ptsd Ptsd Re-eval

[Berta]

I think I mentioned this friend of mine-

He has AO cancer, 100% Sec 1151, PTSD at 50% and GSW to leg- 40% and SMC.

They sent him a re-evaluation notice- I got him the 100% in May 1995- the most recent % is PTSD from his vet reps help-

He has been emailing me and called me today as he cannot relax at all over this-

He found out today that they are looking at his AO cancer and also his PTSD for a re-evaluation

He has NHL so maybe that would make sense as this can go into remission and he has done well with it.

I dont see how they ever rated him for direct SC for this but he doesn't understand what I mean. I typed a claim for him 3 years ago but he never gave it to his vet rep- he is waiting to see if I win my AO direct death claim and then he will send it in-I am unable to get him to see that he should file it yesterday! (he has had it for almost 3 years all typed up.)

Well -this is what I am asking-

the PTSD rating is only about 3 years old- he always denied PTSD-I have know him 20 years but his vet rep got him to file it-ad he got 50%.

question- he still has the GSW and scarring, and the PH and combat MOS-(actually he has 2 PHs , never claimed residuals on one and I forget how to say 2 PHs.) What the heck would they want to look at his PTSD rating for?

Two re-evaluations- I dont get this at all-

He has nothing to be concerned with as far as I can see- and has that paper trail the VA loves so well but

does this seem odd to anyone?

Actually I think his PTSD should be definitely rated 100%. But this could go a different way.

This vet is the first disabled vet I met when I moved to NY.

He has medical statements of unemployability on each SC disability he has,I think-hope he knows where they are-his med recs were here for many years.

His wife wrote a letter to VA about how unfair this was and how it is bothering him.

They don't care though. I am baffled why anyone with a PH and combat MOS would go through a re-evaluation. He served during Tet and that's when he got shot.

Thanks all for any thoughts.

This man is a good example of a very smart man whose PTSD interferes with his ability to process information.

He thinks he is dumb, He isn't at all but it takes him time-due to PTSD to understand information and even most conversation.

And the stress they put him through is awful with this re-eval letter.

[Testvet]

Berta I think this is just the beginning of the PTSD re-evals, the IOM did not give them what they were looking for in the PTSD review on diagnosing last month, so they are going to start the re-eval process and try to start lowering ratings, on the basis that every shrink has over rated the symptoms. Which is going to do the same thing that the 72,000 reviews last year started, panic.

The VA is just looking at this in a dollar and cents vision in 1999 they were paying what 1.2 billion a year for PTSD compensation, now 6 years later thay are paying 4.+ billion and not that many vets from GW1 claiming PTSD, most of it is coming from us older guys that go back the the Nam era finally giving up the ghost and admitting the demons, so instead of lookingat it like these vets saved the government all this money for the past 40 years, they choose to llok at it asthey are all justtrying to fatten the retirement check, for my 2 cnets people like Burkett and Sally Satel are the reason for the over blown reaction to vets and PTSD compensation.

They don't want to look at how many years those of us that could coped with all this chit in our heads and it's coming out and nothing is going to stop it. I have read many stories of workers loosing it after 30 years being 30 years old and lose their jobs due to PTSD, hell most of us know vets like this. Some of us are vets like this, taking a bow if I had my druthers I wish I could still work, being disabled at 45 was not any fun, this is not the grand retirement I had planned, the power chair was not in my dreams anyplace.

I think this is just the opening slavo of another ugly long campaign Berta. Just my 2 cents.

[john999]

This is the best reason to try for P&T.

[Philip Rogers]

I think I mentioned this friend of mine-

He has AO cancer, 100% Sec 1151, PTSD at 50% and GSW to leg- 40% and SMC.

They sent him a re-evaluation notice- I got him the 100% in May 1995- the most recent % is PTSD from his vet reps help-

He has been emailing me and called me today as he cannot relax at all over this-

He found out today that they are looking at his AO cancer and also his PTSD for a re-evaluation

He has NHL so maybe that would make sense as this can go into remission and he has done well with it.

I dont see how they ever rated him for direct SC for this but he doesn't understand what I mean. I typed a claim for him 3 years ago but he never gave it to his vet rep- he is waiting to see if I win my AO direct death claim and then he will send it in-I am unable to get him to see that he should file it yesterday! (he has had it for almost 3 years all typed up.)

