Need advise on filing a ptsd claim with no combat

[usmcrm65]

I recently tried to file a ptsd claim but was told by the intake officer that I needed to have a diagnosis first.  Background is that I was physically assaulted by a drill sgt in one incident and I had a near downing incident in another incident.  The assault was reported and investigated and they ended up transferring the sgt to another unit.  I have been struggling with nightmares and flashbacks as well as other symptoms of ptsd ever since.  Over time my mental health has gotten worse, not better.  I never discussed it with anyone except my mother who encouraged me to report the incident even though I was to scared to.  I've been ashamed and hiding what I've been going through for years.  Problem is this happened 30 years ago.  My condition is so bad that it's been affecting my work, can't keep a job.  I never really made the connection of my mental issues to what happened to me until recently.  I can't seem to get a appointment with a private doctor to make a diagnosis and I was denied VA health care.  I live in the state of Texas and I'm finding out that it's next to impossible to see private psychiatrist here as a new patient.  It seems the only way to be seen is to be suicidal, which I am not at the moment, but I have been in the past.  Been calling around for 3 days literally talked to 8 different clinics/dr offices and none of them have appointments in the next few month if they are even taking new patient.  Any suggestions?

[GBArmy]

usmcrm65 Call VA crisis line 1-800-273-8255 Be sure to talk about your past suicidal thoughts; don't downplay that. They should be able to get you into VA treatment. Good luck and don't quit!

[broncovet]

Why were you denied VA health care??  If you have a discharge issue (that is, if your discharge was less than honorable), then you need to fix that pronto.  Many Vets were given "bad discharges" primarily to save VA money for benefits. Here is what I have found with VA health care:

Quote

It all depends on who you talk to.  

My father in law was denied, but sometime later he spoke with someone else and they put him right in.  The VA is not a unified body; what one VA employee says is often contradicted by another. 

As GB Army says, the one thing in common with everyone who has won VA benefits is persistence.  

In my case I applied in 2002, denied.  Appealed in 2003 to the board, and awarded. The VFW dropped me because they thought I had little chance of winning.  

 VARO "implemented" my grant to be a 0 percent rating.  Then someone else came in and lowballed me.  Finally,  in 2009 I was granted 100 percent, but not till after I filed a writ of mandamus.  I lost my home waiting on benefits in 2005.  

     If I had listened to the naysayers, I would be at zero percent.  Some of those naysayers were VA employees, others were VSO's.  

However, Im still fighting VA for the effective date, and does it look like I will be giving up soon?  

My advice is you go back to your local VAMC and apply for health care again.  This is preventing you from a PTSD rating because VA thinks "only VA docs" can diagnose PTSD.  

Apply now, dont wait.  If VA denies you, well, that is expected.  85 percent are denied.  And, CAVC says that 75 percent of those denials are wrong.  (Some are corrected before they get to CAVC, at the DRO (now called AMA), at the Board, or VA sometimes Cue's themselves, which they have done for me.  

The sooner you apply, the sooner you can get into appeals and win your benefits and the larger your retro check will be. 

If you have little or no income, you can apply for pension..and probably get that fairly soon.  Later, when you get sc, you can get back pay, less the amount of pension to keep you going.  Pension is only about 1100 a month or so, but that is better than being homeless.   VA prefers Veterans to be homeless, that is why they deny and delay so many.  The VA homeless program consists of making as many Veterans homeless as possible, by delay, and denying benefits for as long as possible.    Homeless Vets have difficulty winning benefits, they usually dont have a phone, and cant be notified of C and P exams.  So, VA denies them for failure to show for a c and p exam.  

You have to know the "ropes" and you came to the right place.  There is no way I would have won benefits without the knowledge of hadit helpers, which I am now one of them.  

Yes, Im negative, sometimes.  Too negative.  But Im gonna win back enough retro to buy my home back if its the last thing I do.  

Edited November 9, 2019 by broncovet

[vetquest]

You do not have to have combat to be awarded PTSD.  If the injury is life threatening and caused mental health problems you might get rated.  If you have depression or anxiety instead of PTSD,  that is fine in that you can only be rated for one mental health disorder and depression and anxiety are rated the same way PTSD is rated.

