Falsely claiming PTSD for VA benefits?

Prosecute him

Guess some of us are tougher or come from the generation of tougher Americans. I suppose if I was of the attitude I could maybe claim - but I never would. I was a survivor of child abuse - taken at 6mos from abusive parents and returned when I was 6yrs old. Mom had a lot of psychotic issues, dad was a vicious drunk who beat us often and grandma was old school corporal punishment generation. I was beat with anything they could get their hands on, including a 2x4 once (fan belts wrapped in electrical tape, belt buckles ect...) We were beat for the most trivial of transgressions.
In K9 school I was issued a dog that was designated for an advance class because of over aggression. I was in basic class. Found myself fighting off a 85# killer who was trying to kill me (I only weighed 128#). Survived that after being stitched and returning to class (fortunately with a different dog).
Lost my job in 1980 and was homeless with wife and kid for 4 years. No great outreach program for veterans back in those days.
And now fighting cancer. I guess I could have claimed PTSD on any or all of those but I was of the opinion that you work through it.
I have been blessed in many ways and some I would do all over again. I do get sad when others talk about their great parents and advantages I can't claim the same. But I survived. Have a great family - two great boys - one is active duty Marine. Have had great experiences and travel from my military career. Have been in many situations I should not have survived but did under the protection of a guardian angel or what ever you want to call it.
Do some get more affected by such experiences and as such suffer from PTSD - okay but those that fake PTSD as an excuse pisses me off. And what about those that had problems before going into the service - nope not buying the PTSD from them.
I see myself as a success - wife and I live comfortably - 22yrs of military and only ever fired from 1 civilian job among many. 30 years working with cadets in Civil Air Patrol (volunteer).

The Veteran suffers from PTSD and the VA has verified it medically, psychologically and psychiatrically before making its decision. We are in no position to second guess the VA.

The Social Security Administration doesn't accept mental health evaluations conducted or ordered by the VA; why?

There is no other reason other than to authenticate the verified mental health evaluations conducted by or on behalf of the VA.

PTSD is some tricky stuff. It's not about someone trying to kill you. For all you know he could have been raped by members of his unit during deployment, that would certainly cause some PTSD. Practice good OPSEC, and don't looking for info you don't need to know.

I'm sorry, but no. I have friends with PTSD fro Vietnam to the sandbox, I served on an aircraft carrier surrounded by 1200psi steam and 480v electrical systems. With a major steam leak you'd be parboiled before your body hit the deckplates. That was just an accepted risk of being a snipe. Just like gunfire is part of being a grunt, unless half your platoon got their shit splattered then where's the ptsd coming from. Going outside the wire is part of the job, the reason I joined the Navy is because I didn't want to crawl around the Nam getting shot at. If you signed up for infantry what did you expect?

Concealed weapons permit for someone with COVID19 is questionable.

Lemme see, 10% for PTSD; 10% for COPD. went through four (4) SRPs before being deployed and not a single problem. Blew my back out (L5,S1) and VA don't give a flying fuck because I could carry 20lbs ten feet. You tell me. And you KNOW that as soldiers, we try our hardest to Charlie Mike and do the best we can. And the prevailing knowledge was that you have to LIE to get anything from the VA. The VA even supported this. Meanwhile, Soldiers that don't lie and suffer through pain get shit. Oh, you want me to say it hurts if I feel a muscle tense up? That'll get me more money? And when things DO start going south, (other medical problems that aren't normal-thank you Iraq) you can't get re-evaluated.

I was in the Air Force from 1969 to 1975. When I was a child I was autistic and sent away to a detention home and psychiatric facility for two years and sent home declared cured. I did not mention this when I entered OTS. In S. E. Asia I worked as a navigator on C-130s and in live combat at a couple of airports in Vietnam I think I did very well knowing what to do and how to direct the pilot after takeoff during a shell attack in Kontum. They gave me a DFC. The evening after I ate at the officer's club at Tan Son Nhut and went to the movies to try to forget it because I had heard about PTSD and it sounded like a real drag. The movie featured someone throwing dynamite sticks at someone rowing a boat and reminded me of the shells going bang outside the airplane during takeoff. I do not believe I got any PTSD from that incident.
After the war ended I got laid off as a Captain and did poorly in the job market, eventually learning there is no such thing as a cure of autism. Eventually I graduated from the PhD program in math and physics from Delaware State University in 2009. I have taken the liberty of supplying upon request proof of the DFC (covering social security numbers to prevent identity theft) and the PhD and prefer anyone to whom I supply attachments of these documents verify which I think is easy to do with Randolph Air Force Base and I will sign anything needed for permission to release such records because I know many people falsely claim such things and I want to do my part to protect people from such fraud.

If the question is really whether or not PTSD can be faked, I would say that the answer is yes. Most medical diagnoses are based upon objective data, but not all fall into this category. The classic example is complaints of back pain. Often nothing shows on x-rays and other tests, yet that alone does not "prove" that the person is lying when they claim to be suffering this pain. Psychological ailments, including PTSD are even harder to definitively diagnosis with certainty, especially when their is a possibility that the individual is motivated to get that diagnosis for whatever reasons. Early in my military service, at the height of the Vietnam War, more than a few soldiers were able to get discharged right from Basic Training based upon questionable psychiatric conditions. Fortunately, the average draftee believed that the Army psychiatrists were very skilled at spotting fakes and thus did not even try this route, but in fact, with the workloads they were handling, it was rather easy to fake mental illness to the psychiatrists and secure a discharge from active duty. I personally knew a psychiatrist who said he believed that any individual so desperate to avoid service as to fake mental illness was, by definition, mentally ill. Therefore, to him, it didn't matter whether the behavior and symptoms were real or faked since in either case he would do what was needed to get the soldier discharged from the service.

In the non military world, faking of mental illness is rampant and I am quite confident that a significant proportion of those people on full Social Security disability pay for mental illness are not actually mentally ill, but are lazy parasites content to live on a small income in return for not having to work at all.

It does not surprise me that there well may be some receiving disability pensions for PTSD that are not deserving of such. I doubt that the government cares enough about such fraud as to do anything meaningful to stop this behavior.

Good win for our bros dealing with hidden scars.