ptsd Ptsd

[ejw4856]

Good morning all.Im new here to posting but have read alot of posts here,which offers good answers.I have just received my award for ptsd at 30%.One of the reasons i think i was lowballed was thw dr gave me a gaf score of 32.i know the raters dont go by this number but includes it with their decision.Some of what he said was right but it goes far more with depression and panic attacks and sometimes just get so depressed that i dont go anywhere and dont accosiate with friends and family.Do u think that i should be rated at 50-70%.I also have asthma and copd and after last pft test that 2-3 years left if that.so what i would like to do is get a higher rating so i may get iu.i hope im saying this right but im not sure.thanks for any answers.

[Berta]

I suggest to get copy of that C & P exam - it seems to me that the RO sure parsed and manipulated it-and they ignored the unemployability statement in it.

and send it in with a request for reconsideration and attach a filled out TDIU form to the request.

Although the GAF is not the only criteria for a PTSD rating- my husband went from 34 GAF to 26 and they still denied him higher than 30% rating.He also received SSA solely for PTSD.They ignored the SSA findings by never requesting the actual SSA records.

With his low GAF there was obvious manifestations to not only his home life and school program but also the VA, as his employer, certainly provided some interesting facets of his PTSD that showed it affected him at work. (This grew out of a EEOC complaint he filed and some of his co workers and supervisor were thrilled to say he was crazy etc. in EEOC testimony)

My point here is that PTSD manifests itself in all sorts of situations.With a GAF that low it must be affecting your ability to work and have a 'normal' life socially and in personal relationships.

The schrapnel -friends and relatives statements wont help -you need a buddy statement for that.

The COPD- what exposure in service to any chemical agent (IE mustard gas, Asbestos, etc) that might possibly be the inservice link to that?

WOuld the VA deliberately parse and manipulate a C & P exam?

You bet- I have some SOCs here that they did that in- and I did not allow them to get away with it.

You need a copy of the actual C & P exam results.

If the Doctor's report reflects what she says it did, you need that report and the VA has got to consider it fully.

Consider all the advise yo got here-I hope you have a supportive vet rep too.

In my husband's case the VA did award 100% P & T for PTSD after I had to practically force them to consider all of the evidence.It didn't do him any good as the award came 3 years after he died.

[john999]

Will VARO parse all the evidence submitted by the vet to get their desired outcome. You bet they will! Will they parse or ignore IMO or private doctors records. You bet they will! It is a battle. Will they search through your entire c-file to find one statement to contradict a claim. Yes, they will especially if it means big bucks for the vet. All these things have happened to me over the years.

[LarryJ]

So, you were a truck driver in the nam?

And, being a truck driver, what did you haul?

Did you happen to haul 55 gallon barrels?

Did these 55 gallon barrels have, say, for example, defoliant, in them?

Like, possibly, Agent Orange?

just askin'................

[stillhere]

Like I said before the doc blew it on the write up. I think you are going to need him to look at the criteria required for the 100% rating (if that is what he thinks you should have) and write the symptoms down to support that rating.

The decision rater at the VA goes by that and does not have the medical know how or the knowledge to just look at a Gaf. Although I also am still in disbelief that the rater should have looked at that Gaf and the write and asked the doc for a more concise write up.

In other words the write up does not fit the Gaf at all!

There are those that will say the Gaf is not the deciding factor and they are true but in this case it is so out of whack that a RED Flag should have gone up.

Edited July 14, 2010 by stillhere