ptsd I Helping A Vet And Need Help!

[hawkfire27]

I was wondering if anyone knows what procedures there are when you are not related to a veteran but you are helping them apply for VA pension and/or compensation. I have a friend with severe PTSD, depression and social disorders, Mild schizophrenia (all diagnosed by VA), and physical disabilities. He is at the point where he can now longer focus enough to red the VA forms let alone fill them out, get his records or withstand some of the tests. He has tried starting the process in the past but just ends up falling into a big vat of depression and anxiety and VA has now turned him down 4 times due to lack of evidence, mainly because he just tunes out to it all. I have offered to help him as he is in extreme financial hardship and he agreed stating he can probably not help me with it much except the basic information. He currently gets 100% SS Disability for a work related accident which has caused his physical disabilities, but a lot of his condition is related to service on the USS ranger during Vietnam, where he recieved a head injury he was hospitalized for and several horror stories involving deaths of fellow crew members due to accidents on board. I can't find a decent VSO in this area because the are all so overloaded here in NM that they can't really give him the time required so it appears it is up to me. Does anyone have any info I could use in regards to the above.

Thanks in advance.

[airborne18]

if you take him to the VARO they have NSO's that will help him. If you know nothing about the process, then you should probably help him by getting everything together. ( medical records, service records, etc ). Then driving him and making sure he gets where he needs to be. From what you have posted his claim is not simple, he has a work related injury and is already on disablity.

If he is mentally incompetent then the VA will refer him to a social worker. The VA is privacy oriented, and it is hard enough to get spouses and family members access to veterans files.

Most of the VSO's that are appointed at local veteran's posts are not qualified to handle claims. At the least the VA requires training for a person to represent veterans claims. Most of the Veterans organizations at least have a person at the department or state level. The DAV is ususally the best, because all they do is handle claims, though it does vary by area.