Mental illness is one of the health issues veterans come back home with, a very common issue, in fact. Many veterans have lost touch with reality, been unable to reconnect with their families, and more. Therefore, if you have a loved one who is a veteran suffering from service-connected mental illness, this article is for you.
In this blog, we will talk about the many disability benefits veterans can receive for mental health disorders in the United States. Depending on certain factors, you may be eligible to apply for and receive these benefits as a veteran.
Knowing the Rules: What Mental Disorders are Eligible for Compensation?
Before you apply for these benefits, you must first understand how the US Department of Veteran Affairs [VA] evaluates mental illness. The VA typically uses the Schedule of Rating Disabilities to evaluate such illnesses, following the guidelines outlined in the DSM-IV. Therefore, according to the Diagnostic Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), below are the mental disorders eligible for compensation:
- Psychotic disorders
- Dissociative disorders, including multiple personality disorders, where you forget where you were, what you did, or generally losing track of time
- Mood disorders
- Cognitive disorders, including all disorders that negatively impact the brain’s functioning
- Eating disorders, including bulimia and anorexia
- Anxiety disorders, including panic disorders, PTSD, and a wide range of phobias
- Adjustment disorders, including being overly stressed about adjusting to life after service
- Somatoform disorders – that is, physical symptoms that have no formal diagnosis
How to Know if the Illness Is Service-Connected
When you apply for these benefits, the VA will require you to provide evidence that your mental illness is service-connected. Thus, to receive your veteran disability compensation, you must provide the following pieces of evidence:
- An updated diagnosis of your mental illness
- Proof of the accident or event you were involved in during active duty that led to the mental disorder
- Medical records or evidence about your mental illness and how it connects to the service-related incident
If you are not sure how to get these pieces of evidence, you should talk to a veterans benefit attorney. “Apart from helping you investigate, they can help assess your claim and determine the service-related disability compensation you deserve,” says attorney Jan Dils of Fight4Vets.
What If the Service Aggravated an Existing Mental Illness?
If you had the disorder before you went to service, you may still be eligible for compensation if your condition worsens. More so, you may be able to receive compensation based on what the VA calls “aggravated service connection.” However, you would need to prove that your time and experience during active service aggravated your illness with the following:
- A recent diagnosis of mental illness can be received from a private psychiatrist or psychologist, or a VA doctor can examine you
- Evidence of the particular incident or accident that aggravated your mental illness
- Medical evidence to show a connection between the said service-connected incident and your worsened condition
Furthermore, you must have been asked to provide evidence of your mental illness when you enrolled in the military. If you provided the evidence, getting compensation would be easier because your mental illness would have been mentioned on your enlistment exam. However, if you did not, you need to submit medical records to show proof that you suffered from said mental disorder before service.
Additionally, your psychiatrist, psychologist, or VA doctor should provide written documentation stating that your military service worsened your mental health condition. This documentation is proof that your mental illness was not merely a progression but worsened due to active duty.
If the Disorder Is Not Service-Connected, What Can You Do?
You can ONLY receive veteran disability benefits for mental illness if your mental health issues are service-connected. For example, the VA will not release the benefits for illnesses such as those classified as developmental or genetic defects.
Some examples of those include personality disorders and intellectual disabilities, which the VA considers to be genetic. Conversely, if you had a personality disorder prior to service and you developed PTSD afterward, you can get benefits for the PTSD.
Conclusion
In some cases, you can get these benefits without proof that your illness was due to active duty in the military. These fall under the presumed active-duty connection, where the VA assumes your illness is connected to military service. Considering how complicated this process is, you might want to work with a veterans’ benefits attorney for a successful process.
Also Read: The Future Of Mental Health: Where The Conversation Is Headed
