Just Got Out Of Mental Heath

[ranger11bv]

I just got out of the mental health ward at the VA in Phoenix. I was wondering if I should file and what for??

[Hoppy]

Evidence of behavior changes following the claimed assault is one type of relevant evidence that may be found in these sources. Examples of behavior changes that may constitute credible evidence of the stressor include, but are not limited to: a request for a transfer to another military duty assignment; deterioration in work performance; substance abuse; episodes of depression, panic attacks, or anxiety without an identifiable cause; or unexplained economic or social behavior changes.

I agree with Quibley, the above criteria is not often given much weight by most adjudicators. Your best shot is with the BVA and providing additional evidence such as statements from people you knew at that time, and or, strong medical reports,etc.

A DRO denied my PTSD claim due to personal assault stating that because I did not tell the doctors in the military about the attack that he would only accept confirmation of the stressor if I produced a police report. If you are interested in reading about the overwhelming secondary evidence of a stressor that was available keep reading. I was of the opinion that the DRO failed to give any consideration to the secondary evidence and actually failed to properly apply the law. I would have filed an appeal to the BVA except they awarded my angioedema claim which in and of itself requires situational avoidance and escape actions similar to avoidance and escape symptoms involved with a mental condition.

I filed a PTSD claim in 2001 due to personal assault. My claimed stressor was that I was attacked while sleeping in a barracks. I feel asleep quickly. I make unusual breathing noises and sleep with my mouth open due to my angioedema. The noise I make was keeping people awake in the barracks. Someone put a foreign substance in my mouth while I was sleeping. I awoke choking and having a laryngeal spasm and could not breathe for three minutes. During which time I thought I had taken my last breath.

After I was able to catch my breath I broke the nose of the first person I saw. About ten guys jumped out there bunks to break up the fight because they were awake and watched the entire event. I notified the barracks master at Arms and he thought it was a harmless prank and told everybody to get back into their bunks. No report was taken. The guy whose nose I broke told the doctors that he was at the EM club and pissed off about thirty marines and as he was leaving the club he got hit (blindsided) and did not see the attacker and there were no witnesses.

When I filed the PTSD claim I had been fighting my angioedema claim for about three years and reading posts on hadit. I did all my homework.

My personnel file and service medical records provided evidence that I developed a sleep disorder and and specifically stated that I moved off the base so I would not have to sleep in the barracks. I was referred to a psychiatrist by a sick call doctor when he decided that something was wrong with me. I did not ask to see a psychiatrist and had no idea of what to say when I went to the appointment. The sick call doctor asked me why I was not responsive I told the sick call doctor I was having problems sleeping. As time went on I requested a transfer, my quarterly marks had fallen off, I was diagnosed with somatization, depression and anxiety and given an administrative discharge due to an “emotionally unstable personality disorder”. I would have been given a medical discharge. However, at that time there was a BUPERS instruction telling doctors and commands to give an administrative discharge because they thought the stigma of a medical discharge for a mental condition was detrimental to what they considered to be an expected partial remission of symptoms after discharge.

As you can see there was no police report. I did not specifically state that I was attacked to doctors. I had no statements from people I was stationed with. I did not need statement s from people showing a change of behavior because the change of behavior was well documented by doctors. My claim relied heavily on secondary evidence of a stressor.

I took my SMR and personnel file to a qualified VA staff mental health specialist (PHD) and got an opinion from the clinician that it was her interpretation of the reports of record that the reports indicate that it is more likely than not my current PTSD was related to the attack in the barracks. The current PTSD diagnosis was completely supported as meeting DSM IV criteria. The VA clinician stated that my claimed stressor was consistent with and supported by the significant symptoms identified in the military records. The clinician stated that the personality disorder diagnosis I was given in the military was not supported by psychometric testing and the history’s taken by military clinicians was insufficient to justify a personality disorder diagnosis. The clinician stated that the military clinicians based their diagnosis on unreliable criteria in the DSM II and was speculative at best. The PHD’s report was also signed by a VA staff psychiatrist.

[Hoppy]

If you read my previous post then read this one. If you did not read my previous post this will make no sense. Where I said that BUPERS had an instruction for mental conditions I should have said that the instruction was for mental conditions determined to be personality disorders or immiturity.

[ranger11bv]

I took the time to send for the morning reports.

[ranger11bv]

What should I expect in these reports?

[Commander Bob]

What should I expect in these reports?

That depends.

JMHO in 6 to 8 weeks, you should get a reply... We can hope for the best. Did you go through your Congressional office?? We are talking about records that are around 26 years old. Mine were around 35 years old, however, I used a congressman's office.

Edited August 9, 2010 by Commander Bob

[ranger11bv]

That depends.

JMHO in 6 to 8 weeks, you should get a reply... We can hope for the best. Did you go through your Congressional office?? We are talking about records that are around 26 years old. Mine were around 35 years old, however, I used a congressman's office.

Ill do that tomorrow.