Well,
here is my story in a nut shell. Military 20 yrs, gulf war-USMC, sought help from VA back in 1994, nothing doing...Joined the national guard, 10 yrs later went to IRAQ, sought treatment about6 months b/c I just couldn't find it anymore. Plus my wife was losing hope for me to shake it. Head Dr. Says I definately have PTSD, being treated with 100 mg of zoloft. The problem is i never filled out a sworn statement as well as award for combat badge, due to the fact that I have a USMC combat action ribbon, which i am more proud of, plus I did not go to war again, for the medals. However, the commander of my last unit is writing sworn statements to the fact that I was within 20 yrds of a 120mm mortor impacting and some other stuff. will that help with the stressor proof, plus i always have my combat action ribbon from the marines. Also, i am in a combat mos.. thanks Matt

http://www.vfw.org/index.cfm?fa=vets.levelc&cid=3748&cf...840&cftoken=45315911

This may help. You will get very little benefit without some help. I did not check the links.

Get all the statements you can. Even your wife. You can also submit unit diaries or press reports that detail where your unit was (in relation to combat duty). My wife did this for a paralyzed vet. She eventually got him into VA care.

I need some info on how long it takes the VA to make a decision after the C and P exam has been done. My son has been diagnosed with PTSD and he had his exam on the 15th of November. He still has not heard anything back from VA. How can we find out if it is just lost on someone's desk right now? Would appreciate any help we can get. Thanks...

Go to or call the last office you know to have handled the claim. Find out where it's at now. Inquire about a time-line for the claim (be just the other side of obnoxious and persistent...that what it takes sometimes). In the VA machine the squeaky wheel gets the oil (at least from the experiences of my wife and I). Always be in their face so they don't forget about you.

Thanks for your advise. I will tell him to keep on being a "PAIN". It's a shame it has to be this way.

According to an article in the Army Times dtd 31 March 2008, "The Department of Veterans Affairs has scrapped a policy requiring combat veterans to verify in writing that they have witnessed or experienced a traumatic event before they can file a claim for post-traumatic stress disorder-but only if the military has already diagnosed them with PTSD." Hope this helps.

I am a disabled veteran of the first "Iraq War," Desert Storm, and have been diagnosed with Prolonged/Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; my medical records list it as a diagnosis over and over, but my disability payments do not include payment for it. My judgment decision from the VA said that there wasn't enough evidence to suggest my PTSD comes from my military service, but, on studying my records myself, that appears to be because the doctors said very little about my time with them. Anyway, I went ballistic and wrote to everyone from the President to my State's senators and the Secretary of the VA, detailing what I endured and what I suffer; since then, my nightmares have gotten worse and worse, many of them are obviously not what really happened. For instance, an officer attacked me with a pickaxe and my nightmares about it had been recurring and always the same; since I filed a new claim and wrote all those letters, the nightmares have that officer attacking me with a sword, a flame-thrower, an axe, a gun... Realizing that that is not the truth, now I am questioning whether the nightmares of the pickaxe that I have suffered from for 19 years exaggerate the actual event; I have suffered from the nightmares for so long and they are so realistic that, because of the new nightmares, I am no longer sure. As an example, the number of times he swung the pickaxe at me, the number of times I had to tuck and roll, duck and cover, and recoil from the swings of the pickaxe. So, is it possible that the nightmares of the actual event have affected my memory of it? Is it possible that I am confusing my nightmares for the actuality of what really happened? Thank you. Mike

PAIRS Foundation Offering Free Classes to Help Combat Veterans Impacted by PTSD

The nonprofit PAIRS Foundation will offer a series of free 90-minute online classes this month to help returning combat veterans and family members impacted by PTSD. Early intervention through effective education and skills training is critical for combat veterans and families. For more information visit: www.pairs.com/splash/ptsd.html

RevMike, try this site or anyone.

http://www.quarterhorsecav.org/PTSD.htm

I get PTSD from reading some of the input here. How can someone join the military (remember it is all volunteer) and get PTSD from doing his job? What did he/she expect? Don't we all have stress disorders? How about PTSDd teachers from screwy pupils, in marriage/relationships, policemen from criminals, carpenters from measuring wrong, drivers from causing an accident, Captains from running on a sandbank etc? Where would we end if all this PTSD would be paid for by the public? Isn't the military PTSD more an exercise in getting money from the VA? Or an employment scheme for psychiatrists? The guy in Ft. Hood needed one himself. You can all clobber me, I don't care. I have my sober beliefs.

Mastertanker,

I think you're being a bit callous here. I don't have PTSD. I've witnessed/experienced plenty of crap and it hardly bothers me at all. My best friend witnessed/experienced the same thing, and he is completely messed up. He's my best friend. He covered my ass more than once in combat. There's nothing wrong with me, yet he has nightmares and flashbacks. He doesn't want anymore money, he just wants treatment. He wants help. More than one vet has stated the same thing here. They're not after more VA funds, they just want the nightmares to go away. Sure, there are some scammers....but you run into that everywhere (supply systems, contracts, posers, etc). MOST of the guys here are here to get help.

Give them the benefit of the doubt here. You and I and a few others can spot the scammers and posers. MOST folks here on the PTSD threads are legit.

Patoloco, sorry I don't believe in PTSD because it became a very popular malady when VA started paying for it way back in the after Nam days and suddenly all kinds of Vietnam Vets claimed they have it. That struck me. Strange, the WW2 and Korean Vets were ok. Hard to believe. Read the book 'They stole our Honor'.

I guess it is easy to make a judgment when you don't understand what your talking about.