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]

Hoppy

No question from my own experience that medical conditions impact on a person's mental health. I was not doing too bad until the chronic pain thing began to drive me nuts. I was getting it from my employer and losing my ability to be mobile and do the things I like to do. Depressing and distressing, especially when you employer is threatening to fire you constantly because you are no longer able to do your job.

Time

No doubt TBI can make marked and severe personality changes. My father-in-law had severe TBI and he went from being a good marine to a arsonist and criminal. After the head injury he did not even know his name. He recovered to the extent that he seemed normal, but he was anything but normal. He could not control impulses or tolerate any stress. When under stress he would do crazy things like setting his house on fire.

[cowgirl]

Just thought I'd post some thoughts for support. Something about this rating doesn't sound correct. There is no mention of medical or social problems in the military that caused the discharge or medical treatment while on duty. No insult intended, but suspect something 'caused' thier discharge 'choice' on your behalf. There is also no mention of the infamous GAF score that VA boldly listed on rating decisions for me.

Found interesting discussion on DSM and VA ''reduction' use of diagnostic codes, with example of 'adjustment disorder' and possible clues how to help a civilian doctor 'adapt' their 'diagnosis' to that of the VA. A private doc could use a more 'va' type diagnosis to present similar information?. http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_i...85&page=259 (also see pages 257 & 258...)

I also found one other interesting case that could bear reading http://www4.va.gov/vetapp03/Files/0323863.txt

......"With regard to a psychiatric disorder, the service medical records from the veteran's 1978-1981 active duty show that he was treated in service for situational anxiety and tension headaches. He was treated with Mellaril, which is generally used to treat both psychotic disorders and depression. At separation from service, a reviewing doctor indicated that the veteran had a history of depression, although at the time

of separation he did not have any significant mental illness. Years after service, in the 1990s, the veteran was treated for various psychiatric conditions, including dysthymia (which is a form of depression) and for schizophrenia.

While there might be better evidence of continuity of symptomatology since service (see 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(B)), the Board finds that the evidence is in equipoise on the issue of whether the veteran's current dysthymic disorder is a continuation of a condition that was first manifested and treated in active service. Giving the benefit of the doubt to the veteran, the Board concludes that a psychiatric

disorder (dysthymic disorder) was incurred in active service, warranting service connection. See 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(:D."

Best to (( ya )) ~ !

Cg

[Vync]

Hoppy

No question from my own experience that medical conditions impact on a person's mental health. I was not doing too bad until the chronic pain thing began to drive me nuts. I was getting it from my employer and losing my ability to be mobile and do the things I like to do. Depressing and distressing, especially when you employer is threatening to fire you constantly because you are no longer able to do your job.

Time

No doubt TBI can make marked and severe personality changes. My father-in-law had severe TBI and he went from being a good marine to a arsonist and criminal. After the head injury he did not even know his name. He recovered to the extent that he seemed normal, but he was anything but normal. He could not control impulses or tolerate any stress. When under stress he would do crazy things like setting his house on fire.

I talked with John999 about chronic pain/depression and everything suddenly started to make sense. John999 was also right about the medication they would give me. My level of pain was pretty constant when I got out. Over the years, it has slowly became worse. My range of motion has reduced, so I am considering a request to increase SC. If I talk all day on the phone at work, I might have to eat my dinner from a blender. Luckily, I have not got into serious trouble yet, but am pointed out on making mistakes and overlooking things which used to be elementary to my job.

This is a cruel cycle to live by. I am in pain and cannot concentrate at work. I take my medication to alleviate the pain, but I still cannot concentrate at work. Hey, at least I am now out of pain. But the pain medicine backs up my GI track. It's hard to go because my back also hurts, but the muscle relaxers kick in and I don't have the effort to put into it. So, I take the laxative and I am in the bathroom half the day. I go from being in pain unable to concentrate to not being in pain, but still unable to concentrate, but at least I am in the bathroom with a stack of magazines. Kinda screwed either way I look at it.

