From Personality Disorder To Adjustment Disorder

[blanco63]

I was honorably discharged from the navy in october, 1983 for personality disorder of mixed schizoid and schizotypal features. in november, 1983 i filed a claim for mental disorder. in may, 1985 i had my c & p exam and was diagnosed with adjustment disorder but they said it was non-compensable which was true. was i service connected at that time? in 2000, i reopened my claim and was told the same thing, you have adjustment disorder which is non-compensable. well, as of 11-7-96 it had become compensable. should the va had given me a percentage in 2000? did they make an error and would this be a reason to file a cue claim? if so, what is the best way to do one? do you fill out a certain form and send it to a certain person at the varo? i will be very grateful for any advice and opinions on this matter. thank you!

[blanco63]

to berta and fellow veterans - in 1985 i was not rated 0% sc nor 0% nsc. i can understand that as adjustment disorder was not payable at that time but was later. i just believe that service ocnnection was established in 1985 as they discharged me for personality do and then said i had adj do at the c and p. i will now give you more details. it is taken directly word for word from the paperwork i have. 10/17/83 hon discharged from the navy for mixed personality disorder, schizoid and schizotypal features. 11/30/83 i opened claim for mental disorder. 5/30/85 c and p exam diagnosed with adjustment disorder. 10/21/85 denied for mental disorder as mental deficiencies and personality disorders are not considered disabilities. veteran is diagnosed with personality and subsequent adjustment disorder is not a disability which is compensable. was i not service connected for adj do at that time without a percentage? 5/23/00 i reopened the claim and sent va my records from my doctor showing treatment for depression from 1996 - 2000 with zoloft. va answer - new and mat evidence has not been submitted(what were those 4 years of records). claim for mental cond denied 10/21/85. smr's showed personality do. va exam 5/30/85 showed adjustment do. neither of these are disabilities for which compensation is payable. well adj do(9440) had become payable as of 11/7/96 so why wasn't i given a percentage in 2000? what do you think about this? what do you think i should do? i will appreciate your help. thanks, john

[Berta]

I assume you now receive VA comp for adjustment disorder.

You could file a CUE claim.

CUE claims are hard to succeed in -you have to be peristent and fully support the CUE.

Be specific in it-

you made a good point as to the diagnostic code or lack of one :

"neither of these are disabilities for which compensation is payable. well adj do(9440) had become payable as of 11/7/96 so why wasn't i given a perc...."

Go to the CUE forum -there is plenty of info there and CUE claims can succeed.It is difficult but possible.

what actually is your 50% for now?

[blanco63]

hi berta, thanks for the quick response. right now i receive 50% for migraine headaches and just started two secondary claims for chronic pain syndrome and chronic fatigue syndrome. i am going to try to finish them before starting the cue claim. i think that is the route i must take because i have been denied 4 more times in the last 2 years for any mental condition everytime i got an increase for migraines. i even sent new evidence every time esp when i went for the 50% in may. at that time, my doctor even wrote a letter and stated that my bipolar disorder, social anxiety disorder, and chronic adjustment disorder were incurred in the navy and are related and connected to the personality disorder that i was diagnosed with in the navy. well, still got a denial on that and the letter was not even listed in the list of evidence. denial, ha ha? shouldn't i be getting increases, right? was i not already service connected for a mental disorder in 1985 and 2000? well, that's my story. i will appreciate all advice and opinions. thank you!

[Hoppy]

blanco 63

I have seen adjustment disorder service connnected as secondary to migrane headaches. You might need to pursue this in your claim otherwise the rest of this post deals with what I have read so far.

I am interpreting the decision you quoted differently than you are. It merely states that personality disorders and adjustment disorders are not service connectable. It is not clear that the C&P examiner stated that the adjustment disorder was the result of military service. It could easily be that they are saying that you have a personality disorder related to military service and adjustment disorder of which could have onset after service. Adjustment disorders can onset at any time of your life.

was i not service connected for adj do at that time without a percentage? You need to read the decision carefully. Does this decision specifically state that you are service connected at 0% for an adjustment disorder. Or are you just interpreting this. The decision would probably say something to the effect that service connection for adjustment disorder is granted.

You state that adjustment disorders became service connectable in 1997.I have not seen any recent cases where adjustment disorder was allowed unless it was secondary to another chronic service connected condition. I emphasize the word chronic. The primary condition must be chronic in order to service connect adjustment disorder as a secondary condition. The reason adjustment disorder is only awarded as secondary to another chronic condition is because adjustment disorder is not considered a chronic condition in and of itself. The DSM-IV specifically states that the symptoms of adjustment disorder cannot last more than six months. If the symptoms last more than six months then they need to apply another diagnosis. I will post some BVA decisions later today to show you how this is applied.

It will not be easy to determine that you should have been given compensation at an earlier date. This is because of diagnostic criteria may have changed. In the 80s you were diagnosed under the DSM III. At the time the law changed In 1997 the DSM –IV was in effect. The fact that the diagnostic criteria changed could confuse the issues of an earlier effective date. You can file a CUE claim at any time in the future. Considering that you're dealing with a diagnosis from the DSM and the DSM went through changes it would be premature to say that you have a CUE claim. It will require more investigation.

Edited November 24, 2009 by Hoppy

[john999]

The military likes to use adjustment disorder instead of PTSD. This is because adjustment disorder is less permanent and less severe. Why not post your decision so we can read the exact wording.

[Hoppy]

Citation Nr: 0902082

Citation Nr: 0917013

By a May 2006 Supplemental Statement of the Case, the RO

increased the disability rating for a service connected

adjustment disorder with mixed emotional features as

secondary to a service connected back disability, from 10

percent to 30 percent, effective September 12, 2005; the date

of referral to a mental health clinic for increased

depressive symptoms.