C&p Exam Favorable?

[silke]

Thanks for all yur help....

My husband was diagnosed by the air force with adjustment disorder with depressed mood and avoidant personality traits in 1993 after a sudden character change ( got arrested twice, art 15, violent behavior, problems at work)...He got out on a voluntary separation, honorably.

with 6 months of separation he became schizophrenic, he refused treatment and denied any problem...lack of insight and judgement is a typical symptom of schizophrenia, and with the mental health laws in place, he could not be forced into treatment or meds.

In 2006 i was able to stage a intervention and get him into treatment and on meds at a county clinic...in 2007 he started going to the va clinic and the doctor there diagnosed him with p.schizophrenia, he suggested we apply for ssd and va comp.

He got ssd within six months and last year we applied for va comp......we had a c&p exam last week...i went with him (his gaf is 35 and needs help to communicate)..pretty easy exam and at the end the doctor said she believes that his condition began in the service....essentially the adjustment do eventually became schizophrenia.

How much weight does the doctors opinion at the c&p exam hold for a favorable outcome???

[carlie]

Last thursday, a week after the c&p, I received a call from the VA and they told me his claim is going to the rating department

for a decision and it would take a few weeks. So i guess no more C&P's.....seems like its moving quick now.....dont know if thats good or bad....

from the research ive done on here, thats unusual!!...any input on that?

Thanks to all

silke,

Just to keep from being disappointed tell yourself it will be at least

6 months, before you get a rating decision.

[Joe Johansen]

Excellent advice you've received here. I can't add much except one idea (below) and to say definitely consult with an attorney who specializes in VA compensation cases, especially if they deny the claim.

One thing to check is if the examining psychologist provided a detailed rationale for her opinion. For example, did she point out symptoms that your husband exhibited in service that were actually "prodromal" (early) symptoms of schizophrenia?

If she (the psychologist) didn't provide much of a rationale in the report and if you get turned down, then your attorney could maybe ask the psychologist to write an addendum explaining in more detail how she reached the schizophrenia diagnosis. (I'm not sure if they can do that--really just thinking out loud here to try to cover all the possibilities for you).

Good luck!

Joe

[john999]

Yes, you know many can exhibit symptoms of major mental illness that are seen as either misconduct (criminal) or evidence of personality disorder. The military and VA are really famous for saying some person with schizophrenia or bi-polar is just a sociopath. This way they don't have to pay. For instance, a vet with PTSD is self medicating with illegal drugs. The army kicks him out as a drug addict. Now the vet has to show that his PTSD was the underlying condition and drug abuse was a symptom. This can be a real battle. I did it, but spent 3 months in three different nuthouses while I was in the army and on leave and after discharge. I took two years to get a rating after I was discharged.

[Pete53]

Is the VA saying that adjustment disorder is same as personality disorder. I don't like calling a Mental Health Disorder an adjustment disorder

[john999]

I don't think they are saying adjustment disorer is a PD, but maybe that it is not as serious or permanent as PTSD. When they see a sunami of PTSD claims coming at the it is the VA way to try and minimize that wave.

[Joe Johansen]

I don't think they are saying adjustment disorer is a PD, but maybe that it is not as serious or permanent as PTSD. When they see a sunami of PTSD claims coming at the it is the VA way to try and minimize that wave.

Right. An Adjustment Disorder is definitely less severe than a personality disorder. Wikipedia has good articles on both: Adjustment Disorder - Personality Disorder.

Unfortunately the military (especially Army & Marine Corps) were notorious for giving everybody an Adjustment Disorder (or personality disorder) diagnosis so that they wouldn't qualify for disability benefits (and for other reasons). I use the past tense in that last sentence because my (limited) understanding is that this tendency to under-diagnose has lessened in recent years. Of course, even if that is true, it doesn't help all the veterans who were in the service during the old days of "everyone has an adjustment disorder."

The good news is that experienced C&P examiners know about this history too and they take the military-based adjustment disorder diagnoses with a grain of salt.

Joe