ptsd Psychiatric Qtc Examination

[cannoncocker]

This is a very specific question or can be answered in general either being of great help to me.

I am scheduled for a QTC SC Chronic Anxiety in Asheville, NC and I don't really know a more appropriate place to post this question.

As we all know everybody is biased on any given subject even before the facts are heard/sight unseen. So my question is if anyone of us has been to a psychiatric exam in Asheville with the QTC psychiatric examiner/contractor and if so are they fair arbiters for ptsd or any other SC psychological problems. I mean do they already have their minds made up? If that were the case is there anything I could do to counter that?

I know it's almost ridiculus to ask this without the examiners name but I wouldn't want somebody putting my ID Info out here on the internet so I would not do that to them. Although i presume they only have one for that area so you would know automatically who it was.

Thank you for any pointers and info

Too, any pointers on how to approach an exam like that would be really helpful since the VA psychologist is the only exam like that I have been to.

[LarryJ]

Advice?

Never been to Asheville.

Advice?

NEVER, EVER, when they walk in and ask you "how you doin?". NEVER, EVER sat "Oh, I'm just fine." NO, dumbell, you AIN'T "jist fine"! You ain't BEEN "jist fine" ever since you suffered whatever "stressor" you are suffering from!

You got that?

You tell them how you REALLY feel. The daily effects it has on you. The loss of pleasure, the anxiety, the loss of friends, the way the meds screw up what IS left of you.

BUT, YOU AIN'T DOIN' FINE! Not even on your BEST of DAYS are you ever doing fine!

If you are, then you are wasting everybody's time. Go home.

now where's that bottle of Welbutrin? And the codiene? Then I'll be as close as I'm ever going to get to being "jist fine"!

[cannoncocker]

LarryJ I think that's about the best breakdown for me I've had in awhile. Completely understandable and logical.

Don't give them all the pleasantries, tell them what the problem is. Gotcha.

My concern now is the bias factor, more like hoping out loud for a square deal, that's all.

Also Larry, I really had it in my mind that I was gonna walk right in there like I didn't have a problem in the world, you know same way you go to work and regardless of what's going on in your personal life you just play it off like all is right with the world.

I'll be using that advise. Focus on the problem not prove you are a good actor.

[LarryJ]

By the time I got thru with my C&P for my depression, I was, quite literally, in tears, and shaking. To the point that they had to call my wife, at her work, to come and get me. And, NO, it was not an ACT on my part.....the dude just opened up some stuff that I was not expecting to have to go through. Probably the best psych exam anyone has ever had. He spent over almost an hour and a half with me.

And, NO, I was not "Just Fine"! Come to find out, I hadn't been "just fine" since about 1964!

peace, bro

[12R3G]

Ditto...

I went to my VA mental health intake the other day...when the psych came for me she asked "how are you", to which I replied "fine."

I skipped a beat and then told her that "fine" is sorta the expected, automatic response. I was there so I wasn't really "fine". We had our intake inteview and I left after discussing treatment options, an appointment with a psychiatrist and a change in meds (depression). So much for being "fine"

My point is that if you were really fine, you wouldn't be there. If you automatically answer "fine" or even "okay"--and if you are like me, that is invariably what how I respond--follow up with a "so much for the automatic social response...now, let me tell you how I really am..."

but try not to say anything that indicates you are "fine"

Good luck

[Pete53]

For some reason QTC has a bad rep with Veterans. From watching Hadit it seems that for many they got a fair exam from them.

Like Larry has said you have to put on the hat you wear at home and explain how you feel every day, your loses and disappointment and even your distrust of VA and its motives. Every emotion is fair game.

In other words be prepared to spill your guts.

[Hoppy]

Cannoncocker,

I wanted to respond to your question about the anxiety C&P. However, having no idea as to the issues in your claim I went back and read as many of your old post I could find. The best way to deal with a bias is with better medical evidence.

If your service medical records are silent for any anxiety or other psychological complaints and you were not treated until years after your discharge direct service connection for an anxiety disorder not including PTSD would be a miracle. From what I have read it appears that you have not been in treatment for a psych condition up to this point. One of your posts shows a diagnosis. However, it appeared that it was your guess as to what the diagnosis should be. If I am wrong on this let me know. If that diagnosis was made by a shrink it does not relate it to the hearing condition.

I found some statements that indicate that you are specifically advancing the claim for anxiety as secondary to the sc’d hearing problem. The sc’s hearing condition being rated at 0%. It would be a good idea to bring to the attention of the anxiety examiner the reasons the hearing problem specifically causes you anxiety. Make it very clear as to the difficulty you have at work and in your personal life. Give specific examples of events that have been problematic due to the hearing problems. As far as how you are doing I always tell them “things could be better, I dodge bullets every day”. Now the ball is in their court. They have to try and figure out why I said that. Then I go into specific details as to how I am confronted by simple everyday events that endanger me as a result of my physical limitations. I guess if you have a hearing problem you would be dodging the problems associated with mis understood conversations and an occasional automobile that crosses paths with you.

If you have not been in treatment and you are relying on this single C&P to diagnosis and relate your condition to the hearing problem I would not expect a high rating. High ratings are hard to get from the VA. If you need a high rating some ongoing psych treatment would be a good idea.

I have a brother with hearing loss. Sometimes it is like talking to a wall.