ptsd Ptsd Cannot Verify Stressor

[wifeofvet]

Forgive my ignorance here. I'm still learning. My husband is being treated for PTSD/Depression thru VA psychiatrist. He is on SSDI for anxiety disorder. But I'm afraid he cannot prove his stressor. He doesn't have any combat medals or ribbons. He did serve in a combat zone. We did manage to get a newspaper article on the supposed attack (the stressor) and a buddy letter but I'm told that it's not good enough. I realize now that we should have put in a claim for Depression the same time we put in for PTSD. Can he put in another claim for PTSD and Depression or put in a new claim for depression? We haven't gotten a response on the PTSD claim yet but without a stressor, we are not looking at an approval. What sort of evidence would we need for a depression claim?

[sharon]

You can amend your claim at any time. If your husband was in a combat zone and you have the news paper article of the attack, I would let it be.

[Philip Rogers]

Who told you that's not good enough? That should be enough, provided he was there. Sharon's correct.

pr

Forgive my ignorance here. I'm still learning. My husband is being treated for PTSD/Depression thru VA psychiatrist. He is on SSDI for anxiety disorder. But I'm afraid he cannot prove his stressor. He doesn't have any combat medals or ribbons. He did serve in a combat zone. We did manage to get a newspaper article on the supposed attack (the stressor) and a buddy letter but I'm told that it's not good enough. I realize now that we should have put in a claim for Depression the same time we put in for PTSD. Can he put in another claim for PTSD and Depression or put in a new claim for depression? We haven't gotten a response on the PTSD claim yet but without a stressor, we are not looking at an approval. What sort of evidence would we need for a depression claim?

[evandc]

Strange as it may seem to some, I also used a newspaper as part of my evidence for PTSD Claim. Front page of Stars & Stripes & several local papers & other evidence. I taught in an AFLS in Saigon, so there you go for not being in combat...so those "not good enough" people can be wrong very often.

Good luck with claim,

Don

[wifeofvet]

Perhaps I should give you a little bit more information. The stressor was a planned attack on his camp. The attack never happened (Thank God) Since there was no indecent there is no stressor. I was under the impression that he would be approved under the new rule that states "The veteran must have experienced, witnessed, or have been confronted by an event or circumstance that involved ed dactual or threaten death or serious injury... " My husband did indeed feel threatened. Coming our of Iraq, he was sent to PLDC school in 2005. He was observed as withdrawn and would not participate in class He said he couldn’t concentrate and he felt distant, trapped and anxious. He saw a chaplain and a doctor. He was excused from the school due to Post Deployment Adjustment Problems and Acute Stress Disorder. A few months later he was diagnosed with PTSD and depression. He has been on meds ever since. He was awarded SSDI in 2007. He will be meeting with his VA psychiatrist next week to go over his stressor letter and hopefully get a good nexus.

[Berta]

He could write to Joint Services Records Research Center (their address is searchable here) because it is quite possible the VA never ran him through JSRRC for stressor verification, -----even if they said they did.

He needs to give JSRRC as many details as possible, with good estimate on time and date of alleged stressor, and how his MOS put him into close vicinity of the stressor.

He could also send the JSRRC a copy of the buddy letter as that might help them find proof of the stressor.

I have a topic here on what is a stressor and what is not a stressor for VA purposes.

Why did the VA reject the buddy letter? Can you scan and attach it here (cover the buddy's personal identifying info)

There is also a topic here on Buddy letters.searchable

You mentioned an "attack". This should be documented in the morning reports of his Unit, and with details as to time and place, the JSRRC can dig out those Morning reports.

Edited December 8, 2011 by Berta

[Berta]

PS evandc that is very interesting and a news article can often help!

One of my husband's stressors made National News here in the USA when it occurred.

When he had an 'incident' at the VA in 1983 (he tried to choke a VA employee because they were an Oriental and he had a flashback)he was diagnosed with PTSD before he left the VA that day and they filed a claim for him,and the Director of Psychiatry there had verified his stressor himself as this doctor served in Vietnam (I Corp) same time this incident happened and my husband had never revealed the details to anyone before. The stressor was verified because only those in this specific USMC unit during this 'volunteer' mission knew the details of it beyond the news media.And the Psychiatrist knew the details too.

Too horrific to reveal here.

Over ten years later Rod ad to fill out the PTSD questionnaire for the PTSD inhouse program.

He listed his other stressors and gave details enough so, I dont know what they verified at that point along with the other incident, but (still have a copy of this document)and each one of them was detailed enough to be a valid stressor on its own.

We also did tracings of his buddy's death in Vietnam from the Wall,whose body Rod retrieved,and he had been injured as well in this incident in support of his claim for higher rating. Other stressors were in the Morning Reports or verifiable by other means.

This might sound nuts but even though his exposure to AO was confirmed long ago, I accessed proof positive of when and where the AO was dumped on him when the plane doused a dense tropical forest area with AO, that they had maneuvers in (Ashau Valley 1965)but of course VA has never questioned his exposure.

Edited December 8, 2011 by Berta