PTSD ranks high among veteran claims
November 11, 2018
About 22 percent of the nation’s veterans drawing federal disability benefits are afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The number of disability cases arising from PTSD among veterans almost tripled from 345,000 in 2008 to more than 940,000 in 2017, with even more anticipated.
While 22 percent of all veterans receive PTSD benefits, the rate is even higher among younger veterans. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) notes that increasingly veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are filing for disability benefits due to PTSD.
Symptoms of PTSD include:
The VA reports more veterans, as well as the general public, are aware of PTSD. That awareness is driving more to seek disability assistance. The VA recently relaxed its regulations and assessments for determining PTSD disabilities, but many still slip through the cracks.
The VA provides 16 courses that train evaluators on how to assess PTSD cases, but many veterans disabled by PTSD do not receive assistance. The American Legion rehabilitation division deputy director Gerardo Avila says veterans who exhibit very telling symptoms of PTSD disability often are given only a 30 percent disability rating. Veterans can appeal the VA’s decisions in their respective cases, but the appeals process can take several years.