Mental Health Disorders

Many times symptoms of a mental health disorder will first come out during a veteran’s time in service. The stress of service or a particular event may be a trigger. The symptoms of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, dissociative identity disorder, and many others may start in service, but might not be fully diagnosed until many years afterwards. Some mental health disorders like post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety disorders, and depressive disorders may begin because of experiences a veteran had while in the service.

Often, the veteran will not seek help or treatment for these problems because of the stigma involved. The veteran may not even be aware that he or she has a problem, or may think that the symptoms are "untreatable". It may take many years of prodding before the veteran actually makes it to a doctor to receive a diagnosis and treatment.

There are many reasons for the lapse of time between a veteran’s first symptoms showing up in service and the actual diagnosis of the psychological disorder. However, this large gap of time usually makes a claim for service connection quite difficult.

If you are one of the lucky few who have received service connection for a mental health disorder, your fight with VA may still not be over. VA may have not rated you correctly. Your symptoms may be far more severe, or gotten worse over time, than VA currently recognizes. Let us help you explain to VA all of your symptoms in order to get you the best rating possible for your current condition.

We have experienced professionals on our staff who have worked in the mental health field before. They are familiar with the symptoms of psychological disorders and have experience in handling such difficult claims. We also have access to psychologists and psychiatrists who are able to provide a medical opinion linking your current psychological disorder back to your time spent in service.