Falsely claiming PTSD for VA benefits?

He is a definite fraud and should be prosecuted to the extent of the law. I don't know how he came to get 100% as you have to be drooling crazy to get 100% for PTSD. Must have had a lot of other problems medically? PTSD is easy to get. There are fraudsters out there who specialize in getting a soldier PTSD money as it is hard to disprove, except in this guys case.. I can tell you that if you have PTSD from combat, and I don't mean a causal aquaintance with the same, it never goes away. I am 78 and live with it every day, BUT! I have learned to live with it. If you ever watch an interview from WWII andKorean Vets who were in combat, you will see teary eyes at the remembrance. Shell shock is what this emend had or so it was said. Shell shock and PTSD are the same. For 11 years after I was discharged from the Army after Vietnam I was in a. fog. I remember very little. I can't remember my kids being born, first haircut, first days of school. It was all mostly a blank page on my life. Since then I was able to work had a small successful business, but I was never far from some of the tings I saw or witnessed.
It hurts when I see some f the people getting tax payer money for something that isn't real.

All I can say is, I thought the same thing about AF or Navy being on a large Base, never go outside the wire, have organized PT with a main road being shutdown to traffic. How the hell do they claim PTSD?? But sometimes they hear mortars n rockets flying over but not even close to the area they're staying. How can that be traumatic?? Then doing my Retirement physical, I watched a civilians take a few Soldiers, 5-6, and instructed them how to fake the funk and get a higher rating for PTSD. Ethical? Not buy a long shot. I didn't believe I had it coming back to the Post. Then one day, While in the 1SG and CO's office they said I could speak freely. My field of vision went to zero, all black and did my speak freely. Then something snapped me back to reality and I realized I over loaded my a$$. The CO was pushed back against the wall in his chair with terror in his eyes and he couldn't push the wall back further. 1SG just sat there. When I was done, I snapped to attention and asked forgiveness bc I don't have a clue to what happened but TOP said we're going to the hospital.

If you think of questioning a PTSD eval, think again. You don't know their mindset when they went over and what the came back with. A lesson I learned. even still today being retired for about 10 years, I still catch myself watching the sides of the road, get tense when someone is driving to close or stopped right up my butt at a light. I start running thru my nugget of escape routes.

Along with this, I know for a fact that the Army is severely understrength with Mental Health providers. It's even the same within the VA. I'm on my 5th shrink. They need to quit with pushing drugs as a quick fix cure all. WARNO!!! This of you on here reading this, Please take under personal experience. GET OFF AMBIEN OR ITS GENERIC. For one if on it too long, it starts with short term memory loss leading to dementia, not only the strange crap you do at night, you will not know you did it. My mom is beginning with dementia and what they call Sun down Syndrome. Creates bad hallucinations, even going out and walk off. Luckily we found her before hyperthermia was taking over. Over 4 hrs of heating her core temp to normal.

What a service members rating is for PTSD disability rating.....Worry about the 6 ft bubble surrounding you. Be a help not a hinderent.

TMy comment is a slightly beside main topic. i recently was convince to file a VA claim because of the constant ringing in my ears. Was award 40%. Thought ok great!.
Then BOHICA, DFAS deducted the full amount from my retiree pay.
Talk about FUBAR. This takes the prize. After some research the most embarrasseing shameful apparrent fact is the FUBAR bill was passed when Republicans ruled.
WT?

"Can this member have concealed carry and go hunting, when he claims PTSD for gunfire?"
If the individual was not found "incompetent" then they will retain their second amendment rights.

He is taking comp from someone who really needs it.

PTSD =X=cured.
There is no cure for PTSD and even the best treatments are only symptom management. It's the defining difference between PTSD and a large battery of other trauma induced psychological conditions that can be successfully treated. (CSD -combat stress disorder, is the temporary version of PTSD and clears up in a couple months or years, like mine did.) By that alone, this guy is a fucking fraud. Why would he follow psychologists' prescriptions or recommendations when he probably doesn't have PTSD?

However combat =/= PTSD. By my research less than 1% of PTSD sufferers have been in combat, and even for those who have it's not always the cause. There are no statistics for how many people enlist with preexisting PTSD and little speculation on how many soldiers suffer PTSD from non-combat causes. If a soldier served four years with no combat, no deployment, never firing their rifle outside the qualifying range, it doesn't rule out PTSD.

First of all, PTSD is not just a combat only related condition. I know this because my PTSD is not service connected. It comes from working 17 years as a surgical trauma team member and EMT. With that said, not only was I in the service, I was a dependent from birth until enlistment and a lot of things that happen in service can be PTSD related or caused. I saw a lot of it growing up and I saw a fair amount of it in service; even during the Cold War. Things do happen that can cause it that are relative to service that are not war zone related. At some point, many of us witness horrific accidents or take part in civilian community catastrphes and clean ups. That includes MST. Sadly, part of the stigma over PTSD has people not understanding what it really is or how it is caused.

PTSD can be caused by any traumatic event to an individual. And we all know everyone is wired differently with different coping mechanisms. What could be minor to you could be a major stressor for another person. And when something happens to you now may not be an issue. Later down the road, maybe even a number of years, something can trigger that experience. Trust me on that. I know all too well having been out of healthcare for almost 18 years now.

While I do attend PTSD clinic through VA, I do not claim it as a service related disability. And as far as I know, nobody in my group falsely claims it either. Does it happen? I am sure it probably does, just due to some people's nature. But, when it comes to PTSD, I don't question others who show obvious signs of it. Yes, I know it can be faked. And yes, if is faked, it should be criminal, in my opinion.

One of my personal experiences with PTSD is that I thought I could handle things myself. A lot of us try to do so mainly because of the stigma PTSD carries. We think that we are bigger than the problem stewing inside of us. I took the prescriptions for years, did the meditations and the groups until I thought I had it beat. Then I quit. That was my mistake. A couple of years later the triggers started to fire again and I almost let it beat me down too far. It happens with far more than we know. And thus, we have the "22 too many" or "22 A Day" of veteran suicides.

You sound responsible enough that I challenge you to learn more about PTSD. It may help you understand it a lot better and allow you to help your fellow service members or veterans much better.

How do you know that is what's going on with him? Just because he tells the public it is one thing does not mean that's what is going on with his medical treatments. What if he was raped and just tells the public it was gun fire from embarrassment? Its really not our places to know and he doesn't have any obligations to tell us the truth of his medical situation. Unless we are his doctors and are qualified with knowledge of his case, it is not our place to judge.

The real question is, why does it matter so much to you?

I don't believe PTSD is ever cured, just controlled. I fought mine for many years and my family suffered through my problems until the VA psychologist got me on the right track. The veteran you describe does have some problems as you described, and his mental illness may or may not have been caused by his service. Who are we to say. And who are we to interfere with the process. The facts as you have stated should be so evident that his medical professional team should handle the process. Firing a weapon or not has no bearing on a PTSD determination. I witnessed the aftermath of a tank running over a Marine who had been riding on top and fell off. The tank driver and two other Marines riding on the tank had to be medevac'd out from our position. They were so messed up they never returned to our unit.

To answer your question, I would proceed to not give a fuck about what someone else is doing unless it directly affects my life. Because there are many things that are not combat related that cause PTSD.

Want an example? Picking up aircrew parts after a crash. Using circumcised or not to ID which very small bag to put the "member" in....