Legal Help for Veterans blog.
Mental Health, PTSD
by Jim Fausone The rash of suicides this year that involve members of the military has been getting plenty of attention. Veterans face the same suicide problem brought on by the stress of war. Military veterans with psychiatric illnesses are at increased risk for suicide, says a new study by the University of Michigan in conjunction with US Department of […]
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Mental Health, PTSD, Veterans Law
by Jim Fausone The story is not that unusual – a service member suffering from psychological problems starts to self medicate, gets kicked out of the service and loses access to VA benefits. Veterans advocates see cynical forces at play in the use of administrative discharges for reasons including misconduct, personality disorder and adjustment disorder — defined as […]
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Claims Processing, PTSD, Veterans Law
by Jim Fausone As many VA watchers know, VA adopted a new law “Relaxation of Evidentiary Standard for Establishing In Service Stressors in Claims for PTSD” dated July 13, 2010. We at Legal Help for Veterans, PLLC have received the first rating decision taking this law into account. The VA conceded the Vietnam Vet’s stressor […]
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Mental Health, News and Press, PTSD, Veterans Law
by Jim Fausone We see soldiers discharged for or diagnosed with “personality disorder” all too often in our veteran disability practice. As a result, the veteran is not going to receive VA benefits. Personality disorder is a “preexisting condition” so there will be no grant of VA disability compensation. After an article in The Nation […]
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Claims Processing, PTSD, Veterans Law
by Jim Fausone The VA is in the process of finalizing new rules that liberalize evidentiary standards for proving stressors in claims for PTSD. The goal is to lessen the burden of proving stressors when the basis of the claim is fear of military action and terrorist’s actions. The VA has recently issued a Frequently Ask […]
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Mental Health, News and Press, PTSD, Veterans Law
by Kristina Derro Cooperative efforts between the VA and several local state courts have allowed for the implementation of a specialty court. These specialty courts around the state of Michigan (with many others in different states as well) give service members from World War II up through the recent Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts rehabilitation from […]
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Medical Issues / Disability, Mental Health, PTSD
It has been reported in the New York Times, VAWatchDog.com and NBC, that VA intends to issue new rules loosening the requirements for PTSD. VA is apparently evaluating essentially eliminating the requirement that veterans document specific events like bomb blasts, firefights or mortar attacks that might have caused PTSD. We know this as proving “a service stressor”. […]
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PTSD
PTSD is one of the toughest disabilities to prove to VA, we deal with veterans every day with this terrible condition. The researchers at the University of Michigan recently issued their findings, which supports a model for PTSD in which exposure to a traumatic event changes gene expression, which in turn, alters immune-system activity, leading […]
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News and Press, PTSD
After a decade of helping veterans, I have to say that we don’t see phonies who are trying to game the VA system. Although the critics of the VA often say there is rampant fraud, we see the legitimate vets who can’t prove service connection because of poor record-keeping by the DOD. Sure in a […]
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PTSD
Randen Harvey was discharged from the Marines in November 2005 after serving two tours of duty in Iraq. Mr. Harvey returned home a shell of the person he once was—suffering from three psychiatric disabilities: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia, and Polysubstance Abuse. All were the direct result of his military service. […]
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