Psychiatric / Mental Health
VA Benefits for Mental Health Problems?
Did you develop a mental health condition during
or after military service?
Exposure to trauma, personal stressors, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and other in-service events can lead to the development of a wide variety of psychiatric and mental health issues. These cases tend to be complex, and it is highly recommended that in addition to our services, that a veteran also obtain a veterans benefits lawyer. In our considerable experience, for people serious about actually winning difficult cases, a DIY medical nexus letter may not be enough. We strongly advise veterans in these cases to retain an aggressive, hard-hitting VA disability law firm to also represent them. We maintain relationships with many of the top attorneys and we would be happy to refer you to someone that is right for you and your case.
Our medical experts provide VA nexus letters to service connect various forms of mental health problems.
Types of psychiatric and mental health disorders
commonly associated with military service include:
- Anxiety disorders
- Depression
- Behavioral / emotional disorders
- Eating disorders
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Dissociation / dissociative disorders
- Bipolar affective disorder
- Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Memory problems
- Adjustment disorder
- Confusion
- Chronic fatigue
- Paranoia
- Psychosis
- Schizophrenia
- Schizoaffective disorder
Veterans often face challenges getting VA nexus letters supporting mental health claims. There is typically a culture that discourages the reporting of mental health conditions during service. Veterans that are experiencing symptoms of depression, mood swings, or paranoia will usually keep it to themselves. Therefore, in-service medical records don’t often include any documentation of the problem.
Veterans with PTSD and other trauma-induced conditions face additional problems when there is no documentation of the traumatic event – or the veteran can’t pinpoint one precise event that led to his condition.
In some cases, the veteran may not have an official diagnosis of a mental health condition. In other cases, the VA will argue that a traumatic event occurring after service is the true cause of the mental health condition.
Our mental health experts review all relevant scientific evidence, client records, and witness statements to form credible medical opinions linking mental health conditions and military service. In many cases, we will work to establish secondary service connection for mental health problems.
An Example
A veteran may be service connected for any number of physical health problems that cause pain and debilitation – a known factor in the development of severe depression. This veteran could also claim PTSD secondary to the now service-connected depression. By doing this, we remove the need to prove some specific traumatic event during service that caused the PTSD.
Case in point:
An airborne veteran developed back, neck, and knee pain from repeated jumps. They also sought PTSD service connection for time in Iraq. However, they couldn’t verify the specific stressors that caused the PTSD, so couldn’t achieve direct service connection.
But they were also suffering from depression and experienced tremendous chronic pain each day due to numerous service-connected physical problems. Our VA nexus letter expert examined them and determined that they suffered from major depression associated with the daily, chronic pain.
In many cases, our VA nexus letter doctors can locate in the military record documentation suggesting signs of a mental health disorder even though the veteran was never officially diagnosed with a mental health disorder during service. For example, evidence of military sexual trauma (MST) or disciplinary action involving excess alcohol use, fatigue, or anger issues.
No matter what type of mental health disorder you are experiencing or how much evidence of service connection you feel you lack, our veteran-focused medical professionals at Elite Medical Review Associates will examine all potential links to service and prepare a strong, convincing nexus letter to submit with your VA benefits claim.
Decades of experience with veterans’ disability claims, our doctors are renowned for their meticulous research, recognition of all relevant scientific links between service events and mental health issues, and diligent nexus letter preparation.