[blanco63]

Just thought I'd post some thoughts for support. Something about this rating doesn't sound correct. There is no mention of medical or social problems in the military that caused the discharge or medical treatment while on duty. No insult intended, but suspect something 'caused' thier discharge 'choice' on your behalf. There is also no mention of the infamous GAF score that VA boldly listed on rating decisions for me.

Found interesting discussion on DSM and VA ''reduction' use of diagnostic codes, with example of 'adjustment disorder' and possible clues how to help a civilian doctor 'adapt' their 'diagnosis' to that of the VA. A private doc could use a more 'va' type diagnosis to present similar information?. http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_i...85&page=259 (also see pages 257 & 258...)

I also found one other interesting case that could bear reading http://www4.va.gov/vetapp03/Files/0323863.txt

......"With regard to a psychiatric disorder, the service medical records from the veteran's 1978-1981 active duty show that he was treated in service for situational anxiety and tension headaches. He was treated with Mellaril, which is generally used to treat both psychotic disorders and depression. At separation from service, a reviewing doctor indicated that the veteran had a history of depression, although at the time

of separation he did not have any significant mental illness. Years after service, in the 1990s, the veteran was treated for various psychiatric conditions, including dysthymia (which is a form of depression) and for schizophrenia.

While there might be better evidence of continuity of symptomatology since service (see 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(B)), the Board finds that the evidence is in equipoise on the issue of whether the veteran's current dysthymic disorder is a continuation of a condition that was first manifested and treated in active service. Giving the benefit of the doubt to the veteran, the Board concludes that a psychiatric

disorder (dysthymic disorder) was incurred in active service, warranting service connection. See 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(:D."

Best to (( ya )) ~ !

Cg

hello, did you read my 11:17 am post today where my doctor wrote a letter to the va about my mental disorders but i still got denied. they didn't even use the letter in their decision and wasn't even on the list of evidence. well that's ok for now as i have recently applied for both chronic pain and fatigue syndromes secondary to migraines and she wrote a nice letter to that effect. hopefully that will turn out positive, then i will apply for bipolar do and soc anxiety do secondary to migraines. all of these years trying to show that my mental disorders started in the navy (they did) and connected to the personality disorder (they are) have gotten me nowhere so it is time to take a new route. i have seen many claims for mental do's on the bva website granted secondary to migraines so i will give it a try. i have noticed over the years that it is very difficult to beat those 2 words, personality disorder. i see that it is still being given out to our current military in order to save big bucks, correct? i want to thank everyone for all of your advice and input, john, pa

[john999]

Remember that "personality disorder" in most VA claims means no compensation. You don't ever want to say any of your present problems are due to a personality disorder. You may have a PD, but you need to show that you have MH disorders that are not PD's.

[Hoppy]

The personality disorder that you were diagnosed with in the military was considered a developmental condition in was not service connectable. Trying to link other mental conditions as secondary to the personality disorder would not result in a service connectable secondary condition. Additionally, you are only linking this in your own logic. You are probably just arguing what you thought was happening with the VA. From what I've read the C&P examiner just called your condition a personality disorder with a subsequent adjustment disorder. The doctor did not specifically state that the adjustment disorder first occurred while in the military nor did he related in any other condition in the military including a personality disorder.

The specific language is very important. You have learned a lot. You're on the right track now. Reading BVA cases is a good idea. If somebody were to really dig into your SMR they could probably determine that you were misdiagnosed by military clinicians. I have assisted several veterans in getting misdiagnosed personality disorders rediagnosed and service connected for anxiety disorders and bipolar. I have worked with a VA staff clinician who has a PhD in clinical psychology and has performed compensation and pension exams for the veteran administration for close to 20 years. This clinician takes great offense to the diagnosis given by military psychiatrists. She directly confronts the diagnosis and writes reports that they were made in error. I do not think that this type of attack is necessary at this time. I'll bet that the reason you were diagnosed a personality disorder is because you are complaining of headaches in the military. In any event linking current diagnoses as secondary to the service connected migraines is a much better angle than linking a current diagnosis to the in-service personality disorder.