It does not matter whether a sexually assaulted claimant has tried once or several times to service-connect his/her PTSD or related psychiatric disability claim. In either case, military sexual trauma (MST) claims are difficult to prove. Rarely will the victim have reported the incident at or near the time of the in-service assault, and rarely will there be any other …

Veteran Diagnosed With Personality Disorder   Military service demands certain sacrifices, but few realize just how demanding active duty can be on a person’s mental state. While much is made about post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, unfortunately, the Department of Veterans Affairs does not recognize personality disorders as a disability that can be compensated by the VA. Viewed instead as …

Service-connected psychiatric disability and traumatic brain injury (TBI) are commonalities among veterans with substance abuse challenges and involvement with the criminal justice system. While these facts may point to a failure of the system to support service members who are injured in the line of duty, and the generalized failure to provide adequate treatment and support for substance abuse, the system …

Veterans with psychiatric disabilities face the daunting task of applying for both help for their problem and benefits to enable them to take care of themselves and their families. Because of the stigma that still surrounds mental health in this country, it’s often hard for a veteran to even admit he has a problem, let alone apply for benefits because of it. …

Recently, the United States Army and the United States National Institute of Mental Health conducted a large-scale study on the mental health of military members. The majority of the data used for the study was the Army’s Study to Assess Risks and Resilience inServicemembers (STARRS) survey of approximately 5,500 active duty soldiers. Out of that number, almost 25% suffered from a mental disorder of some …

A recent study found that nearly 25% of all veterans suffer from a mental illness of some kind. In many of these cases, veterans have a psychiatric disability that entitles them to disability benefit payments from the VA. Psychiatric disabilities are presumed to be service-related. Even in cases where a veteran had a pre-existing mental illness, VA benefits are still possible if there was a service-related aggravation …