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!

[Pete53]

Wings:

I agree they should spell it out in Entrance Exam or disqualify the canidate

[john999]

Did anyone here ever have a psycholoical exam when enlisting or being drafted into the military? I never had any such exam. They asked me if I had mental problems. I thought I was fine. I bet every person with any sort of potential or actual mental or PD problems probably thinks they are OK when they enlist.

[blanco63]

thanks for all of the responses. have a very happy thanksgiving! let me jump back to my original post on this topic. let's suppose a soldier was hon discharged last month with a personality disorder and files a claim for a psychiatric disorder this month. so in november 2010 he has his c and p exam and is diagnosed with adjustment disorder. wouldn't that be service connected? wouldn't he be given a percentage? so in 1985 i was diagnosed with adjustment do but it was not service connected and i wasn't given a percentage because it was not compensable. ok, i can understand the not compensable part because it was not until 11-7-96 but why wasn't service connection established at that time? the va changed my diagnosis to something else not a pers do, an adjust do. then i reopened in 2000 and what's their response, your adjustment disorder is not payable. did they forget about all of those changes in nov 1996 when it became payable? why wasn't i given a percentage in 2000? was i service connected in 1985 or 2000? i guess i'm hardheaded or need to be hit in the head with a hammer but i don't think that i am ever going to understand this. i still believe an error was made somewhere by them but what can be done if they did? would a cue even accomplish anything? i guess it is much easier and better to file a claim for bipolar do secondary to 50% migraines since i have almost every one of those symptoms from 10% to 100% on the 4.130-3 list and if that's what's necessary my psych will send them a letter with an example of each and every one of them. plus i'll throw in another copy of my ssdi award for migraines and bipolar do. what do you all think? do you think that this a much better way than pursuing and fighting that old claim? thank you for listening, john, pa

[Wings]

thanks for all of the responses. have a very happy thanksgiving! let me jump back to my original post on this topic.

let's suppose a soldier was hon discharged last month with a personality disorder and files a claim for a psychiatric disorder this month. so in november 2010 he has his c and p exam and is diagnosed with adjustment disorder. wouldn't that be service connected? wouldn't he be given a percentage? No, not necessarily. The veteran would have to prove to the Dept of Veterans Affairs, that his current disability was incurred during military service. The Dept. of Defense (DoD) and the Dept of Veterans Affairs each have theiir own, separate and distict rules and regulations under the US Code.

Service connection requires:

(1) medical evidence of a current disability;

(2) medical or, in certain circumstances, lay evidence of inservice incurrence or

aggravation of a disease or injury; and

(3) medical evidence of a nexus [otherwise known as a link] between the claimed inservice disease or injury and the present disease or injury.

See also http://www.hadit.com/establishing_service_...mpensation.html

so in 1985 i was diagnosed with adjustment do but it was not service connected and i wasn't given a percentage because it was not compensable. ok, i can understand the not compensable part because it was not until 11-7-96 but why wasn't service connection established at that time?

the va changed my diagnosis to something else not a pers do, an adjust do. then i reopened in 2000 and what's their response, your adjustment disorder is not payable. did they forget about all of those changes in nov 1996 when it became payable? why wasn't i given a percentage in 2000? was i service connected in 1985 or 2000? i guess i'm hardheaded or need to be hit in the head with a hammer but i don't think that i am ever going to understand this. i still believe an error was made somewhere by them but what can be done if they did? would a cue even accomplish anything? i guess it is much easier and better to file a claim for bipolar do secondary to 50% migraines since i have almost every one of those symptoms from 10% to 100% on the 4.130-3 list and if that's what's necessary my psych will send them a letter with an example of each and every one of them. plus i'll throw in another copy of my ssdi award for migraines and bipolar do. what do you all think? do you think that this a much better way than pursuing and fighting that old claim? thank you for listening, john, pa

Edited November 26, 2009 by Wings

[Vync]

Did anyone here ever have a psycholoical exam when enlisting or being drafted into the military? I never had any such exam. They asked me if I had mental problems. I thought I was fine. I bet every person with any sort of potential or actual mental or PD problems probably thinks they are OK when they enlist.

John999,

Yes, they gave me one because my first duty assignment was highly classified. I think the DOD also visited half my family members and even interviewed their neighbors too. After about a year, I started having trouble with nightmares and they quickly referred me to MH for re-eval. They just told me I was overworked.

[Hoppy]

Blanco63

Click on this link or copy and paste it into your browser.

http://www4.va.gov/vetapp09/files3/0922300.txt

Service connection is determined by the medical evidence. The medical evidence specifically needs to state that it is more likely than not that there is there is a link between a current diagnosis and in in-service diagnosis. If it saysw "as likely as not" that will also work. The raters who service connect do not read between the lines. If the Dr. does not say that your adjustment disorder was related to service I do not see how a rater could award service connection for adjustment disorder. Adjustment disorder is not often considered chronic. The condition must be chronic to be considered service connected. A cue cannot be based on the failure of a Dr. to make a diagnosis or fail to establish a link between the current condition and the in-service condition.

It does not appear that you have a current diagnosis for adjustment disorder. As I said adjustment disorders may come and go. However, bipolar disorder can be service connected even if it is diagnosed for the first time after service. You need to show that the symptoms in the military were early symptoms of bipolar. I'm going from memory and I think I remember correctly. Bipolar is often misdiagnosed because the symptoms develop over a longer period of time. Bipolar disorder often displays early symptoms that go undiagnosed. It is considered common for the condition to show early symptoms around the age of 20. You need to continue researching BVA decisions on bipolar. I'm sure that I remember several cases where doctors wrote opinions that the symptoms as noted in the veteran service medical records were early symptoms of bipolar and service connection was awarded. If you have trouble finding these types of cases let me know and I will continue to search on my own.

The assessment that wings outlined in her post will be considered. However, I have seen personality disorders rediagnosed to a service connectable conditions by C&P examiners and treating physicians in one short paragraph. Paragraph specifically said that review of the service medical records shows that the veteran had an anxiety disorder which onset while in the military. What we are saying here is that you definitely need to have the entire history of your bipolar disorder or any other current diagnosis reviewed for the purpose of establishing any relationship between a current condition and the symptoms noted in the service medical records. Whether or not you have a claim will be determined on the medical evidence produced by qualified clinician. We hear on hadit can only point you in the direction of learning how to be the master of your claim. A good way to start is by reading BVA cases. I just found a good case and posted a link above,

Edited November 26, 2009 by Hoppy