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!

[john999]

I don't know why the VA ties adjustment disorder to a physical illness? I understand depression due to pain and disability. I know that adjustment disorder is what many teenagers get DX'ed with when they are acting out. It is like a thing you grow out of.....not. Is the VA saying the vet is going through adjustment disorder due to trying to learn to live with their disability?

[blanco63]

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.

hello hoppy, thanks for your response. i am thinking that filing a claim for a mental disorder secondary to migraines may be the best way to go. as i said, about 2 weeks ago i opened 2 secondary claims for chr pain and fatigue syndromes so i will probably wait awhile to see where i get with them before opening another sec claim for mh. i assume it doesn't matter if you put one or several mental disorders secondary to migraines. let me explain. my one doctor diagnosed me with bipolar do and social anxiety do, the other bipolar and cognitive do and they would have no problem stating that one or all of them are due to migraines. if i did it this way, is it correct to say that i will not even have to mention or bring up personality or adjustment disorders? i think it may be best to forget about pursuing the adjustment do claim. in 1985 the va said i had it but i was never given even 0% because i believe they couldn't since they could not until it became compensable in nov of 1996. do you agree? i believe it will be much easier and faster to open secondary claims to an established illness already service connected, correct? i will be grateful if you can get back to me with your thoughts on all of this.

[blanco63]

I don't know why the VA ties adjustment disorder to a physical illness? I understand depression due to pain and disability. I know that adjustment disorder is what many teenagers get DX'ed with when they are acting out. It is like a thing you grow out of.....not. Is the VA saying the vet is going through adjustment disorder due to trying to learn to live with their disability?

hello, my 8:54 am post contains most of the wording from my 1985 and 2000 decisions. i agree with what you are saying about the va approving adjustment disorder due to a physical illness. does not make sense. if i decide to claim a mental do secondary to migraines, it will not be adjust do, probably would be bipolar do because my migraines do cause depression and mania. thanks for writing.

[timetowinarace]

blanco63,

I'm curious to know if you had a head injury or cuncusion in service.

The reason I ask is that PD and adj disorder DX's were common misdiagnoses for TBI in the 80's. You have allot of different MH DX's much of what might now be seen as a personality change and cognative disorder now known to be common with head injuries. Migraines, chronic fatigue, and chronic pain are also possible indicators of TBI residuals.

If you havn't had anything that could have caused a cuncusion then you can disregard this post. But if you have, and something shows in your SMR's, all your conditions could be comming from one source including your migraines. You could get a decent rating.

[Hoppy]

John,

I think the reason the raters are service connecting so many different psychological symptoms as secondary to a medical condition is because there is too much flexibility in the DSM. Maybe when they come out with the DSM V they will resolve this. It really doesn't matter what you call it the problem is that chronic medical conditions do in fact have long-term psychological repercussions.

[Vync]

John,

I think the reason the raters are service connecting so many different psychological symptoms as secondary to a medical condition is because there is too much flexibility in the DSM. Maybe when they come out with the DSM V they will resolve this. It really doesn't matter what you call it the problem is that chronic medical conditions do in fact have long-term psychological repercussions.

I agree completely, Hoppy. Also, remember that the DSM-IV is currently being updated, with a new release due out in either 2010 or 2011. I have a feeling that pages will be added, not removed.