ptsd C&p Exam Finally Pops Up

[out_here04]

envelope came in mail saturday saying i had my first-ever c&p follow-up scheduled for 1 feb 10 to my award a year or two ago of 100 percent temporary, total disability from anxiety/depression. i was pretty surprised at the immediacy, although in the back of my mind i figured it was coming,and had a panic attack of sorts at the idea of feeling that i have to defend my benefits on short notice. i may or not have gotten better, likely just became more apathetic about life in general. this officially gives me about ten days to wrap my mind around this before seeing a contracted c&p psychiatrist for evaluation. i know i could have been more of a student of va strategy by reviewing my c-file (which i haven't, although i got the letter saying i could go three hours away after making an appointment)' i do have a "card" to play to delay this, which i discuss below.

anyway, i have a few other questions to throw at the hadit wall and see if anything sticks...

i am pretty aware of what a psych c&p looks and feels like, although it has been a while. any reminders of what to expect are appreciated.

THE THING i have with this particular exam location and psych doc is THIS:

before i got in the pipeline for seeking tdiu or increased award (was previously rated 50 percent for anxiety/depression, with various others that top the 60 percent mark) i was trying to pursue voc rehab. my primary health plan was NOT va but through tricare. my wife grabbed a phone book looking for a psychologist or whoever for me to, for one, get back on track with mental health services, and two, to meet a requirement for voc rehab to have a psych doc verify that i was mentally stable for three months. i began seeing a psychologist who specializes in cognitive repair and ptsd among other things. during therapy he told me he had interned or whatever at va hospitals and was familiar with veterans issues. i told him initially that i was there to both continue treatment, to get my ticket punched for voc rehab, and to further document how ptsd affected me after viewing morbid remains while on active duty. as i progressed in the treatment i opened up to the doc and he seemed very "vet friendly". he had some ideas on how to "ease my troubled mind" and i was very ready, as always, to do so.

at one point i discussed with him an event in my youth that still bothers me somewhat. i then said "that's when it all started". what i meant was that's when i first became aware of an event that wasn't all hunky-dorey with my idea of a perfect world. he seemed to latch onto it, almost with a "gotcha" attitude reserved for those within the depths of the va rating boards. from that point on i half-heartedly continued therapy with him, finally requesting a decision on whether or not he would deem me three-months stable. oh, but he wasn't in the business of providing such a vocationally-related decision, he informed me. the relationship was becoming more and more adversarial, i thought. and all this from a guy who was, for all practical purposes, supposed to be an imo.

SO, when i submitted my claims package to va for tdiu (which they denied, instead rating me 100 percent temporary for anxiety/depression+60percent, qualifying me for the additional "statutory housebound" allowance) i purposely omitted the psych doc's rendered opinion because, thanks to hadit, i knew that it was not going to benefit my case, most likely to have given va the basis to revoke any award because of "personality disorder". being honest, i also did not include a report from the va resident psych doc who did an initial evaluation of me for voc rehab. he noted all of my challenges but indicated a small arena of highly supervised vocational options for me. i figured if they wanted to use his opinion against me in my claim, let THEM dig it up. however, after i gave social security permission to purge my va files, they used the same report to deny me benefits, so i have all but given up pursuing ssdi and halfway expect their report to make its way into this upcoming c&p process.

BACK TO this latest scheduling of a c&p exam. my initial c&p exam was scheduled for a psychiatrist working out of THE VERY SAME practice as the psychologist i had basically "fired". i called the va contract, what's their names(qtc?), and told them i wanted another psychiatrist because i had a conflict of interest with the practice. i envisioned showing up for an appointment and running into the psychologist who i fired and him chatting with his co-worker and gaining access to my c&p process) apparently, there was a c&p psych doc retirement, limiting options in the vamc city, etc, and i was scheduled hours away to another one, but i had to cancel because i was hospitalized for an unrelated medical issue. by the time i reschedule, it was with another c&p exam psychiatrist. the exam went well, with him apparently documenting and opining enough to support the other items in my package and grant me the subsequent 100 percent temporary award for anxiety/depression.

IRONICALLY OR NOT, the psychiatrist i am most recently scheduled to see on 1 feb is THE VERY SAME psychiatrist i took issue with (because of working at the same practice as the psychologist) before from my initial c&p exam. on a side note, i recently checked out this practice's website and the founder of the practice had been a psych doc at the same local vamc where i get my treatment before going into business himself (and SOMEHOW landing a contract with the va contactor, HMMMM>>>...and swooning at least one other psych doc with the same vamc on his resume, not to mention the other guy, my initial psychologist with this practice whom i "fired". smell it?

