Falsely claiming PTSD for VA benefits?

Well I work for the VA and I know there are a lot of people who try and abuse the system. This hurts those of us who do not abuse the system. But the VA does have Investigators - we have an office right here in Orlando. And if you report someone, they will investigate for abuse. But PTSD is a fine line, there are so many things that can cause it and you may not even know you have it. But the VA does test for it and if you do have it - they will assign you a doctor to work with to try and help. It will take a while, but you can recover.

The VA has its own investigators. They just call a 51-year old man claiming to be blind and drawing 100% benefits. The neighbors reported him mowing his grass, driving a car, operating a boat on a lake. VA investigators conducted surveillance on the guy and arrested him for government fraud and charged him $410,000 dollars to pay back to the government and then sent him to prison!

I believe there are many claiming PTSD that have nothing wrong with them. I know of one I don’t believe she has it. She never seen combat yet she claims to have it and she somehow got claim approval. I’ve been shot in the back myself and am still fighting my claim. It’s not PTSD. But it’s is for mental health. Mainly depression. They did bump my mental health up from 50% to 70%. But I’m still at total of 90%. Still in the process of getting my total to 100%. I’ve had injections in my lumbar for several years and surgery on lumbar and neck. My whole spine is shot. I got my scooter a couple of months ago to get around on.

This article feels motivated by an institutional reluctance to pay for damage. How can we cut costs? I know, cast doubt on those claiming PTSD. Low class, but I've come to expect this sort of underhanded narrative steering. It's okay, I understand that the DoD needs to keep grossly overpaying Lockheed, L3 Harris, etc., so the politicos can keep getting that sweet sweet campaign money and remarkably well paid speaking gigs. Best to throw the actual war fighters under the bus ... they're the easiest to squeeze. All I'm saying is, how many hurting people don't seek PTSD treatment because of articles like this? And how many of those result in suicides? For shame.

First and foremost PTSD can be caused by a lot of things besides combat such as Military Sexual Trauma, Personal Assault, Vehicle Accident, getting stuck on the side of a C130 when your chute did not open.... anything that exposes you to trauma that made you "fear for your life and safety". Loss of comrades would even makes it worse, dealing with morale injury, self blame and make sense out of suffering.

The comments mentioned by MSgt Grimes reference to another military service member could be quite complex. More than likely, there's more to it than just what's being said. PTSD cannot be cured all of sudden. It does not just go away, it reoccurs overtime specifically when a stressor triggers it.

You don't have to fire a single shot to be diagnosed or rated for PTSD. In addition, "medication is not the only treatment for PTSD". You have multitude of options such as counseling, Prolong Exposure Treatment (PET), Chronic Pain Treatment (CPT), Cognitive Behavior Treatment (CBT) coupled with LENS, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Transcendental Meditation, Resilience Retreat, and other applicable PTSD available treatment.

Furthermore, just because you are not receiving any continuous care does not mean the symptoms are not there. At times, most of us self-treat with alcohol or other means.

A lot of anomalies and questions arises whether the person joined with a preexisting condition...this might be true, but a question must be answered: "Did the preexisting condition aggravated by the military service? If it is, then its ratable.

Can a PTSD rated Veteran can have a CCW? Absolutely, if he is deemed stable. The person in question must recognize he does have an issue (identification), get treatment for it (act on it - initiative), and stabilized. No different than a Police Officer who is 100% service-connected: (1) is his condition affecting his proficiency and performance at work, (2) is he impaired while on-duty, (2) does (s)he have any egregious behavior while on duty; all leads to fit for duty.

If the claims are indeed fraudulent, VAOIG can investigate the matter and seek charges and prosecution for fraudulent claims.

this person have more than PTSD, ptsd come in different form.
maybe he good at what he can do.

Some psychiatrists contracted by the VA rubber stamp things and nod without concern of the patient. They often review the full VA records and TRICARE which if this individual has an established physician, will note affect and potential dishonesty. I've had to correct records before and review mine regularly and booted physicians for writing lies. I had an eMRI scheduled after psychotherapy and the new shrink said I was drinking excessive caffinated sugary beverages. My own primary care physician wrote a supporting statement saying I was choking down 3 jugs of liquid barium and had no other beverages during a fasting eMRI procedure... so it all comes down to records, do the C&P reviewers believe the records, is there support for what the service member states and/or contests... etc. This guy may have had other issues exacerbated by his initial enlistment and mental health issues often go undiagnosed. He says he's "cured"... that's laughable. You can manage symptoms but there is no true "cure". I've finally gotten over most fireworks but I duck when I hear gunfire still... the joys of North highlands I guess. If the VA isn't concerned about this guy, it's probably because benefits were supported based on his first enlistment. His national guard enlistment would probably get him a bar to reenlist for defective enlistment agreement as his original enlistment wasn't fraudulent... the issue is his medical health upon re-enlisting. Though he could also get failed medical procurement standards too... that's another NGB administrative catch-all that was used when I processed separations. So... no fraudulent enlistment. And ptsd doesn't require you to fire a weapon either, just an FYI. I was administrative and signal systems support for my deployments. I only left the wire once, my issues come from being on the post attack response team and seeing what was left of my office a day after we packed up the building. I still had a few personal effects I wanted to get but...

I personally would believe that he is defrauding the government but the decision should be made by the VA. They have the expertise to make that kind of diagnosis

You don’t need to be in a firefight to suffer from PTSD. I also “only” served one deployment and I also joined the National Guard after active duty. The thing about PTSD is that it’s not immediate. I didn’t even know I had it until I was almost 2-3 years serving in the Guard. PTSD often starts displaying symptoms once your brain feels it’s in a safe environment. Then it starts to process what it put on hold, and terrible symptoms can follow. I’m also 100% P&T and while it wasn’t something I was trying to get, it still took years upon years of psychiatric help and medicine. So 12 years before getting a 100% rating isn’t uncommon. On top of that, do you know how many doctors you need to go through to get that rating? A LOT. While one can probably lie their way into a lower rating, 100% is hard to get and they don’t want to give it. They’re tough and thorough. While we can’t know for SURE what symptoms this guy has, we do know he was evaluated by multiple doctors who know how to look out for lies and have a vested interest in NOT giving a 100% rating.

As for not taking his meds, LOTS of veterans who need them don’t take them. That doesn’t mean anything except he may need more help and therapy.

As for the lying about being a sniper? Idk. That’s definitely sus. It could be a lie or it could be an attempt to try to validate his PTSD to others.

After all, there ARE people out there who will question if one has PTSD because they’ve “only” been on one deployment and didn’t fire their weapon.

First of all the Government is supposed to go over your entire life's history before committing to excepting your dead asses. Just kidding. Lol But, seriously they take on that entire commitment of your future health. Period. Now to fraudulently file a claim with any government organization is punishable of up to ten years and 10000 dollars in fines . Thank you!