases in state and federal courts, as well as in courts martial.

He has qualified as an expert in a number of jurisdictions, from Maryland and D.C. to California, from Michigan to Louisiana, Texas, and Florida, and enjoys traveling to meet the demands of suitable cases.

Affiliations

President, Washington Psychiatric Society, 1996-97

Distinguished Life Fellow, American Psychiatric Association

Chair, Manfred S. Guttmacher Award Board, APA, 1999-2002

Council on Psychiatry and Law, APA, 2002-2008

Isaac Ray Award Committee, APA, 2004-2010

American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law:

Executive Council, 2007-2010

Committee on Peer Review of Psychiatry Testimony, 1995-2001

Ethics Committee, Washington Psychiatric Society, 1981-1990

Other Professional Positions & Major Appointments:

Past President, Washington Psychiatric Society

Executive Council, American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 2007-2010

Academic & Administrative Appointments:

Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

Member, Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress

Hospital Appointments:

Senior Attending & Past Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, Suburban Hospital, Bethesda, MD

Publications

Recent Publications:

"Law and Psychiatry: Assessing Civil Competence," Journal of Psychiatric Practice, November 2006, Vol. 12, No. 6, pages 402-405

"Assessing Civil Competence: A Case Vignette," in American Academy of Psychiatry and Law Newsletter, September 2006, pages 14-15

Book Essay and Review on "Clinicians in Court," in Psychiatry: Interpersonal and Biological Processes, Vol. 66, No. 4, Winter 2003, pages 368-69

"The Assessment of Danger in Everyday Practice" and

"Measures to Take After Diagnosis of Violence or Danger"

Psychiatric Times, June and July 2003

PTSD and Trauma (with USUHS Team)

Full publications list available on request

Presentations:

Presentation of Videoptaped Testimony of Two Opposing Experts in Army Court Martial

--Dr. Crowley for the Defense; Dr. Grieger for the Prosecution

--Jury Verdict: Not Guilty.

American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, Annual Meeting, Miami Beach, Oct. 19, 2007--presentation of Peer Review Committee

"Comprehensive Psychiatry: Patients with Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms and PTSD," at American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting, Atlanta, May 26, 2005, Symposium 92

"Dealing with the Media," in course titled "Establishing a Forensic Practice," American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, Annual Meeting, San Antonio, October 17, 2003

“The Future of Psychiatry” in “Practicing Psychiatry in 2003.” Symposium 7, American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, May 19, 2003

"Dangerousness to Others: Assessment in Psychodynamic Practice." Paper presented to American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry at its Winter Meeting in San Antonio, December 7, 2002

Community Health Seminar, sponsored by Suburban Hospital, at Bethesda Chevy Rescue Squad, Jan. 23, 2002

“Psychological and Behavioral Responses to Current World Events: Healthy Versus Pathological”

Professional References

Attorneys with whom I have worked recently include:

Gary W. Brown, Fairfax, VA (703)934-1188

Christopher Burgess, CPT JAG U.S Army, Christopher.Burgess@us.army.mil

Judith Catterton, Rockville, MD (301)294-0460

William J. Crain, Covington, LA (985)892-4801

Steve Gibbins, Austin, TX 1-800-344-2441

Steven Hamilton, Chevy Chase, MD (301)652-7332

Alison D. Kohler, Towson, MD (410)823-8200

Armin U. Kuder, Washington, DC (202)331-7522

Gary J. Ogg, Pittsburgh, PA (412) 471-8500

Diana Savit, Bethesda, MD (301)951-9191

Wendy L. Shiff, Baltimore, MD (410)539-6633

William Vernon, CAPT JAG USAF, William.Vernon@tyndall.af.mil

Peter L. Wechsler, Miami, FL (305)789-2725

Daniel W. White, Alpena, MI (989)354-4106

Education

College - Washington and Lee University

M.D., Yale University, School of Medicine

Education and Professional Training:

Washington and Lee University, 1950-53

Yale University School of Medicine, 1953-57; M.D., 1957

St Elizabeth's Hospital, Washington DC

Rotating Internship, 1957-58

Psychiatric Residency (3 years), 1958-61

Graduate, Washington Psychoanalytic Institute, 1975

Consulting Practice: All States

Areas of Expertise:

Addiction and Recovery

Aging

Alcohol

Alcoholism

Amnesia

Anorexia Nervosa

Anxiety Disorders

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)

Bad Faith

Biomedical

Bipolar Disorder (Manic Depression)

Bulimia Nervosa

Child Abuse

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic Pain

Civil Commitment

Codependency

Court Martial

Credentialing

Criminal Responsibility

Damages

Dangerousness Assessments

Dementia

Demonstrative Evidence

Diminished Capacity

Dissociative Disorders

Dissociative Identity Disorder

Divorce Proceeding

Document Examiner

Eating Disorders

Ethics

Ethics

Evidence

Expert Witness Testimony

Fibromyalgia

Fitness For Duty

Forensic Analyst

Forensic Experts

Forensic Medicine

Forensic Psychiatry

General

Gulf War Syndrome

Health Care Plans

Hospital Administration

Hospital Records

Hospitals and Medical Centers

Insomnia

Investigation

Litigation

Malpractice

Managed Care Plans

Medical Malpractice

Medical Review

Medical-Legal Issues

Mental Health

Mood Disorders

Munchausen's Syndrome

Narcotics Addiction

Neuropsychiatry

Oppositional Defiant Disorder

Pain Management

Panic Disorder

Patient's Rights

Peer Review

Personal Injury

Personality Disorders

Pharmacology

Pharmacology

Pornography Addiction

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Postpartum Depression

Presentence Reports

Professional Malpractice

Professional Responsibility

Psychiatry

Psychoanalysis

Quality Assurance

Recovered Memories

Sanity, Trial Competency

Schizophrenia

Seasonal Affective Disorder

Self-Injury

Sensory Deprivation

Serial Killers

Sexual Addiction

Sexual Disorders

Sexual Harassment

Sexuality

Sleep Disorders

Smoking Addiction

Social Phobia

Stalking

Standards of Care

Stress Management

Substance Abuse

Suicide

Support and Assistance

Testamentary Capacity

Therapeutic Humor

Therapeutic Touch

Tobacco and Health

Treatment Standards

Undue Influence

Violence

Workplace Violence

[kookiebean2001]

This is awesome information, I saw my phyciatrist last Tuesday, she made me realize issues that I didn't know existed, glad I had the money and time to go forward. Josephine Your post is invaluable thanks for sharing

[Josephine]

This is awesome information, I saw my phyciatrist last Tuesday, she made me realize issues that I didn't know existed, glad I had the money and time to go forward. Josephine Your post is invaluable thanks for sharing

kookiebean,

You are certainly welcome,

Betty

[ltate90]

I HOPE THIS IS WHAT IT TAKES TO GET MY SSDI APPROVED BY SEEING A CIVILIAN PYSCHIATRIST AND A SOCIAL WORKER TWICE A MONTH. SO FAR THINGS ARE GOING PRETTY SMOOTH, I JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT TO ASK THEM ABOUT HELPING ME WITH SOCIAL SECURITY. ANYBODY WITH EXPERIENCE ON THIS SUBJECT ABOUT HOW TO APPROACH A DOCTOR, DO I LET HIM KNOW I'M 100% IU P&T AND HAVEN'T BEEN WORKING SINCE SEPT 05 BECAUSE OF MY DISABILITIES, ANY ADVICE WILL HELP. MY NEXT APPT IS DEC 17TH WITH SOCIAL WORKER AND PYSCH ON SAME DAY.