ptsd School, What's Going To Happen.

[Hambone11B]

I am 32 years old and currently 100% TDIU mainly for PTSD with other small ailments; back, neck, etc.. I am planning on making a serious attempt at attending college. Everything involved with what I am doing is pretty consistent with PTSD as I was fine one day in my apartment in Wisconsin only to wake up hating my life and wanting to attend Stanford, so I left my fiancee (who was less than faithful come to find out while I was deployed) and moved to California.

Going to school has become a new mission of mine and I have no misconceptions as to how hard this is going to be and as to the ramifications of going back and proving I can go on to some form of gainful employment. I just can't let the crap going on in my head keep me from using this benefit that I worked so hard to earn (the GI Bill I mean, not TDIU) This is what I joined for. I'm not going to lie and say I wanted to serve my country and all that, I wanted the benefits involved. I have always wanted to attend college. Christ, I have a 142 GT score so this is not a stretch for me to go, I just don't know how I am going to fare in the end. It is scary.

If I look back to the past 4 years to the things that have happened when I try to venture into the outside world I can't help but worry about what it will be like to physically interact with others in something that I will not be able to just walk away from and say oh well. I am writing you guys to ask what is going to happen with my TDIU? Is merely putting in for your GI Bill grounds to reduce your ratings? I would hate to think that just by trying to ween myself off of the governments teet I would be yanking that lifeline away forever. Don't get me wrong, the ultimate motivation in this is to better myself and to go on to some sort of a career so I know in that event it will be taken away. What happens if I fail horribly though? Am I punished for trying? I am also 100% SSD for PTSD but through some research I think I have found that they give you 9 months to give yourself a shot. That is absolutely perfect and if I knew there was something like that for TDIU I could go to bed easy tonight knowing that now I only need to focus on giving this my everything and dealing with the mental problems as they come and not worry about every thing that the VA is watching to potentially cut my benefits. But if this is not the case and the VA will cutoff IU and use this as a grounds to never give you IU again, I have some serious soul searching to do. I would like to think that I am strong enough to do this and have no problems but this is the only thing that I know will not be the case. Thank you for any replys or answers. Feel free to ask anything you'd like. I just want to know whats going to happen and I also want to say that I'm not looking for the free ride of TDIU and college. I know what attending will mean to a TDIU claim, I just want to know what would happen if I fail.

On a side note, I do believe I have a good chance at getting a 100% schedular rating as I am very close as it is and some ratings are still undervalued and I have never even put in for siezures and I take topamax and divalproex everyday to prevent them. But with that being said, I am at 100% TDIU and do not wish to open my claims back up for fear of looking a gift horse in the mouth so to say.

[Hambone11B]

I just want to add on to this thread that I can not stress what a wonderful tool this site is for guys such as myself that struggle with PTSD. I would not be able to get this information anywhere else as I just flat out wouldn't go in to my VARO or do anything where I thought I might be put in an awkward situation. Going into the admissions office at Stanford as a 32 year old was tough enough. I was so embarassed because I was so nervous I couldn't stop sweating, and that was just some random lady who gave me the University's pamphlet. Yeah its like that lol. But thank you for giving me a place that I don't need to do those things to get info. I was never like this before, thats what kills me. Should put a disclaimer in the recruiters office: Upon completion of your service you will be able to go use your GI Bill, but you may be completely nuts by then and it won't matter.

[john999]

If the VA has any brains at all they will help you in every way to finish your school and get a good job so you can become a tax payer rather than a tax eater. If you were 60 years old it would be different.

[Philip Rogers]

You can attend school and continue to receive TDIU, while attending. The ability to work and the ability to successfully attend school are not in anyway the same. Are you planning to use your Voc Rehab benefits or your regular school benefits, to attend college. At 31yo, you may find school more difficult than you think, just dealing w/youth. Remember, you've been in the military and are much more mature, focused, abled, etc. than today's youth. I personally can't stand them and avoid all contact, period, but I won't go there. Good luck!!!

pr