Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe and potentially debilitating mental health disorder. Some veterans with PTSD can’t work, but they still need to support themselves and their families. This post explains what you need to know about VA unemployability for PTSD.
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In this article about TDIU for PTSD:
Work requires mental and physical strength to complete most tasks. For veterans with PTSD, those traits may not always be readily available. PTSD can affect your mind and body in ways that make it impossible to work. VA unemployability for PTSD can help you if you can’t maintain gainful employment because of trauma related to your military service.
PTSD in veterans
PTSD is caused by exposure to an extreme stressor or stressors when a person’s brain can’t process the emotions related to what happened. For many veterans, these stressors are connected with military service. Stressors can be from experiences in combat or related to a non-combat event, like military sexual trauma, training accidents, or harassment from a superior.
Veterans are considered a population prone to PTSD. About 7% of veterans experience PTSD, which is higher than the civilian average. More than 1.3 million veterans receive compensation after receiving a VA rating for PTSD, making PTSD the fourth most commonly service connected condition. That’s not counting the many other veterans who may have been exposed to traumatic events but have never sought out VA disability benefits, or have yet to win their claim.
PTSD symptoms can develop almost immediately or years after exposure to a traumatic event, so there is no cutoff on when you can apply for service-connected PTSD benefits.
PTSD symptoms include:
- Re-experiencing the trauma through flashbacks, nightmares, or intrusive thoughts
- Avoidance of people, places, or things that are reminders of the trauma
- Being easily startled, jumpy, or on edge
- Depression or feelings of hopelessness
- Extreme irritability or aggression
- Emotional responses out of proportion to an event
- Risky or reckless behavior
PTSD can also manifest in the body, causing physical symptoms like insomnia, extreme fatigue, muscle pain, or gastrointestinal issues.
Doctors treat PTSD through therapy and medication. PTSD symptoms won’t go away without treatment and will likely worsen without professional assistance.
What is TDIU?
Total disability based on individual unemployability (TDIU) is a tax-free monthly benefit that ensures veterans who can’t work can still support themselves and their families.
Veterans eligible for TDIU receive VA disability compensation at the 100% rating level without their condition being rated 100% disabling.
To qualify for schedular TDIU, you must have:
- At least one service-connected disability rated at least 60% OR
- A combined rating of two or more service-connected disabilities at 70% or more, including at least one disability rated at 40% or more.
In some circumstances, a veteran’s conditions may not meet the above criteria, but they may still be awarded IU from the VA through extraschedular TDIU.
Mental health conditions often qualify veterans for TDIU on their own, since the most common rating for veterans’ mental health conditions is 70%. However, your PTSD may have also caused you to develop additional secondary conditions. In combination, these conditions may entitle you to TDIU.
VA unemployability for PTSD
PTSD makes work extraordinarily challenging or impossible for many veterans. Symptoms like severe depression, explosive anger, fatigue, and anxiety can make it impossible for a veteran to earn and keep employment.
Many people with PTSD experience flashbacks, nightmares, and hypervigilance, making it difficult for them to concentrate, focus, and complete tasks in a work environment. These symptoms, along with the angry outbursts associated with PTSD, can make it challenging for them to work with others and may make all involved parties uncomfortable in a shared workspace. In addition, attempting to avoid trauma triggers and control these symptoms or others can make it difficult to go to an office or workplace or perform specific tasks.
TDIU is an option for veterans with PTSD who can’t maintain what the VA calls “substantially gainful employment.”
Evidence you can use to support your PTSD individual unemployability claims
To receive IU benefits for PTSD, you’ll need to complete a compensation and pension (C&P) exam. A C&P exam assesses your level of disability and whether it’s related to your time in service. The VA uses this information to determine how severe your PTSD is to assign your disability rating. This rating also affects the amount of compensation you receive.
You can also submit evidence to support your TDIU claim.
Old medical records
If you have other relevant medical records, you can use them for your PTSD individual unemployability benefits claim. If you received treatment from doctors and mental health professionals outside the VA system, you can request and use those documents to support your PTSD VA disability benefits claim.
Your medical records don’t necessarily need to come from the VA, but those records are helpful too.
Doctors reports
Veterans can submit doctors’ or psychologists’ reports detailing how severe their PTSD is and how it is service-connected. Veterans can also use these reports to show how secondary service-connected disabilities are related to direct service-connected conditions. For example, extreme stress and anxiety from PTSD could be the reason for heart problems in a veteran. If a doctor’s report details how the heart condition is from stress, anxiety, or other service-related issues, the veteran could have the secondary condition approved by the VA for additional compensation. Combining ratings for these conditions could make you eligible for TDIU.
Buddy statements
If your service records lack an explanation of your combat or non-combat PTSD stressor, you may be denied VA disability compensation benefits. Buddy statements can help support your claim of the PTSD stressor happening. These are written statements from fellow service members, or someone who was aware of the circumstances at the time, who can verify your story.
Family and friend statements
Your friends and family members can also submit statements about your PTSD and how it has affected your ability to work or be around others. These statements need to detail how you changed due to your military service. For example, have a family member write how you were social and outgoing before military service. Then have them explain how you were withdrawn and agitated when you returned. Lay statements from friends and family can also show how military service altered your mental and physical health in support of service connection.
Vocational expert reports
A vocational expert can write a report showing the VA how service-connected PTSD prevents you from working. These reports are powerful evidence that you can use to prove how the disability impacts your daily life and your ability to obtain or keep gainful employment.
“They brought me from being stuck at 30%. Denial after denial. Finally rated at 70%. Appealed for total and unable to work disability since 2014. Without Woods and Woods, I would still be stuck at 30%.”
F.H.
How our VA-accredited attorneys can help
Woods and Woods has worked with thousands of veterans nationwide to get them the VA individual unemployability benefits they deserve. Call us for a free case evaluation to find out how we can help. If we take your case, you only pay us a percentage of your back pay if you win – we won’t touch your future monthly payments.
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Veterans with PTSD who are eligible for TDIU benefits can receive more than $3,737.85 a month. The amount you receive depends upon your VA disability PTSD rating. Veterans who are rated at least 30% and have a spouse, dependent children, and parents also receive monthly compensation for those dependents.
If you were denied PTSD individual unemployability benefits, you can file a PTSD VA disability benefits appeal. Having a claim denied doesn’t mean you don’t deserve or won’t receive benefits. Woods and Woods can help you with your appeal.
