PTSD and the VA

Filed in archive News on August 11, 2005

Is PTSD being overdiagnosed? The VA thinks so:

Last year, the VA spent $4.3 billion on PTSD disability payments, not including medical care.

The number of vets receiving compensation benefits for the illness rose nearly 80 percent between 1999 and 2004 -- from 120,265 to 215,871. During the same period, benefits for all types of disabilities grew by just 12 percent, to about 2.5 million.

So far, about 10 percent of the stress syndrome increase comes from veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Budahn said.

Some experts say PTSD is diagnosed too readily. "PTSD went from being problematic being accepted as a condition, to being almost too easily accepted," said Wilbur Scott, a University of Oklahoma sociologist who has written about the disorder.

Budahn attributed the increase mostly to rising awareness of the illness, thanks to education efforts by the VA, veterans' organizations and health care workers.

If the current review finds a veteran's claim does not include adequate proof of a "stressor" -- the specific event or events that trigger the mental illness -- the veteran will be asked to provide more information and could ultimately lose benefits.

("VA Rechecking Post-Traumatic Stress Claims", AP/FoxNews Aug.11; via Medpundit)