ptsd Unsure About Ptsd Claim

[westcoastlv]

My husbad was in the Persian Gulf. His DD214 shows Combat Action Ribbon and Southwest Asia Service Medal w/bronze Star, Kuwait Liberation Medal Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. We have recently (July 2010) filed a claim for PTSD. We have received the VCAA notice, and a letter stating they are still working on the claim. We have a service rep at the VAC who told us that the next letter to expect is to schedule the C&P Exam.

About 5 years ago my husband was diagnosed with BiPolar Disorder by a private psychiatrist. He has been taking medicine for it ever since. Little did we know at the time that the symptoms for Bi Polar and PTSD are very similar, with the exception of the stressor. The private psych didn't ask about any stressors, and we didn't even think there was a connection to the Gulf War. After some research and long thought, we started to pinpoint when my husbands behavior actually began to change. This 'disorder' began during his shore duty, after his time on the ship. He has just started seeing at VA pysch, and we told her about the PTSD, but also had to mention the bipolar (which we said was a misdiagnosis) so that he could keep on his meds. We obtained a copy of his first and only visit with the VA pysch and she mentioned the PTSD and bipolar, had a GAF of 65, and stated that there were some other mental health issues. This has been requested and received by the VA Comp as well. It did not give a definitive diagnosis of PTSD. We have NOT sent any private pysch clinic notes. I spoke with my husbands previous private pysch, and he agrees that his issues are most likely PTSD, but has no notes to that effect because the stressors were never discussed, and he based his diagnosis on what we told him had been previously diagnosed. We have another VA appt tomorrow, and I am thinking that we should stress the PTSD (at least to get it in her notes).

The VAC service rep said that we would most likely get 70% for the PTSD because of the Combat Action Ribbon, but I am concerned that is may not be such a slam dunk. My husband is in desparate need of a rating because he is unable to work. He has an extremely hard time coping with life, even with the medications.

My questions are: should we request that the VA pysch give him a complete PTSD evaluation tomorrow? How does the civilian diagnosis of BiPolar affect the PTSD claim? Or, will this all be resolved in the C&P exam regardless of previous diagnosis? Should we also go to a private pysch and request the PTSD evaluation?

I have written a letter about how my husband's life has been affected by this, and also a letter from him. Who do I show these to?

We've requested other ratings as well: Tinnitus, Bilateral Hearing Loss, and Elbow.

Any advice or insight would be helpful.

[westcoastlv]

Berta, thanks for the feedback. I guess my question about the stressors comes from whether this doctor (eval tomorrow) will give him a PTSD diagnosis. I'm not concerned about proving it to the VARO, I am concerned about getting the actual diagnosis from this doctor. Why, my husbands memory is bad, he does not / will not show emotion, and still has an extremely difficult time expressing himself to strangers. I know the PTSD eval is the one place you should open up, but I'm afraid he can't open up to strangers. I worry that this doctor will classify him as having something else (because I think VA docs are getting to be unwilling to diagnose PTSD as a front line defense for the VA).

[Berta]

I commented on the VA-required diagnosis for PTSD for the new PTSD claims- when they published the proposed regs some time ago at the Federal Register site-

and I also spoke to COngressman Filner about this when he was guest at SVR radio a few months ago.

His comment to me was that "they" The H VAC - was "looking into that."

Perhaps this issue will come up in future House Vets Affairs Committee hearings.

My position was to the Congressman that it would be completely unfair and against all past established VA case law and regulations to not allow any vet-who does not get a VA PTSD diagnosis from a VA provider yet who also has ample private evidence and/or a private IMO of PTSD diagnosis--to be able to support their claim and succeed under Relative Equipoise (the Doctrine of Benefit of Doubt).

Time will tell as to how VA is going to diagnose and handle PTSD claims falling under the new regulations.

[westcoastlv]

Berta, I agree, only time will tell how the VA will handle the new PTSD regs.

However, I can see right now that the totality of VA workers are clueless. First, we requested a PTSD evaluation 'referral' from mental health doctor. Well, what we got was sent to the mental health clinic, seen by a social worker who proceeded to tell us that she was only available for one-on-one talk therapy, and not able to assess PTSD (only a psychiatrist or psycologist can). I would think that mental health doctor knew that before she sent us off on this goose chase. Needless to say, we left empty handed, no assessment, nothing but frustration.

