The United States has compensated military veterans for service-related injuries since the Revolutionary War, with the current indemnity model established near the end of World War I. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) began to provide disability benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the 1980s after the diagnosis became part of official psychiatric nosology.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious, potentially debilitating psychiatric disorder that can develop after experiencing one or more terrifying or horrific events. It is characterized by (1) re-experiencing the trauma(s) in the form of vivid intrusive memories, dissociative flashback episodes, or nightmares; (2) avoidance of trauma-related thoughts and memories; and (3) frequently feeling under threat manifested as, for example, hypervigilance and intense startle reactions.[1][2]
Some research suggests that VA disability benefits achieve their goal of helping veterans who have PTSD. The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), a component of the Department of Veterans Affairs, processes disability claims and administers all aspects of the VA disability program. Since 1988 VA disability claim decisions have been subject to federal court review.
Disability ratings theoretically represent a veteran's "average impairment in earnings capacity", on a scale from 0 to 100. Veterans who file a disability claim due to PTSD almost always receive a compensation and pension examination (C&P exam) by VA-employed or VA-contracted psychologists or psychiatrists. Social scientists and others have expressed concern about the consistency and accuracy of PTSD C&P exam findings, although the VA generally rejects such concerns as unfounded or exaggerated.
Recent efforts to change VA disability benefits for PTSD include urging the VA to place more emphasis on vocational rehabilitation and treatment versus cash payments; revising the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders to better reflect problems experienced by veterans with PTSD, and considering a veteran's quality of life when determining the disability rating.
- ^ World Health Organization, "6B40 Post traumatic stress disorder," International Classification of Diseases, 11th Revision, 2018, rev. April 2019.
- ^ van der Kolk, Bessel A. "The History of Trauma in Psychiatry." In Handbook of PTSD Science and Practice, edited by Matthew J. Friedman, Terence M. Keane, and Patricia A. Resick, 19–36. New York: Guilford, 2007. ISBN 9781609181741
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