Need PTSD Treatment? Have a Veterans Disability Lawyer File Your Claim

Soldiers coming home from war or being discharged from service often suffer from injuries. For many of them, however, these injuries aren’t physical but mental. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one example, which is often a result of undergoing traumatic events. Soldiers develop it frequently, especially in battlefield conditions.

PTSD can have long-term effects that can affect a person’s quality of life. First, sufferers often tend to relive the event, either through flashbacks or nightmares. Second, they tend to avoid things that would remind them of their trauma. Third, PTSD causes people to feel negatively about themselves and their situation, which often leads to depression. Finally, PTSD sufferers can be jittery or always on the lookout for danger.

Treatment can greatly improve the lives of those suffering from PTSD. C. Bartley Frueh and Sally Satel recently wrote an article for Time about how the Department of Veterans Affairs handles PTSD:

“After all, the majority of PTSD patients in the VA are not treated in inpatient or residential settings, but as outpatients. Presumably, these patients are better off than those referred to intensive programs.

So how do they fare? Are they better able to benefit from state of the art cognitive-behavioral therapies, such as prolonged exposure and cognitive processing? Clinicians routinely use these interventions to good effect in treating PTSD among civilians. We have every reason to expect that, in most cases, these therapies–in conjunction with psychotherapy and couples or family therapy or medication—have indeed helped veterans.”

The problem is that these procedures can cost a lot and some may have difficulty in paying for them. This is where experienced veterans disability lawyers from a firm like Fight 4 Vets would be able to help.

A skilled veterans disability lawyer can file a PTSD claim with the VA so that you can claim disability benefits, which will help with your treatment. To fully qualify for a PTSD claim, a veteran has to meet the following requirements.

First, the veteran needs to have received a legitimate PTSD diagnosis. Second, a written statement about the traumatic event that caused the disorder. Third, the traumatic event needs to be consistent with the veteran’s service record; an example would be that the event was noted as part of a combat incident that the veteran was confirmed to be part of. Finally, there needs to be a medical opinion that the traumatic event was sufficient enough to cause PTSD from either a psychologist or psychiatrist directly employed by the VA or under contract from the VA.

(Source: Veterans Affairs Needs to Get a Clue About PTSD Treatment, Time.com, June 27, 2014)