This thread is filled with so much disinformation it's almost impossible to sort it out. One overwhelmingly critical problem here is that, apparently, most have little or no understanding of what a psychologist is and how VA psychologists work.
By the time a psychologist is employed by the VA, that person will have interned for up to two years, with several thousand hours of supervision, group work, and have developed a deep understanding of the experiences common to veterans of our major conflicts. The person making a PTSD adjudication will not be some clueless dingbat right out of college, OK?
Second, a VA psychologist will be employed at GS12 or higher. By the time a person reaches that level with that much institutional experience, a malingerer has virtually no chance of success.
For example, let's say you get angry and shoot your wife in a drunken rage. Then, in a panic, you try to fabricate a crime scene, and spin a tale for the investigators about some masked home invader. You'll be busted in 10 minutes or sooner. Same with VA disability malingerers - they really don't have a snowball's chance in hell of pulling something over on the experts, people who've seen it 10,000 times already and know exactly what to look for.
A diagnosis of clinically relevant PTSD will conform to the guidelines of the DSM-IV specification, which includes:
And the extent of these symptoms must be of sufficient severity as to cause interference with the patient's normal functioning, and be persistent over a long period of time. Notice that comment above:
This is consistent with a DSM-IV criterion for PTSD:
So. Take that, add hyper-vigilance and increased startle response, trouble sleeping, anxiety, jumpiness, and put that person armed with a CCW in a shopping environment where a person who looks middle eastern calls out "hey!" to a child and you have a recipe for disaster.
Ignore bogus reports of "innocent, brave Iraqi vets brutally stripped of their RKBA for no good reason." That kind of thing is meant to mindlessly inflame your passions and is not reflective of the actual reality. The VA has zero interest in miss-classifying veterans because it costs the system money to have to pay benefits. They try to NOT award such disabilities and they make veterans who are disabled jump through countless hoops before finally, begrudgingly, awarding the minimum benefits possible.
No, you really don't want vets with PTSD like the guy above buying "dozens of guns." People with mental disorders and firearms are a bad combination.
By the time a psychologist is employed by the VA, that person will have interned for up to two years, with several thousand hours of supervision, group work, and have developed a deep understanding of the experiences common to veterans of our major conflicts. The person making a PTSD adjudication will not be some clueless dingbat right out of college, OK?
Second, a VA psychologist will be employed at GS12 or higher. By the time a person reaches that level with that much institutional experience, a malingerer has virtually no chance of success.
For example, let's say you get angry and shoot your wife in a drunken rage. Then, in a panic, you try to fabricate a crime scene, and spin a tale for the investigators about some masked home invader. You'll be busted in 10 minutes or sooner. Same with VA disability malingerers - they really don't have a snowball's chance in hell of pulling something over on the experts, people who've seen it 10,000 times already and know exactly what to look for.
A diagnosis of clinically relevant PTSD will conform to the guidelines of the DSM-IV specification, which includes:
And the extent of these symptoms must be of sufficient severity as to cause interference with the patient's normal functioning, and be persistent over a long period of time. Notice that comment above:
This is consistent with a DSM-IV criterion for PTSD:
So. Take that, add hyper-vigilance and increased startle response, trouble sleeping, anxiety, jumpiness, and put that person armed with a CCW in a shopping environment where a person who looks middle eastern calls out "hey!" to a child and you have a recipe for disaster.
Ignore bogus reports of "innocent, brave Iraqi vets brutally stripped of their RKBA for no good reason." That kind of thing is meant to mindlessly inflame your passions and is not reflective of the actual reality. The VA has zero interest in miss-classifying veterans because it costs the system money to have to pay benefits. They try to NOT award such disabilities and they make veterans who are disabled jump through countless hoops before finally, begrudgingly, awarding the minimum benefits possible.
No, you really don't want vets with PTSD like the guy above buying "dozens of guns." People with mental disorders and firearms are a bad combination.
