Finally had C&P exam

[jamesriley1990]

I feel indifferent to my exam. It was conducted by an LHI contracted Psychologist and the form I was given stated it was going to be 120 minutes. The exam lasted about 60 minutes. When I was telling him of my stressors he stopped me and told me to only give him the important ones... (I had quite a few) he said that they need to focus on the main issues. I filled out a PTSD screen and he was just going down the list and midway through he stopped and said everything on this screen is basically how you feel in your day to day life and I yes. His questions were kind of general and I tried to give as much information as I could. When it came to my work I told him that I was constantly arguing with my supervisors and having strained relationships with my co-workers.  I told him that I feel like I was right and my supervisors were wrong. Part of me thinks that I did not say enough. I know it the first day but I sent a letter to the VA requesting the exam results so hopefully by the time it gets posted they have my request. But they've been gathering evidence for this claim for 6 months so I do not see my claim being open for over 2 weeks.

[doc25]

On 5/11/2019 at 11:25 PM, jamesriley1990 said:

I also had a letter from a private psychologist and a DBQ from him, he has to consider this material evidence to correct?

Can you upload the letter? Omit personal identifying information.

"Material" wording has been replaced with "Relevant". It used to be "new and material". Now it is "new and relevant". I know it's confusing. But, we gotta adapt and overcome. 

The letter aka Nexus of opinion must state one of these phrases, plus a medical rationale:

1.“is due to” (100% sure)
2.“more likely than not” (greater than 50%)
3.“at least as likely as not” (equal to or greater than 50%)
4.“not at least as likely as not” (less than 50%)
5.“is not due to” (0%) "
 

The first three are favorable. All you really need is #3 for a favorable decision. #4 and #5 are not favorable, which you don't want.

 

 

[jamesriley1990]

1 hour ago, doc25 said:

Can you upload the letter? Omit personal identifying information.

"Material" wording has been replaced with "Relevant". It used to be "new and material". Now it is "new and relevant". I know it's confusing. But, we gotta adapt and overcome. 

The letter aka Nexus of opinion must state one of these phrases, plus a medical rationale:

1.“is due to” (100% sure)
2.“more likely than not” (greater than 50%)
3.“at least as likely as not” (equal to or greater than 50%)
4.“not at least as likely as not” (less than 50%)
5.“is not due to” (0%) "
 

The first three are favorable. All you really need is #3 for a favorable decision. #4 and #5 are not favorable, which you don't want.

 

 

This is what the Private psychologist stated in his letter for me. (left out stressor portion of the letter)

He developed posttraumatic stress disorder as a result of this treatment.

 

He had exposure to experiences which he saw as sexual violence and inappropriate behavior. With the idea of being choked by people who said that they were going to do it till he passed out he was fearful of threatened death and/or serious injury.

 

He has developed recurrent, involuntary and intrusive distressing memories of the traumatic events.

 

He has had recurrent distressing dreams in which the content and some aspects of the events  are related to the events. He has developed both sleep problems of insomnia and sleep apnea. 

 

He has had flashbacks of the events and times where he has felt as if the events were occurring or about to occur. 

 

He has had intense and prolonged psychological distress at exposure to internal and external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic events.  Movies, stories on the news and in media, being around groups of people and even driving in unfamiliar areas where the is a lot of traffic create fear of how to handle a situation should it occur.

 

He experiences marked physiological reactions to internal and external cues that symbolize or resemble and aspect of the traumatic events. He has panic attacks, severe anxiety and depressive reactions and is over-cautious when out in public.

 

He removes himself from situations in which people are speaking about any kind of incidents which are reminiscent of the events. 

 

He avoids external reminders that arouse memories, thoughts or feelings about or are closely associated with the traumatic events. He avoids people, places conversations and activities that could be triggers. This involves sporting events, for example.

 

He has developed persistent negative believes about authority and much of the world around him. He believes that it is hard to trust others, believes that there are changes in his body which will never recover and does not think it would be safe to let go of his fears and concerns. 

 

He has markedly diminished interest and participation in significant activities. He would rather be at home.  

 

He experiences feelings of detachment and estrangement from others due to concern about authority and way people have treated him and the way some people treat each other.

 

He sometimes has gotten irritable and angry with no provocation which is one of the reasons he came to see me as this was occurring at home with no provocation.

 

He has hypervigilance when he is out of his home, and even when he is at home.

 

He has an exaggerated startle response from loud sounds or other intrusive sounds.

 

He sometimes experiences problems with concentration because of his flashbacks, memories of fears.

 

He has developed sleep problems including falling asleep, staying asleep and having bad dreams. 

 

The duration of the events has been more than one month. 

 

The reaction to the events has caused clinically significant distress in social, occupational and in other relationships.

 

The above reactions all confirm that he has suffered PTSD and that it was from incidents in the military. There are no other experiences in his life which have been traumatic or that could have caused his reactions.

 

DIAGNOSIS-ICD-10

 

POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER F43.10

SOMATIC SYMPTOM DISORDER WITH PREDOMINANT PAIN, PERSISTENT, MODERATE F45.1

ANXIETY DISORDER DUE TO ANOTHER MEDICAL CONDITION F06.4

DEPRESSIVE DISORDER DUE TO ANOTHER MEDICAL CONDITION F06.3

I believe that his symptoms are permanent and stationary.

[jamesriley1990]

My exam got posted to the VA and my VSO was able to see the exam results. The main points were Diagnosis of PTSD, occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity, and everything was more likely than not due to my service.

[vetquest]

That is a great starting point jamesriley.  The following are the ratings for mental disorders.  I cannot read your results but it looks like by the description to be around 50% or 30%.

[doc25]

18 hours ago, jamesriley1990 said:

My exam got posted to the VA and my VSO was able to see the exam results. The main points were Diagnosis of PTSD, occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity, and everything was more likely than not due to my service.

It appears you met the 50% rating criteria. 

50 percent: occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity due to symptoms such as:

• Flattened affect
• Circumstantial, circumlocutory, or stereotyped speech
• Panic attack that occurs more than once a week
• Difficulty understanding complex commands
• Impairment of short and long term memory
• Impaired judgement
• Impaired abstract thinking
• Disturbances of motivation and mood
• Difficulty in establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships