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The new rules for veterans trying to get VA disability benefits for PTSD will make it easier for non-combat veterans with PTSD to get their VA compensation benefits.  The new rules are similar to the rules for combat veterans who have badges that show they were involved in combat.  These new regulations will no longer require a veterans statement of his or her claimed stressor be corroborated by other evidence if the veteran "claimed trauma is related to fear of hostile military or terrorist activity and is consistent with the places, types, and circumstances of the veteran's service."  Under these new rules if a VA doctor confirms that the stressful experience expressed by the veteran adequately supports a diagnosis of PTSD and the veteran's symptoms are related to the claimed stressor then this will be enough for service connection for PTSD.  Under the old rules the VA was required to corroborate that a non-combat veteran actually experienced a stressor related to hostile military activity.  This was very time consuming and often times difficult if not impossible in many cases.  It was often difficult for a veteran to be able to supply enough details of the specific event (such as an IED explosion the veteran witnessed) for the VA to be able to corroborate the event.  The veteran had to submit a detailed account including date, place, names and so on.  Even if the the veteran was able to give enough details their claims were still often denied because the VA was unable to find records or other evidence of that one particular event in the thousands of such events that took place in the war zone.  Now if a veteran makes the same claim and he was in a war zone (which can be much easier checked by looking at personnel records, DD 214, and medical records) the same veteran's claimed stressor will be considered enough for service connection as long as a VA doctor confirms the veteran's stressor supports a diagnosis of PTSD and the symptoms are related to that stressor.  This is a quick post to make veterans aware of the new rules on disability for PTSD but for more details veterans should visit the VA website.

Social Security Disability claims for mental illness are handled quite differently than SSD or SSI claims for physical impairments. Social Security Disability still follows the five step process to determine if someone with a mental illness is disabled; however, the main difference is that in a SSDI claim for a mental condition with no physical impairments the grid rules are not really used. In a claim for a mental disability Social Security will still first determine if you are working. If SSA determines you are working at substantial gainful activity level then you will be found not disabled at this step. If it is found that you are not working at SGA you then move to the next. At the second step, SSA will determine determine if your mental impairment is severe. If they find that your impairment is not severe they will find should not disabled. If they find that your impairment is severe you will then move to step three of the process. At step three, they will then check to see if you meet or equal a listed impairment. If you meet or equal a listed impairment you will be found disabled. If you do not meet or equal a listed impairment you move to step four of the process. At step four, SSA will determine if you can do your past relevant work. If SSA determines that you can perform your past relevant work they will find your not disabled. If SSA determines that you cannot perform your past work you move to step five of the process. At the last step, Social Security will determine whether or not there is any other work you can do. This is a brief explanation of the five step process and I will now explain how a mental condition is handled differently than a physical condition at steps four and five of the process. To make a determination at steps four and five Social Security makes a determination of what your residual functional capacity is. This is also called your RFC and ability to do work related activities. In a purely mental claim for disability there is no physical limitations so Social Security will look at your mental limitations and decide if given these mental limitations you would be able to perform your past work and then if you cannot perform this past work if there is any other work you could perform given your psychiatric limitations. In a claim for a physical disability Social Security uses the grid rules directly or as a framework to determine if you are disabled. The grid rules are set up to evaluate physical impairments and direct a finding of disabled or not disabled based on your age, education, past work experience, and the level of physical work you are able to do such as less than sedentary, sedentary, light, medium. Since mental illness does not necessarily affect one's physical ability to do things Social Security must determine if your mental limitations would prevent your past work and any other work. So in these cases limitations in your ability to concentrate, remember things, deal with people, deal with stress and other such limitations are used to compare to the requirements of your past work and other work. This is a very brief discussion of how a Social Security disability claim for mental illness is handled by Social Security. I strongly advise you to read the relevant parts of my website that deal with claims for psychiatric conditions to fully understand how this type of case is handled by Social Security.