Psych Doc

[babyray]

:D I need a psych doc to give me an IMO for major depression disoder. Could anybody give me some names & numbers? Thx. Chow!!!!

[WHOLESALE]

babyray, didn't mean to upset you in any way on my question. I was just trying to understand your situation better.

thank you for posting your section G to give us more light on your situation. That definetely looks like a 70% rating exam to me but lets see what others say.

Deficiencies in most areas = 70% and your report is clear on this. Looks like a CUE to me since they didn't follow the regulations on their own rating criteria.

frank

TS Snave,

I appreciate your interest in my quest for fairness.

The tiger team isn't s_ _ t. The worst VARO in the country from what I understand.

I filed a recon claim for my MDD July 30, 2009.

This is what the C&P examiner wrote in section G:

Is there total occupational and social impairment due to mental disorder signs and symptoms? No

If there is not total occupational and social impairment, do mental disorder signs and symptoms result in deficiencies in the following areas (judgement, thinking, family relations, work, mood or school)? Yes

Judgment? No

Thinking? Yes

Examples including thosen already reported:

poor concentration, memory, attention

Family relations? Yes

Examples and pertinent symptoms, including those already reported:

irritible, grumpiness,

Work? Yes

Examples and pertinent symptoms, including those already reported:

pt tried a second career but pain and have not having the energy to continue he stopped last yr

Mood? Yes

Examples including those already reported:

low mood, low energy, lack of interest, feeling hopeless/worthless

Please get back with me right away. I like to know what you think about Section G. I think I should have gotten at least 30%. What do you think? Chow!!!

Edited August 8, 2009 by WHOLESALE

[babyray]

babyray, didn't mean to upset you in any way on my question. I was just trying to understand your situation better.

thank you for posting your section G to give us more light on your situation. That definetely looks like a 70% rating exam to me but lets see what others say.

Deficiencies in most areas = 70% and your report is clear on this. Looks like a CUE to me since they didn't follow the regulations on their own rating criteria.

frank

Edited August 17, 2009 by babyray

[babyray]

babyray, didn't mean to upset you in any way on my question. I was just trying to understand your situation better.

thank you for posting your section G to give us more light on your situation. That definetely looks like a 70% rating exam to me but lets see what others say.

Deficiencies in most areas = 70% and your report is clear on this. Looks like a CUE to me since they didn't follow the regulations on their own rating criteria.

frank

FRANK, thx for your concern & you did not upset me. What did you mean "they didn't follow the regulations on their own rating criteria", what is their rating criteria? Is this a CUE that I can look into? Thx a lot for your info. Get back w/ me ASAP

[WHOLESALE]

Babyray, below I posted the rating criteria for mental disorders (30-70%). Reason I say they didn't follow their own regulations is if you look at the rating criteria for 70% is clearly states, "Deficiencies in most areas." From looking at this part of your exam it is clear you're deficient in most areas such as work, etc. I'm not sure what exactly I would do but I think I would start by sending the VA an informal letter indicating you disagree with your 10% rating. And state in the letter that according to VA Schedular you feel you meet the criteria for a 70% rating since your exam is clear that you are deficient in most areas.

Take a look at the information below and compare it with your medical records and exam.

frank

Occupational and social impairment, with 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 worklike setting); inability to establish and maintain

effective relationships 70

Occupational and social impairment with reduced 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 50

Occupational and social impairment with occasional 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) 30

Edited August 9, 2009 by WHOLESALE

[babyray]

Babyray, below I posted the rating criteria for mental disorders (30-70%). Reason I say they didn't follow their own regulations is if you look at the rating criteria for 70% is clearly states, "Deficiencies in most areas." From looking at this part of your exam it is clear you're deficient in most areas such as work, etc. I'm not sure what exactly I would do but I think I would start by sending the VA an informal letter indicating you disagree with your 10% rating. And state in the letter that according to VA Schedular you feel you meet the criteria for a 70% rating since your exam is clear that you are deficient in most areas.

Take a look at the information below and compare it with your medical records and exam.

frank

Occupational and social impairment, with 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 worklike setting); inability to establish and maintain

effective relationships 70

Occupational and social impairment with reduced 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 50

Occupational and social impairment with occasional 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) 30

Frank, thxs very very much for your extremely kind & great help and guidance. I shall move on from here and give them hell. Chow!!!!

[tssnave]

BR, ~ Appeal ~

Yep, the C&P examiner overwhelmingly supported a 70% rating in Section G. Frank is correct in his assesment. Look over the part of the rating schedule he posted for you and then print out and review Section G of the C&P exam and the mental health rating schedule and read them until you understand how they line up with one another:

Here's the C&P exam link: http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/Benefits/exams/disexm37.htm

Here's the mental health rating schedule link: http://www.warms.vba.va.gov/regs/38CFR/BOO...ART4/S4_130.DOC

I would suggest you appeal and request a rating of 70% as well as 100% IU, Permanent and Total. That's what I did, appealed for the whole enchilada so I wouldn't have to make the VA my life's work, and I was successful. I can help you craft your appeal, if you haven't done so already, and others here can chime in and make it even better (wholesale, stick with us here).

You can use your C&P exam comments in Section G as evidence in your appeal. You can cite M21-1MR in your appeal along these lines:

70% Rating

According to M21-1MR, Part III, Subpart iv, Chapter 5, “the RSVR may not rely upon his/her own unsubstantiated medical conclusions to reject expert medical evidence”. Given that the VA C&P Exam states that my "mental disorder signs and symptoms result in deficiencies in the following areas (thinking, family relations, work, mood or school) I should be awarded a 70% rating.

100% Individual Unemployability

Furthermore, I have not worked in over X years, due solely to my service connected disabilities and I request evaluation for Individual Unemployablity (and then you include both the IU form and the employer form(s) so you don't have to wait another 6 years for them to get the IU paperwork done).

Permanent and Total

I request Permanent and Total rating due to the chronic nature of my service connected mental illness which the C&P examiner stated that the failure of my mental illness symptoms to remit for over 10 years was due to the chronic health stressors of my other sc disabilities.

Now, Babyray, to effectively fight your rating, I need to know what they wrote in the Reasons and Basis for not assigning a higher rating. This is critical to your appeal. You have to rebut, either with evidence or court cases, whatever it is they used to NOT give you the next higher rating, which, in your case, is 30%.

This information is in your Decision and should be a new paragraph starting with something along the lines of "The reason we did not assign you a 30% rating was .......................... (this is the information I need from you) and then they will cite the rating schedule for 30%.

Thanks,

TS

Edited August 10, 2009 by tssnave