Will the VA Reduce a rating if you don't stay in therapy for mental health?

[kent101]

Is the VA going to try and lower a veteran's rating  if the veteran stops going to therapy after the veteran has been told by a therapist that they don't need any more coping skills? At the next C&P exam couldn't the veteran say "the therapist told me I didn't need to come in anymore because I had all the coping skills I need". 

Edited October 25, 2017 by kent101

[Tbird]

@kent101 I am not sure but I hope some others will jump in. Curious though, do you feel like you have enough coping skills? Did you feel ending therapy was appropriate or did it feel abrupt? I ask because I am curious if the VA is ending therapy with the veterans best interest in mind, or if they VA is following some timeline that therapy only lasts so long.

Here is a pretty good article on ending therapy https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-therapy/201407/terminating-therapy-part-v-therapist-termination

[Buck52]

you can ask that the therapist that has written the false information do an Amends to what the false information is &  ask him/her to clerifiy with what you disagree with  and that you not showing improvement with your PTSD /Anxiety

that will  help in your C&P 

If not just let the C&P examiner Know about the false information (explain your part)  in your progress notes, this will help the examiner in your C&P 

a good examiner will use in his/her exam as to how you are coping and what you tell them , they watch your body language  your gait, your eyes and see how you react to some of the questions.

look here on hadit as to  what to do & expect & how to answer questions & what to do in a PTSD C&P Exam  its a useful tool.

Edited December 13, 2017 by Buck52

[Gastone]

Check out the VA Rating Reduction requirements for SCs held less than 5 yrs Vs 5+ years, big difference. If you're under 55, your C-File will be Diary Dated for Review every 3 to 5 yrs. If you file a New Claim, your SCs are reviewable at the discretion of the Rater.  You might want to pull all your MHV MH Clinician Treatment Notes, do your Clinicians indicate an improvement?

[kent101]

10 hours ago, Tbird said:

@kent101 I am not sure but I hope some others will jump in. Curious though, do you feel like you have enough coping skills? Did you feel ending therapy was appropriate or did it feel abrupt? I ask because I am curious if the VA is ending therapy with the veterans best interest in mind, or if they VA is following some timeline that therapy only lasts so long.

Here is a pretty good article on ending therapy https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-therapy/201407/terminating-therapy-part-v-therapist-termination

I went to a Vet Center and I told them all the holistics, massage,  meditation and things I'm doing to cope with PTSD. After that they said it sounds like I'm doing all the right things. I'm not better from my symptoms, I just know some things to do to cope with them. I'm not sure what the point of going to therapy is after that. You think that's a way the VA is trying to reduce ratings?

Edited October 25, 2017 by kent101

[kent101]

8 hours ago, Gastone said:

Check out the VA Rating Reduction requirements for SCs held less than 5 yrs Vs 5+ years, big difference. If you're under 55, your C-File will be Diary Dated for Review every 3 to 5 yrs. If you file a New Claim, your SCs are reviewable at the discretion of the Rater.  You might want to pull all your MHV MH Clinician Treatment Notes, do your Clinicians indicate an improvement?

 It was only a few months after being there they said I don't need more coping skills, though my treatment notes showed no improvement.  What are veterans supposed to do when they aren't better but are told they don't need any more coping skills? Should the veteran keep going to therapy anyways when they're told nothing else needs to be done for coping skills?

Edited October 25, 2017 by kent101

[Tbird]

@kent101 thanks for letting me know. yeah, it seems they have a certain pool of tools to teach you but if you already know them, I guess that's it then. 

One of my first doctors explained to me that my PTSD was not going to go away, that it wasn't about curing it, it was all about managing it. Manage the symptoms, manage the triggers, manage the anger, manage the crushing depression, like meditation managing takes a lot of practice. Trial and error, but no cure. Maybe that doctor was wrong, but it's been since 1991 that I saw her and so far she has been proven right with most things she told me and taught me.

Have you tried to get in a group therapy setting or some other kind of group that you could go to get some support? I heard rumors that they didn't want Vet Center therapists to spend more than a year with a veteran, but not sure if it was rumor or fact or somewhere in between.