ptsd simple PTSD question

[Dennis1989]

How much weight does the "social and occupational impairment" carry when it comes to rating the veteran for PTSD?

[Vync]

Hi Dennis,
It depends on the level of social/occupational impairment. The higher the severity, the higher the rating.

Here is a link to the rating criteria. I also copied the contents below. This does section not include eating disorders - that is separate.

http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?rgn=div5;node=38:1.0.1.1.5#se38.1.4_1130

General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders

	Rating
Total occupational and social impairment, due to 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.	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

 

[Dennis1989]

Thanks brother. I guess, falling under the 50 percentile, yet with sever stressors and mid level symptoms... Is it almost guaranteed that I will be at 50 or can it differ either positively or negatively? Just wondering how much weight is on the social inoperability. 

[Vync]

Hey Dennis,
In mental health (MH) ratings, the language before the phrase “due to such symptoms as” is the most important. The symptoms listed in the rating criteria are simply meant as guidance, not an exhaustive list. If you look up the DSM-V, which is psychological standard used for diagnosing and treating MH conditions, that book is really thick. There is no possible way to fit everything into the rating criteria. The symptoms listed in the rating criteria are simply some of the more common ones. Keep in mind that it is not the symptoms, but their effects, that determine the level of impairment.

Regardless of what rating they give you, when you receive the letter be sure to carefully compare it to your C&P exam findings and the rating criteria. This is recommended because one of the things the VA excels at is not assigning proper ratings.

[Andyman73]

3 hours ago, Dennis1989 said:

Thanks brother. I guess, falling under the 50 percentile, yet with sever stressors and mid level symptoms... Is it almost guaranteed that I will be at 50 or can it differ either positively or negatively? Just wondering how much weight is on the social inoperability. 

Now the real fun comes if your examiner disregards anything you say and comes up with their own opinion of how you feel about life. 

For example if you file for depression secondary to chronic pain, and have dozens of STR entrees testifying to that, and point out your current SCDs that are pain related, some going back 17 years....hypothetically speaking, of course.  And the examiner opines that he can't make the connection from a minor, one time leg injury leading to depression.  Never mind that he was given a copy of a summary of talking points that also was sent in as a part of the hypothetical claim evidence packet.  Which he then completely ignored when giving his thoughts in the summary section.

But that is all hypothetical, just for sake of conversation. 

Good luck with your claim!

Semper Fi.

Andyman

[tdubya82]

[deleted]

Edited July 21, 2016 by tdubya82

[Berta]

The VA, for claims handled under the 2010 PTSD criteria, will NOT consider an IMO as a

diagnosis of or treatment for PTSD.

However,once a PTSD SC rating is made, an IMO can be used to try to obtain a higher rating.

We did a few shows with Dr Valette and Dr Bash here in the archives and Dr. Valette is a shrink who does IMOs.

Maybe your IMO (since they ignored it) can be tweeked a little by the doctor and then presented as evidence on appeal if you feel the 50% is too low.

He/she needs to follow the IMO criteria here at hadit and give a full medical rationale (plus be qualified to render his opinion and provide a CV)