Advocate questions value of new PTSD rule

After President Obama announced new guidelines that would mean more benefits for those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Cathy Magnuson did a little research.

In his weekly address, Obama said veterans would no longer have to document a specific event to claim PTSD benefits.

He said the practice has kept the vast majority of those with PTSD who served in non-combat roles, but who still waged war, from getting the help they need.

“Well, I don’t think our troops on the battlefield should have to take notes to keep for a claims application,” Obama said. “And I’ve met enough veterans to know that you don’t have to engage in a firefight to endure the trauma of war.”

Under the new rule, any veteran who experiences anxiety because of a stressful deployment-related experience can get treatment for PTSD. A Veterans Administration doctor must confirm the diagnosis, and the symptoms have to be related to the stressor.

“On the surface it sounds like a good deal,” said Magnuson, commander of Disabled American Veterans Chapter 72. “But after reading the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) guidance, I believe nothing has changed.”

Magnuson said the new guidelines will not help all of the veterans who suffer from PTSD. The new guidelines should include diagnoses from private physicians or mental health professionals.

Magnuson said the VA denied an increase in PTSD benefits for a veteran who provided statements from a vet center psychologist.

“According to DVA, a private mental health report or diagnosis is not adequate for establishing service connection for PTSD; therefore, a VA exam will be required,” Magnuson said. 

Veterans with true PTSD are not likely going to share their feelings with a new physician at the VA – even if it’s for the purpose of a compensation and pension exam, she added.

The new guidelines went into effect along the Emerald Coast on Tuesday, said Jerron Barnett, public affairs specialists for VA Gulf Coast.

The new rule will apply to claims received by VA on or after July 13; received before the 13th but not yet decided by a VA regional office; appealed to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals on or after July 13 and appealed before the 13th without a Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision.

VA Gulf Coast treated more than 6,400 veterans for PTSD in 2009. Of those, 16 percent were veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom.