Falsely claiming PTSD for VA benefits?

I’d mind my own business. Ken

This has been burning my ass since I was a little kid, seeing so many fakers claiming PTSD from Vietnam and getting all the benefits . It has only got far far worse since then. Basically when I hear PTSD , I think "fraud" and I am of the opinion like my WWII grandfathers and the real Vietnam Vets(combat) , "bunch of BS" in most cases.

Anyone has chanced to see a gruesome auto accident on the highway, or be part of one , and it will give some "PTSD" . Service"people" who see something similiar while on duty in the military now" can claim PTSD and get a free check for life .

As my grandfathers and father said- "Bunch of Bull", Real PTSD should take alot more than that. But I have seen/heard about the running PTSD fraud for 50 years now. Most of the ones claiming it were "NCO's, to begin with - no chance outside, even before they joined the military. PTSD looks like a good ride if to a sociopath path after they ETS, if they can claim it by default and also fraud.

I feel for the guys who got really "bent" becuase of their military service. I know one very well. He is where I get my most of views on PTSD , I knew another pretty good but he gone now. Compared to the other many WWII/Korea/Vietnam Vets I have known, who "adjusted" to real . Beside being a vet myself and the dudes Cold/War Vets I knew/know still. There are very few real PTSD cases. I know of only those two personally(both Vietnam heavy combat vets), who I would say had PTSD. Maybe my best friend's dad had PTSD , he lost a leg during the Battle of the Bulge, but I think he was just a mean ornery drunk, still a straight-up "old-dude". I don't think he had PTSD. Most WWII vets were like that. They did not complain or ask for chit. They got their home-loans and GI BILL and went on with their life(making the 50's and 60's so great).

From all that , IMO, I'd say at most 5% of PTSD cases actually deserve some level of disability going back to Nam or even Korea or WWII. - note those "wars" all included "the draft" . Making the subsequent Cold War and GWOT figures for PTSD disabilty claims even more of joke and a fraud. If I ever run into a GWOT vet saying he is disabled due to PTSD, I can only say that I hope I don't laugh or say something honest , before I walk off. I don't want to deal with such stuff.

Voluntary enlistment? Well then , that pretty much nullifies PTSD in most cases. Sorry to the people who did not know what they were getting into, but the frauds can GTH. The few real ones ? Yes, PTSD disabilty should be recognized and is deserved, but those are very few and far between.

I think that it’s hard to make a determination because you probably don’t know what’s going on in someone’s head.

When I was younger I was a lot more harsh, and probably would have jumped to conclusions. Now that I’m a little older I try and give people the benefit of the doubt.

I deployed three times, got blown up and shot on separate occasions. I did shoot at insurgents… And I also lost soldiers and friends. My PTSD is not constant. There are ups and there are downs. I can go extended periods of time on one side or the other. Triggers are real.

I was diagnosed with moderate to severe PTSD by a psychologist from the Vets Center. He had nearly 30 years counseling and evaluating veterans with PTSD issues. Everyone with PTSD have different ways that their condition manifests itself. Mine are one of the more common they see. I had a successful career and was fully employed until retired.
After my diagnosis about 10 years ago many of the events in my life were defined by the psychologist as a product of my PTSD. He came to that decision after seeing me for many months. I had a lot of apologizing to do to people as part of my dealing with it but it helped.
A number of my friends convinced me that I should file a claim with the VA for PTSD. I receive compensation for both my hearing and Agent Orange related problems.
After filing my claim I was given an appointment with the C&P office in Gainesville FL. I met with a young woman who asked me question from a computer and recorded my responses. She also recorded my military experience which included 5 combat tours to Vietnam from 1965-73. A couple of months later I received a denial. Her report stated that she concurred with my PTSD diagnosis but that it did not result from several years in a combat zone.

I know from Experience(friends/Relatives) that it's mostly FAKED and overused.. VA benefits are dished out like CANDY since obama's presidency.(couldn't be denied).. Just recently hear of an Individual who got a RATING increase of 10% to complete attainment of 100% rating for , Guess what? HEMORRHOIDS.. What does having Hemorrhoids have to do with bein Disabled ?( many people get that naturally.. It's all a FRAUD. PTSD is also very easy to FAKE... Seen individuals that get Disability for that.. but Seems to be OK, That is, until they go to the Frequent Clinical Visits, That's where the "Acting" comes into play...

If all the facts are true this should be investigated

It is my understanding that many of the troops today are being advised to claim PTSD before they get out no matter what. In the end, I suspect the VA will be forced to someday end benefits for PTSD for anyone on the fringe, which is a disservice to all of us. Will a patriot claim a benefit he or she KNOWS FOR SURE they aren't entitled to, you bet. A person's personal ethics and character are involved, patriot or not. It would eat at my conscience. It bothers me that I receive benefits for Agent Orange but have no way of knowing for sure whether my diseases were caused by that herbicide or I just got the diseases, luck of the draw. That not knowing allows me to accept the benefits in my mind- -rationalization. There is just no way to know for sure. Likewise, perhaps some feel the same way about PTSD, and those vets might react very differently than we see in the movies in the obvious ways from experiencing loud noises, etc.

I was medically retired in the end of 2019 and can not possibly see how anyone can fake anything the entire retirement process is now a year long because they combined the military and va medical retirement process, during my time I saw saw more then four different physiologist a neurologist two majors and went to three different military sponsored group programs run by the army’s private social workers just to ensure I had coping skills and wouldn’t snap and could at least start processing my trauma, ptsd is hard to understand , can you possibly imagine not feeling safe anywhere watching everyone’s hands not being able to interact with people not being able to even stand in a crowded gas station or store withought having to fight the urge to bugg out. The isolation you feel daily becuase no one understands. As a civilian who has never served our country and not been put in those life or death situations you have no right to say who is faking or not. Most medically retired veterans need support from their communities they don’t get and that why so many are homeless and commit suicide
Becuase they gave their all for people like you who don’t even appreciate it and would rather attack and antagonize them.

You have someone who is a welfare loser trying to get money from the government for sitting on their ass.

Malingering is a common psychological syndrome that is widespread in the VA medical system. Many veterans will facetiously fabricate events that they claim are the putative precipitating triggers of PTSD in order to demonstrate they are entitled to VA benefits. I have not conducted a statistical epidemiological study of PTSD amongst veterans but I can surmise with confidence that the VA compensation program is swamped by an overwhelming amount of imposters. The VA has as a result ballooned into a vast welfare system for veterans undeserving of benefits. This underhanded exploitation of the VA suggests that these pseudo-PTSD sufferers are in fact afflicted with an anti-social personality disorder rather than an anxiety malady like PTSD. Classifying and identifying discrete PTSD symptoms is a very complex exercise in the differential diagnosis of various psychiatric illnesses that have comorbidities and requires a highly skilled mental health provider to identify signs of malingering and the sociopathic attempt by many veterans to authenticate a false claim for disability compensation. These mythological tales that are articulated by mendacious veterans are legendary and would, I suppose, constitute a convincing work of entertaining fiction worthy of Truman Capote or JD Salinger. There is only one appropriate noun to describe these malingerers: Phonies. SPC Benjamin