ptsd Gathering Of Evidence Development Letter

[shannan]

Hi everyone,

I am new to this forum. I've been looking through some of your forum for the past couple of months, but this is my first post (so i hope I'm posting in the correct thread).

I submitted my FDC in January of this year. I just recently received news that I am in the Gathering of Evidence phase. Please do not judge me for what i about to say. I know many of you served honorably and i only wish that that could have been my case (it haunts me every moment of everyday). I was raped in my Advanced Training Unit and did attempt to exorcise every effort to obtain a discharge to get away from my attacker. My chain of command kept "losing" my discharge paperwork and I was forced to remain around my attacker. I am not pleased to admit it, but after a failed suicide attempt, I decided in my naive 18 year old mind that my last resort was to go AWOL. I turned myself in and was given an OTH.

So to my point, I recieved a letter stating that they do not ordinarily grant disability benefits unless it is found that i did serve honorably, although i have severe PTSD, Major Depression, and Dythsmia due to MST (all diagnosed by the VA). The letter is also asking me for all evidence i may have and my statement. They also claim they have no knowledge of me having a representative. They are going to put my claim on hold for 60 days to wait for me to send the evidence.

My Amvets representative submitted all of my statements and evidence when he filed my ebenefits claim in January. He also made it clear on official letterhead that he was representing me on this claim. Also, when he submitted the claim, he certified that this is ALL the evidence that I had to submit. Have any of you ever recieved a similar letter? If so, how did you adress it? I dont want to re-send the evidence for fear they will knock me into a regular claim. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Andyman73]

Ok, statement will be included. I will go to MH walkin on Friday. How long after that before I submit a FDC? I don't know that I could do a group setting, until after a few one on ones. I don't like the idea of being judged by a group of my peers.

Andy

[shannan]

Andy ,my ten weeks of CPT were one on one. I didnt like the idea of group setting either, so i opted for the one on one

[Navy4life]

Andyman73

Go to the MH walk in Friday and report back here and let us know how it went and what they said. I would get those notes off MyHealthyVets and file the claim. Not sure if you should do the FDC route or not...that is your call. If you think you have all the evidence to prove your FDC then file it..If you think you are going to provide additional evidence then go the traditional route.

Take Care

[Andyman73]

Shannon and Navy4life,

I will be taking copies of all treatment records from my SMR, and letters that both my wife and I wrote, and the PTSD questionaire(already printed out) that I did. I will report back here, as soon as I can, after that is over. Should I wait until they give me a diagnosis of something, or just file the claim anyway?

Andy

[Navy4life]

I would file now....You will get the C/P exam anyways and the diagnoses will be in that report but I will be curious to know what the walk in clinic says...

[shannan]

Andy, personally I would wait for a diagnosis of PTSD and any other diagnosis which may be secondary to it (like depression). Thats just my personal perspective. To me, I feel that the claims process is difficult enough, especially when presenting markers rather than proof of the incident. I like to have all my ducks lined up, so that theres no loophole that my claim can fall through for an excuse to be denied. Perhaps that thinking comes from experience of being denied on a discharge upgrade I applied for years ago which is different. But the thing is, I relied on them to gather my medical files, they couldnt find them, and they made a decision to deny because of lack of evidence. That instance taught me to ensure that everything is in order ahead of time. However, I must say that my diagnosis was made during my first intake (I may have got lucky?). But sometimes, one on one therapy helps to process things and you may begin to look back and realize that there are more markers that can go a long way for your evidence than you realize at this moment. Either way you decide to do it, I wish you the best of luck that you get your claim finished successfully and quickly. :)