Jim Fausone
Veterans Disability Lawyer
The military is about fitting in, not being different. Some men who join up just seem to take longer to fit in. The enlisted corp requires you to fit in fast or be labeled as unfit or something worse. You could get labeled with a personality-related diagnoses which are considered pre-existing conditions by the Department of Defense.
The data showed that 31,000 servicemembers were discharged from 2001 to 2010 because of personality disorders, a group of disorders in which a person’s behaviors and thoughts differ from their culture’s expectations, causing work and relationship problems. A recent GAO report indicates that DOD is slow to get it right about servicemen who do not fit in - do they have a pre-existing condition or a disability like PTSD or TBI. As the spotlight remains on the DOD to treat servicemen and women properly, we can only hope the 31,000 improperly discharged get the help to put their lives back in order.
http://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/veterans-study-thousands-wrongfully-discharged-for-personality-disorders-1.172678
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Showing posts with label personality disorder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label personality disorder. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Monday, February 27, 2012
Personality Disorder Tag
Jim Fausone
Veteran Disability Lawyer
We have written about this tactic before. The military brands a soldier with the tag or diagnosis of personality disorder and discharges him or her from the service. About 3000 troops a year are discharged this way. Why you may ask? Because the military considers personality disorder a pre-existing problem that emerges in youth, and as a result, troops given the diagnosis are often administratively discharged without medical pay or VA disability compensation.
The Army got caught swapping PTSD diagnosis for personality disability. A general officer admitted it was to avoid the VA compensation a soldier would receive over his lifetime if he had a PTSD diagnosis. Though it is impossible to know how many veterans are disputing their personality disorder discharges, Vietnam Veterans of America, an advocacy group, with help from the Yale veteran’s legal clinic, has sued the Defense Department seeking records they say will show that thousands of troops have been unfairly discharged for personality or adjustment disorder since 2001.
If you were discharged with "personality adjustment”, contact us about seeking compensation. Read more about this problem in a recent New York Times article about a 50 year old soldier’s recent improper diagnosis.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/25/us/a-military-diagnosis-personality-disorder-is-challenged.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
Veteran Disability Lawyer
We have written about this tactic before. The military brands a soldier with the tag or diagnosis of personality disorder and discharges him or her from the service. About 3000 troops a year are discharged this way. Why you may ask? Because the military considers personality disorder a pre-existing problem that emerges in youth, and as a result, troops given the diagnosis are often administratively discharged without medical pay or VA disability compensation.
The Army got caught swapping PTSD diagnosis for personality disability. A general officer admitted it was to avoid the VA compensation a soldier would receive over his lifetime if he had a PTSD diagnosis. Though it is impossible to know how many veterans are disputing their personality disorder discharges, Vietnam Veterans of America, an advocacy group, with help from the Yale veteran’s legal clinic, has sued the Defense Department seeking records they say will show that thousands of troops have been unfairly discharged for personality or adjustment disorder since 2001.
If you were discharged with "personality adjustment”, contact us about seeking compensation. Read more about this problem in a recent New York Times article about a 50 year old soldier’s recent improper diagnosis.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/25/us/a-military-diagnosis-personality-disorder-is-challenged.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
Friday, September 10, 2010
Personality Disorder Misdiagnosis
by Jim Fausone
We see soldiers discharged for or diagnosed with "personality disorder" all too often in our veteran disability practice. As a result, the veteran is not going to receive VA benefits. Personality disorder is a "preexisting condition" so there will be no grant of VA disability compensation. After an article in The Nation magazine, the Defense Department changed its policy and began requiring a top-level review of each case to ensure post-traumatic stress or a brain injury wasn't the underlying cause rather than a pre-existing condition. The Army had been discharging 1000 vets per year with personality disorder. However, the annual number of personality disorder cases dropped by 75% after the new policy was implemented. Only 260 soldiers were discharged on those grounds in 2009.
At the same time, the number of post-traumatic stress disorder cases has soared. By 2008, more than 14,000 soldiers had been diagnosed with PTSD - twice as many as two years before. The Army is now looking at if it misdiagnosed and discharged thousands of veterans in the last few years. The article attached discusses this problem and highlights the need to challenge a VA denial of claims for personality disorder.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-08-15-incorrect-ptsd-dismissals_N.htm
We see soldiers discharged for or diagnosed with "personality disorder" all too often in our veteran disability practice. As a result, the veteran is not going to receive VA benefits. Personality disorder is a "preexisting condition" so there will be no grant of VA disability compensation. After an article in The Nation magazine, the Defense Department changed its policy and began requiring a top-level review of each case to ensure post-traumatic stress or a brain injury wasn't the underlying cause rather than a pre-existing condition. The Army had been discharging 1000 vets per year with personality disorder. However, the annual number of personality disorder cases dropped by 75% after the new policy was implemented. Only 260 soldiers were discharged on those grounds in 2009.
At the same time, the number of post-traumatic stress disorder cases has soared. By 2008, more than 14,000 soldiers had been diagnosed with PTSD - twice as many as two years before. The Army is now looking at if it misdiagnosed and discharged thousands of veterans in the last few years. The article attached discusses this problem and highlights the need to challenge a VA denial of claims for personality disorder.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-08-15-incorrect-ptsd-dismissals_N.htm
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