Seeing I received the elusive military service records myself, I faxed/sent them to the VARO. Called today to see if they had been logged in yet. I was told by the representative that they had not been logged, and it didn't matter anyway because VA was obligated to continue to wait to receive the records from Archives (which doesn't have them). Really, why is that? He told me that there were documents contained within the records that proved the stressors happened, with specific dates and times. I have the records right here and I don't see anything more than my husband did a tour in the Persian Gulf during the war, dates, but sorry no times. And I didn't see anything relating to events that happened on the ship, or mines being imploded in the gulf, of scud missiles anywhere in the file. So, upon further inquiry to the rep, I was told that I probably didn't get the complete records, that the Dept of Navy only sent me partial information. When I mentioned the new PTSD regs stating that need to verify the stressor account was no longer necessary as long as the claimed stressor is consistent with places, types and circumstances of the veteran' services and there is no information to the contrary, and the dd214 has the proper dates and CAR, there should be no need to prove stressors with dates and times. At that point, he said that there were still waiting on records from archives (again I told him archives didn't have them) and it could take up to 1-year to receive them, or even a response that they don't have them.

Now, I'm thinking I should get my congressman/senator involved. It's been 4-mos total, but 104-days waiting on records that they will never get from archives who never had them. That's the part that pisses me off. 4-mos is not that long, but the retardation over these records has me so angry and I feel like something must be done.

Any advice about integrating a 3rd party (congressman/senator)? We told our DAV about the wait for records, but he didn't seem to think that was a problem.

[Berta]

"He told me that there were documents contained within the records that proved the stressors happened, with specific dates and times. I have the records right here and I don't see anything more than my husband did a tour in the Persian Gulf during the war, "

??? I guess he had a crystal ball-

Most SMRs (Service Medical Records) would only contain information on a stressor if the stressor involved medical care (Such as Gun shot wound, IED explosion and treatment etc.

Personnel records might contain something that showed stressor occurred such as a specific decoration but that would be on the DD 214.

It is too soon in this claim to assume what VA will do=- as to the CAR on his DD 214 and they could conceded stressor with that.

They would most likely request JSRRC to confirm this sterssor if they needed confirmation.

Contact info is here for JSRRC under a search, and some vets contact them themselves to have their stressor verified.

Your husband would have to give details as to time and place etc for them to verify it.But it is always possible the VA will conceded Stressor with the CAR on his DD 214.

"We told our DAV about the wait for records, but he didn't seem to think that was a problem."

No, this is SOP and with almost one million claims projected to be in the system by year's end-

"Any advice about integrating a 3rd party (congressman/senator)?"

In my opinion (been there done that)

this can add significant time to a claim and COngressmen/Senators don't award claims-

only evidence does.

You asked in prior post:

"Is a C&P exam inevitable?" Yes

"Then what?"

If he is diagnosed with PTSD , the exam will cover areas that help raters determine the level of compensation his disability involves.

it is hard to say how long anything is going to take.

Edited November 30, 2010 by Berta

[westcoastlv]

Thanks Berta. Very helpful as to what to expect. This whole experience is very frustrating for my husband and he certainly feels like he's getting the run around. I have to remind him that this is the government, what else did he think would happed.

[westcoastlv]

Thanks to everyone at HadIt.com for your words of wisdom and insight. I just found out today that my husband will be receiving letters scheduling the C&P exams he's been waiting for - 3 total. Through all the bs of waiting for records ordered from the wrong agency, to the stack of 'still working on it' letters and numerous phone calls, we have finally reached the point where my husband can be examined by VA doctors. Which is a challenge in itself, but at least it's a new challenge.

To anyone in the midst of a claim, all I can recommend is be diligent. I feel as if I have nothing but time and tenacity when it comes to working on my husband's behalf to secure what we feel he deserves. I have no idea how this will all turn out, or what his eventual rating will be, but I know that we have stayed the course, or should I say obstacle course of the VA.

This website has given me the most encouragement. I have done lots of research and read as much as I can about this broken system. The squeaky wheel definitely gets the attention.

As a side note, through the research, we now believe that my husband my also fit into the category of Gulf War Illness. Not with the infectious diseases, but what has been labeled at other conditions (illnesses) not diagnosed. We have already began the Gulf War Illness exams process which involves blood work, xrays, then doctor's evaluation. If nothing else, we are now on the registry, so as the goverment discovers more information (or it's leaked) we will be kept informed. I hate to think that some future illness could be attributed to what we don't know now.

Can anyone offer advice on what to do if the Gulf War Illness exams results warrant a claim? Should it be a new claim, or the original claim reopened? I think (which may go against how the VA thinks) that if in fact this 'illness' should become a claim, the VA already has all the necessary information - 'verified gulf war theater', and a medical diagnosis of Gulf War Illness. Would this 'add' to the original claim delay the original claim? Or if it is a new claim, would we have to go through everything all over again, or will VA realized that they already have all the pertinent information and avoid the lengthy 'development' phase?

I would like feedback from anyone who has had a claim in, and before it was settled, had a new issue to add. I would like to know how it was handled and what the end result was.

Thanks