ptsd Wording Of Letter From Va

[simple fly]

hi everyone,surgery went well. got a new letter in mail today for a c and p for ptsd claim i have ongoing. the letter states" in oder to determine the current level of your disability" does that mean they have ruled in favor of ptsd and now need a sc level or is this a generic comment?thanks jim

i had this post in c and p forum but got no response.

need help

[sharon]

Glad everything went well. One good thing is that your stressor has been verified. Now you get to have your C&P exam. Make sure you go to all things mental and look at the exam. The doctor will then opin as to what degree, if any, your PTSD is.

[simple fly]

i look at this as a small victory.it only took 35 years for them to verify.

[simple fly]

any other perspective on my post? seems this letter may have been seen by others.

[purple]

Personally, I would never assume anything from the VA. Did they say anywhere in the letter that they approved your PTSD claim? If not, then go into it assuming the worst and hoping for the best.

[rentalguy1]

This is a generic statement, and the true purpose of a C&P is to ascertain the current level of a disability. I am not seeing where they say they accepted your stressor, unless that's in another thread somewhere. Just because they are sending you to a C&P does not mean that they have accepted a stressor. There could be information in the records that leads them to believe you could be rated for depression or anxiety, rather than PTSD. They are seeing something that is possibly ratable, though. You can always call the C&P department at the VAMC and make nicey nice with them and then ask if they can tell you what the RO is looking for with this C&P. The RO always sends them a communication specifying what information they need out of the exam. You can also ask who your doc will be and what their opinions of him/her is. If you play real nice with these folks, it can come out very beneficial.

[broncovet]

I would agree with both Sharon and Purple..it should mean that your stressor has been verified and they are looking to "rate" your PTSD, BUT dont assume anything with the VA.

C and P exams are really Traps set up by the RO to deny you. You need to go to the C and P with things written down as to what you will say to him. No, dont lie about anything..it will make things worse, but dont volunteer information that will be used against you either. For example, if you have had problems with a kid in school, and had a depression episode..dont use those phrases in the same sentence. Or, the C&P doc will say, "Veterans depression is due to family issues and not related to PTSD" If he says that, it will take you a minimum of ten years and ten regular doctors to refute that statement. They will use that statement to deny you for at least 5 more years.

We know that the "family issues" is because of your PTSD..your daughter is afraid you will have a flashback and think she is a Viet Cong.

However, the VA will use this as a trap to deny you.

When you tell the doctor your depression level, and you have felt good on Tues, Wed, and Saturday, but had 2 panic attacks on Monday, and punched through the wall on Friday, Tell him only about Monday and Friday, and dont tell him you felt fine on the other days.

Do you think a potential future employer is gonna want you to work on only your "good" days? No, he is gonna fire you because you punched through the wall on a "bad" day. JMHO

Edited March 10, 2009 by broncovet