TO FURTHER COMPLICATE all of this, i am considering trying to "dumb down" my rating from 100 percent because of the stigma (i believe illegal/unwarranted) of 100 percent mental vs. physical veterans being penalized if they attempt to utilize their gi bills or to seek some form of employment. those of you who remember me, may recall that i have expressed wanting to use my mgib or 90 percent of the post 9/11 gi bill i also qualify for. i would even attempt to self-employ doing something. i admit to feeling cabin fever and like i'm just rotting away doing nothing. i know, volunteer, right?

before i call the va contract schedulers and request another doc this time, i thought i'd run ALL THIS past the minds of hadit. my basic areas of questioning are:

1. thoughts, opinions on requesting an alternate c&p examiner based on "conflict of interest". legal standing of this?

2. thoughts, opinions, experiences on issue of va (to their obvious benefit) of them pursuing "personality disorder", especially considering it was the unsolicited, subjective opinion of one imoish psychologist hired/fired by me? i still have all the hipa, privacy blahblahs, and have wondered what it would take for this to be "leaked" to va. lot of legal potential in my paranoid state, although i am pissed that the psych doc made me feel like i was admitting on record something that has nothing to do with the service-connected stressors that i claimed caused the beginnings of my anxiety/depression and va involvement with this.

3. thoughts, opinions on va-tainted psych docs who wind up in private practice and obtain (likely lucrative) contracts with va to evaluate veterans via supposedly(?) un-biased c&p exams.

4. thoughts, opinions on:

a. holding on like a beachhead to my 100 percent rating, possibly holding out for permanent and total,

b. begrudgingly easing up on a firm grasp of a 100 percent rating, so that at age late 40s, starting to feel old age aggravated by disability, but somehow gathering a second wind and settling for a lower rating, however freeing up the chance to go back to school and possible fulfillment through vocational means. i was initially denied voc rehab, buty may qualify if i reapply, another option.

i eagerly await the good, the bad and, even the ugly on this (i have meds). fire away.

[out_here04]

carlie, berta,

about social security:

carlie:

yes, i signed a ROI from VA to SSA.

yes, i realize i used the wrong word "purge" when i meant "gave access to" my va records to ssa

Was this an original denial for SSD benefits? yes

Have you submitted an appeal on SSA's denial? no, i did not. guess i thought i couldn't win against a statement saying that i could possibly work, even though it was in an unlikely environment.

Do you have an attorney or law firm representing you on the denial? never sought a lawyer, thought about appealing, just never did for the reason above.

berta:

Did you appeal or file a reconsideration request with SSA in time? i'm not sure what the time frame was, if it was only a year, i'm probably past that by a few months.

Did you obtain a SSA lawyer to appeal the denial? Did you contact ALLSUP to see if they could help with the SSA matter? i'll look into the ALLSUP link.

http://www.allsup.com/

thanks to you both

[out_here04]

read some on ssd denial, and the 60 days for written appeal. way over that, so guess i would have to start all over and the odds of winning in that get a lot worse. there was mention of a "good reason" for not making the timeframe like illness. my sc disability is all about missing deadlines. for another example, i missed the deadline for converting my sgli to vgli, so now all i have is $10,000 d-vgli policy. regular vgli folks deny any waiver as such and that is even more of my frustations with these processes. i am lucky i even got it this together (with a lot of help from hadit) and others who helped me this far along. i can only imagine that there are tons of veterans out there who do not obtain their benefits because they cannot overcome the very disabilities they should be getting compensated for. no matter what happens, i still consider myself among the lucky ones.

[out_here04]

c&p tomorrow. rescheduled to this one. whatever comes of it comes of it. thanks for all insights.

[Pete53]

Good Luck should be pretty simple and from your description should be a no change.

I knew a guy who missed his deadline for several years and was allowed to reopen by SS to original claim. He won and was back paid for 7 years.

He reopened was denied hired a Lawyer and won at Administrative Judge Level. The first level at SS can;t do much so even if you win you can still appeal and go to Judge to get back pay over a year.

[john999]

When you go for the exam be aware that the c&p doctor will be looking at things such as your clothing, your posture, if you combed your hair, if you shaved, if you smell bad, if you make and keep eye contact. The c&p doctor is going to see you for maybe 20 minutes. In that time all he has is you in front of him and some records he is not going to read. You want to make an impression that conveys your usual mental state. Some have suggested staying up the night before the exam and drinking about 20 cups of coffee. I would never suggest such a thing.