Well -this is what I am asking-

the PTSD rating is only about 3 years old- he always denied PTSD-I have know him 20 years but his vet rep got him to file it-ad he got 50%.

question- he still has the GSW and scarring, and the PH and combat MOS-(actually he has 2 PHs , never claimed residuals on one and I forget how to say 2 PHs.) What the heck would they want to look at his PTSD rating for?

Two re-evaluations- I dont get this at all-

He has nothing to be concerned with as far as I can see- and has that paper trail the VA loves so well but

does this seem odd to anyone?

Actually I think his PTSD should be definitely rated 100%. But this could go a different way.

This vet is the first disabled vet I met when I moved to NY.

He has medical statements of unemployability on each SC disability he has,I think-hope he knows where they are-his med recs were here for many years.

His wife wrote a letter to VA about how unfair this was and how it is bothering him.

They don't care though. I am baffled why anyone with a PH and combat MOS would go through a re-evaluation. He served during Tet and that's when he got shot.

Thanks all for any thoughts.

This man is a good example of a very smart man whose PTSD interferes with his ability to process information.

He thinks he is dumb, He isn't at all but it takes him time-due to PTSD to understand information and even most conversation.

And the stress they put him through is awful with this re-eval letter.

How much trauma or how many awards a claimant has, has nothing to do with how they are rated. The vet is rated on how his PTSD effects his daily life, today and perhaps tomorrow. After 11 years he should be found P&T but the process needs to be followed.

[Wings]

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Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: See Initial, Review and Mental

http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/benefits/exams/index.htm

[Stretch]

There is a difference between 38 U.S.C. § 1154 and 38 U.S.C. § 1154 (b).

1154 (b) is a relaxing of the rules pertaining to stressor evidence. This can make a difference as to weather a Vet has to minutely prove stressor or if the Vet can use lay statements. In this respect the medals show time, place, and events that happened. I would also think that the amount of stressors would have quite a bit to do with the complex nature of PTSD. Seems to me the more stressed out you are the further you are from a normal life.

[Wings]

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Symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

http://www.ptsdsupport.net/ptsd_symptoms2.html

Depression

Isolation

Rage

Avoidance of Feelings: Alienation

Survival Guilt

Anxiety Reactions

Intrusive Thoughts

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HOW THE VA EVALUATES LEVELS OF DISABILITY

http://www.vva.org/benefits/ptsd.htm#Evaluates

38 C.F.R. § 4.130, DC 9411

General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders: GAF

Total occupational and social impairment, due to such symptoms as: gross impairment in thought process or communication; persistent delusions or hallucinations; grossly inappropriate behavior; persistent danger of hurting self or others; intermittent inability to perform activities of daily living (including maintenance of minimal personal hygiene); disorientation to time or place; memory loss for names of close relatives, own occupation occupation, or own name ………………… 100%

Occupational and social impairment, with deficiencies in most areas, such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood, due to such symptoms as: suicidal ideation; obsessional rituals which interfere with routine activities; speech intermittently illogical, obscure, or irrelevant; near-continuous panic or depression affecting the ability to function independently, appropriately and effectively; impaired impulse control (such as unprovoked irritability with periods of violence); spatial disorientation; neglect of personal appearance and hygiene; difficulty in adapting to stressful circumstances (including work or a worklike setting); inability to establish and maintain effective relationships ................ 70%

Occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity due to such symptoms as: flattened affect; circumstantial, circumlocutory, or stereotyped speech; panic attacks more than once a week; difficulty in understanding complex commands; impairment of short- and long-term memory (e.g., retention of only highly learned material, forgetting to complete tasks); impaired judgment; impaired abstract thinking; disturbances of motivation and mood; difficulty in establishing and maintaining

Effective work and social relationships …………… 50%

Occupational and social impairment with occasional decrease in work efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform occupational tasks (although generally functioning satisfactorily, with routine behavior, self-care, and conversation normal), due to such symptoms as: depressed mood, anxiety, suspiciousness, panic attacks (weekly or less often), chronic sleep impairment, mild memory loss (such as forgetting names, directions, recent events) ................ 30%

Occupational and social impairment due to mild or transient symptoms which decrease work efficiency and ability to perform occupational tasks only during periods of significant stress, or; symptoms controlled by continuous medication .............. 10%

A mental condition has been formally diagnosed, but symptoms are not severe enough either to interfere with occupational and social functioning or to require continuous medication ................... 0%

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PTSD Manual http://www.ptsdmanual.com/

VA Best Practice Manual for Posttramatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Compensation and Pension Examination Everyone should read this before their C&P http://www.ptsdmanual.com/ptsd.pdf