Posted by starlight on May 26, 2004, at 13:19:24
In reply to Re: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, posted by Beta on May 25, 2004, at 19:31:24
Don't give up your compensation! See someone outside of the VA if possible. My experience with the military is that, if they can link something to before you joined, they will deny you disability saying that it was a pre-existing condition.
Getting help for your issues is definitely very important, but the military looks for any way they can to not pay you, and disability is for life. Having been medically discharged from the Air Force for a severe eating disorder, I know this very well. The psychiatrist I had in the AF deemed that my condition was due to the circumstances I was raised for, and not as a result of the military (even though they have strict weight guidelines which had a lot to do with it) so they denied me any disability and got rid of me since they didn't treat eating disorders.
You might not be able to see the importance of that now, but later on, you might wish otherwise. Sounds like the docs are steering you in the right direction so be very careful about that decision, be very patient and don't do anything until you've had plenty of time to think about it. I would wait until after your disability compensation has been decided and then you can weigh the benefit of being treated by the VA or privately, as it's my understanding, once disability is ruled on, it's a done deal.
Best of luck to you.
starlight
poster:starlight
thread:350140
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040522/msgs/350787.html