[Berta]

It is highly unusual for the VA to deny any veteran health care- Broncovet is correct-

if you have "bad paper" meaning a discharge less than Honorable, and that is their reason for denial, you must act fast to get that corrected.

This link might help- it refers to the "Hagel Memo" which helped many vets get upgrades to their discharges.

[usmcrm65]

On 11/9/2019 at 5:41 AM, broncovet said:

Why were you denied VA health care??  If you have a discharge issue (that is, if your discharge was less than honorable), then you need to fix that pronto.  Many Vets were given "bad discharges" primarily to save VA money for benefits. Here is what I have found with VA health care:

My father in law was denied, but sometime later he spoke with someone else and they put him right in.  The VA is not a unified body; what one VA employee says is often contradicted by another. 

As GB Army says, the one thing in common with everyone who has won VA benefits is persistence.  

In my case I applied in 2002, denied.  Appealed in 2003 to the board, and awarded. The VFW dropped me because they thought I had little chance of winning.  

 VARO "implemented" my grant to be a 0 percent rating.  Then someone else came in and lowballed me.  Finally,  in 2009 I was granted 100 percent, but not till after I filed a writ of mandamus.  I lost my home waiting on benefits in 2005.  

     If I had listened to the naysayers, I would be at zero percent.  Some of those naysayers were VA employees, others were VSO's.  

However, Im still fighting VA for the effective date, and does it look like I will be giving up soon?  

My advice is you go back to your local VAMC and apply for health care again.  This is preventing you from a PTSD rating because VA thinks "only VA docs" can diagnose PTSD.  

Apply now, dont wait.  If VA denies you, well, that is expected.  85 percent are denied.  And, CAVC says that 75 percent of those denials are wrong.  (Some are corrected before they get to CAVC, at the DRO (now called AMA), at the Board, or VA sometimes Cue's themselves, which they have done for me.  

The sooner you apply, the sooner you can get into appeals and win your benefits and the larger your retro check will be. 

If you have little or no income, you can apply for pension..and probably get that fairly soon.  Later, when you get sc, you can get back pay, less the amount of pension to keep you going.  Pension is only about 1100 a month or so, but that is better than being homeless.   VA prefers Veterans to be homeless, that is why they deny and delay so many.  The VA homeless program consists of making as many Veterans homeless as possible, by delay, and denying benefits for as long as possible.    Homeless Vets have difficulty winning benefits, they usually dont have a phone, and cant be notified of C and P exams.  So, VA denies them for failure to show for a c and p exam.  

You have to know the "ropes" and you came to the right place.  There is no way I would have won benefits without the knowledge of hadit helpers, which I am now one of them.  

Yes, Im negative, sometimes.  Too negative.  But Im gonna win back enough retro to buy my home back if its the last thing I do.  

I had gone to the VA hospital back in 2015 and was denied care because whatever I went in for at the time was not service connected so my VA healthcare account still shows that info.  I did get a letter in the mail letting me know that my claim was received and being processed.  My claim is in stage 3 "Evidence gathering, review, and decision

[Vync]

@Berta the link to the Hagel Memo did not show in your response.

@usmcrm65 In addition to the good advice above, you can also visit a Vet Center if you would like to talk to someone face to face. Calling the crisis line is also very helpful, but you don't have to be in crisis. After my heart attack, I called them a couple of times to help deal with anxiety. They are also there 24 x 7.
  Having a claim in the hopper is a good idea. Just keep in mind that the status may bounce back and forth. Don't let that discourage you. At some point, you will get a phone call or a letter in the mail regarding an upcoming Compensation & Pension (C&P) appointment. I included a list of Disability Questionnaires (DBQ's) which the VA uses to perform these exams. This will give you an idea of what kind of questions will be asked during the exam. https://www.benefits.va.gov/compensation/dbq_listbydbqformname.asp
  If your mother happens to be available, you may consider asking her to write you a buddy letter to describe what she observed back then. More information about buddy letters can be found elsewhere here on hadit.com.
  If you have not done so already, get an online account for ebenefits and va.gov. Once you get the account validated, you should be able to check your claim status online.