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welcome to another edition of cck live my name is Alex Gamache and today I'm joined by my colleagues
Brandon paiva in Dallas aguar in this video we'll be discussing the top five mistakes veterans can
make when filing claims for PTSD so before we get into those mistakes Dallas do you want to
start off by giving us an overview of what PTSD is and some of the symptoms that accompany it
yeah thanks Alex so post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental health condition that occurs as a
result of experiencing a distressing shocking or otherwise traumatic event many veterans
develop PTSD from events they witnessed or experienced during their military service
symptoms and severity of PTSD can vary from person to person it really is different for
everyone but the most common symptoms include re-experiencing the trauma through intrusive or
distressing Recollections of the event flashbacks and Nightmares emotional numbness and avoidance of
places people and activities that are reminders of the trauma and increased arousal such as
difficulty sleeping concentrating feeling jumpy and being easily irritated and angered
VA rates PTSD under 38 CFR section 4.130 with an assigned diagnostic code 9411 PTSD like
other psychiatric conditions is rated under the schedule of ratings for mental disorders and can
be assigned anywhere from a non-compensable or zero percent rating to 10 30 50 70 or 100 rating
thanks Dallas now that we have an overview of PTSD we're now going to move into discussing
the claim mistakes veterans run into when filing their claims Brandon did you want to kick us off
with the first mistake absolutely thanks Alex oftentimes filing a claim for VA benefits can be
confusing and many veterans make mistakes that can potentially delay their benefits or even result in
a denial of their claim in this video we're going to go over five of the top mistakes veterans make
when filing VA claims for PTSD and how can they be avoided the first one we're going to touch on is
failing to show proof of a stressor to obtain direct service connection for PTSD veterans
must demonstrate an actual diagnosis of PTSD an in-service stressor and a Nexus between the two
generally speaking the occurrence of the stressor should be consistent with the circumstances of the
veteran's service however in some cases veterans need to provide VA with evidence to corroborate
the reported stressor failure to do so can result in denial of benefits corroborating evidence
involves evidence from a source other than the veteran supporting the claim that the in-service
stressor had actually occurred such evidence can include things like buddy statements military
records newspaper articles police reports and basically anything that aligns with the veterans
time and service and the reported stressor that he or she believes they suffer PTSD due to
okay awesome it's always good to have evidence that backs up your statement and corroborates
your stressor the next mistake we'll get into is not submitting all of the necessary forms for
initial claims veterans should download and fill out VA form 21-526 easy when applying for benefits
this can be submitted VIA mail to the claims intake Center in person at the closest regional
office or electronically through va's website the same applies if you previously filed for service
connection for PTSD in the past and have been denied if this is the case for you you will need
to file a VA form 20-0995 or a supplemental claim form with new and relevant evidence
an example of new and relevant evidence that can be submitted is using VA forms
21-0781 and 21-0781a which are both forms to document the veterans onset of their PTSD
so all in all it's important to send the necessary claim forms to avoid any delays in the VA process
the third mistake we're going to discuss is thinking that you need to meet all of the VA
rating criteria Dallas did you want to go ahead and discuss this topic you know so this is another
mistake that's really common since mental health conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder can
manifest differently for everyone these reading formula for mental health conditions isn't binding
you don't have to meet all the requirements so the veteran doesn't need to exhibit every
single symptom listed in the rating criteria to receive that particular disability evaluation
a court of appeals for veterans claimed case Mar Hamby Principe established that symptoms
listed under the schedule of ratings for mental disorders found in 38 CFR section 4.130 are not
intended to constitute an exhaustive list but rather they serve as examples of the type and
degree of symptoms or their effects that would justify a particular rating so what this means
is a veteran can have any number of the symptoms listed in the rating criteria and still meet that
level of valuation yeah and I think that's great to point out too because a lot of veterans will
get discouraged if they don't meet every single criteria um in that 4.130 so even
if you are exhibiting symptoms within multiple different ratings it's always good to continue
to hire arguerating a higher rating if you do exhibit symptoms in that criteria for that rating
so moving away from claim forms and ratings another mistake veterans fall into is relying
solely on their CMP exams Brandon did you want to go over the VA process absolutely we all know that
CMP exams or compensation and pension examinations are a necessary part of the claims process and are
usually weighed pretty heavily by VA but veterans should avoid relying solely on their exam results
CMP exams may not adequately represent the true nature or the extent of a veteran's condition or
even their mental health conditions can be more difficult to quantify since they affect everybody
differently expert opinions in Nexus letters may be helpful in this case as they may provide
a clearer picture of the veteran symptoms or counter the VA examiner's findings the
veterans physician or even a medical provider can provide a Nexus letter to help with their claim
accredited Representatives or attorneys may also be able to obtain an expert medical opinion to
serve as the Veteran's Nexus letter connecting their condition to service or even arguing that
their condition is worse than what the DBQ or CMP exam had stated this is definitely valuable
if the veteran doesn't treat that VA medical centers as well now piggybacking off of what I
just stated regarding dbqs veterans may also want to fill out or have their own treating Physicians
fill out a disability benefits questionnaire which is a DBQ these forms allow the veteran
or their health care provider to answer questions about aspects of their disability including the
symptoms severity potential cause in relation to other disabilities that the veteran may have
oftentimes late statements as well from friends family or co-workers who can paint the Fuller
picture of the veterans PTSD are also really helpful sometimes you may feel like you're
Under reporting your symptoms and your symptoms may be affecting others around you in ways that
you may not really understand so getting late statements from friends family or anybody who's
really close to you and may have a first-hand encounter as to how you deal with your PTSD or
the severity of your system symptoms may also help paint a really clear disability picture for VA
so the last mistake we'll go over is not knowing your appeal options veterans have the right to
appeal unfavorable decisions from the VA in other words if your PTSD claim is denied or
you receive a disability rating that is lower than You Deserve You can disagree with va's
decision and continue to seek service connection or an increased rating under the new VA appeal
system veterans can choose from three different review options and those options are the higher
level review Lane the supplemental claim Lane and a notice of disagreement to the board which
that lane has three subsequent Lanes to it the direct lien the evidence Lane and the hearing lien
continuing to pursue a claim through the appeals process allows veterans to preserve
their effective date and could entitle them to a larger sum of retroactive benefits down the road
mental health Claims can be difficult to navigate which is why many veterans benefit
from the assistance of an accredited attorney or claims agent our team has Decades of experience
successfully fighting for our clients rightfully earned benefits if you think you'd like to file
a claim for PTSD or have had trouble in the past reach out to see if our office might be
able to help you thank you for watching today's episode of cck Live don't forget to describe to
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