Why Is This Process So Stressful?

[autumn]

**if this topic should be moved elsewhere, just let me know moderator as i didn't know whey to put it

when we veterans have our claims sent in with (documentation, corroboration, history, med reports, imo, etc) why is this process so stressful? or let me say stressful to me"me". the whole process has actually increased some of my symptoms that i'm SC'd for. i'm sure many of you can relate to that. just a fact, no complaint.

i can't really put it into words or perspective, this stressor of filing claims with the VA. its not only mental & physical, its financial stress, i.e. some of us have to get outside imo due to no one at VA will document the real deal, medically speaking. like a truthful supportive counter argument to what VA writes.

i thought i would ask this for myself and any other newbie to the system in that it might help them & me understand (if anything at the VA is understandable regarding claims)

[justrluk]

Amen to those comments! These define well what others have experienced when so much is in play: emotions X health issues X the attempt to get care X the fight for compensation / (family & friend support) = STRESS.

[autumn]

These are just a few of the many reasons why it is so painfully stressful:

(IMHO)

1)You know you are right, they are wrong

2)They overlook clear evidence that is already in your SMR's, put in by military during active duty

3)They treat people badly, like they have no heart, no soul (a number)

4)They make you feel like you are fighting a criminal conviction

5)The VA is so slow, many people are scared they wil die before their case goes through

6)The VA is setup so it takes a minimum of 2 years to actually speak tto someone face-2-face to explain your case in your own words

7)It appears a Disabled Veterans needs training in both medical and legal just to file papers and speak V.A., B.S.

8)If the Veteran does get legal help, often the help isn't as helpful as hoped or needed.

9)The rules seem to be encrypted, hard to find, hard to understand, even to the educated in such matters as Disability Law, etc.

10)If the Vet has suffered in pain, from a little to unbearable, the VA adds much greater stress.

11)The financial hardship, especially if the Vet is unable to work, destroys quality of life, family. This usually is forever. Even if corrected by appeals.

12)Most the time one must go through years of appeals.

13)If one does win appeals, the phsycological damage is there forever, even after the win.

14)Some VA letters Vets receive from the VA, can be devastating, and cause Disabled Vets extreme greif.

15)The sick, disabled (or both) Vet usually has to find a specialist doctor on the outside, to write an IMO. These can be extremely expensive. As, most the time, the VA doctors will not write IMO's.

16)The disabled Vet finds out they could have done something better, missed soem step that would have made the process much much better, and gets screwed out of many years of medical help, financial help, family benefits, and a very long list of items and benefits which the Vet legally should have gotten a long while back, and will most liely never recover what could have been the whole time. (and the VA knew damned well the Vet was legally entitled but never told the Vet).

more coming..

i'm glad this was posted. again, it helped me to see in words what, for whatever reasons, i can't express verbally or write down, in a few sittings. it will help others too who drop by this topic and hopefully lessen their VA stressors

i suspect,with all the new veterans making their way home now and in the near future, the VA claims systems will not have changed, maybe even get worse?

i vote for mass demonstrations by veterans and their families(care givers) at VAROs. has anything else worked? veterans in the past were forced do so and got some changes.

at least we have this forum to help each other and share knowledge and stuff. way more than we had some few years ago.

[tanker2]

i look at the entire claims process kinda like going through basic...once you see through the stress then and only then can you properly function!

[john6012]

I experienced the same thing or thereabout that you are experiencing. It went into depression and I wwas treated for such and am still on antidepressants-but tht the breaks, I should not be so concerned about what the VA may do, just relax and roll with the waves. They ruled in my favor but the problem persists.

[autumn]

i look at the entire claims process kinda like going through basic...once you see through the stress then and only then can you properly function!

yep that is true. though i will add, all mil basic schools have time frames, VARO's have no time frames in place -- can take a few months to many years onto black holes.