ptsd Sleepless Nights

[Charleese]

Hi everyone,

What is the term the VA uses for a person who can't sleep at night. It's not Insomnia because the VA state that Insomnia is not considered an actual disabling condition. What term does the VA use for sleepless nights that is considered a actual disabling condition.

This person is claiming PTSD and saying that his sleepless nights are associated with his PTSD.

Thanks!

[olenavygoat]

Sleep deprevation is a common secondary affect with those of us with PTSD. You may wish to peruse the attached to find the appropriate code to file under.

Title_38_disability_rating.htm

[saltydawg]

i have s/c for tinnitus the ringing in my head or ears or where ever it is or comes from. anyway it has kept me far from a good nites sleep for a long time!!! would sleep deprevation be 2nd to tinnitus and would it be consatuble? thanks

[john999]

I wonder if insomnia by itself is ratable? As secondary to PTSD, for instance, it would just be lumped in with all the other symptoms. Is there an SMC for insomnia?

[LarryJ]

Chronic Adjustment Disorder

------------------------------------------------------------------------

9440 Chronic adjustment disorder

General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders:

Total occupational and social impairment, due to 100

such symptoms as: gross impairment in thought

processes 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, or own name.......................

Occupational and social impairment, with 70

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...........................

Occupational and social impairment with reduced 50

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...........

Occupational and social impairment with occasional 30

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)...........................................

Occupational and social impairment due to mild or 10

transient symptoms which decrease work efficiency

and ability to perform occupational tasks only

during periods of significant stress, or; symptoms

controlled by continuous medication...............

A mental condition has been formally diagnosed, but 0

symptoms are not severe enough either to interfere

with occupational and social functioning or to

require continuous medication.....................

[Wings]

But falling asleep at the wheel during the day because you don't sleep at night is called "narcolepsy" and that, I believe, is a secondary SC condition . . .

[Pete53]

I rarely sleep more than 3 or 4 hours usually after 2 or 3 in the morning. I don't take naps either. Now they tell me its sleep apnea and they gave me a breathing machine. With the machine I sleep better but still not much more than 3 or 4 hours.

My outside Doc has given me some samples of Lunestra which I am trying to decide if I want to try. I am afraid if I sleep to soundly I will wake up dead in the morning.