I Don't Know Where To Start

[BaMuoiBa]

NMC,

Jar has laid it out regarding records and nexus support for a claim. Check your awards, you have a CAR, that's good, it is evidence toward claim resolution. That by itself will get you into therapy at a Vet Center. Whatever you do at the VC in terms of therapy is considered when evaluating your condition. That is stuff that carries weight comparable to the determination of a C&P exam. Also, if your issues are of domestic and/or substance abuse the VC has influence in getting that addressed as well.

We are as sick as our secrets even though our Gubment denies it all day long.

Ba

 

[Jimmy1]

I want to thank everyone for your help so far. I have filled out everything I could online for the VA. I've also submitted a claim. My question now is, how do I provide evidence of what happened? My mission was classified. According to the Navy I was never there and my orders just say OEF. i don't know how to actually prove anything. Is there someone who takes care of that in the VA?

Firstly mate, welcome to the forum.

Secondly, when it comes to psych there is never such a thing as Classified. You will find a some guys on here were operators in SF. Your pers files will say OEF because they are public record. Go to somewhere like 'Walter Reid' where they have a PTSD section. There will be psychs around also with clearances.

 

[vikingr24]

It's a very long road. A lot of what I did was classified. We worked in territory that the US government was declaring we were not. Some of my time shows that I was a non-combatant along with same dates that show I was. It's a mystery to me how that happens when I know I flew missions that lasted over 12 hours.

But I made it to the VA, albeit at a time when they did not know or care what PTSD was. It was just battle fatigue. 2 aspirin. Call me in the morning.

But at least get to the VA or your country equivalent. And take it slow until you do. Baby steps. And learn to breath.

 

[Sludge]

Hello all. I have a long story but I will try to keep it brief. Bear with me.

I served in the Navy in Afghanistan on a classified mission in 2007. Boots on ground with the Army and Marines. It was very intense and I was 19 at the time. My father was Army special forces and I always wanted to be strong for him and never show weakness. When I retunred home I it didn't feel like home and I moved out. I gained and lost jobs and have several failed relationships over the course of 7 years. I mostly remained in a bubble, no friends or family. Holidays and birthdays considered of me sitting at home with no human contact just like any other day. I just drifted off the earth. I began training MMA and met a nurse who noticed my hands always shook. We talked about our lives and she asked me to see someone about PTSD. In so many years no one as ever asked me how I am or how I'm doing and it caused me to reflect on these seven years and I don't know what I've become.

I have no idea who I am. I don't feel any connection to anything. I feel so unaware yet hyper aware. To explain, imagine watching a movie and spacing out for 5 minutes. You know you missed something important but you keep watching knowing that some of the plot is missing. I feel like that everyday. I feel like my awareness of what's happening is only pieces. I realize that I haven't been able to sleep. I realize that I have no cultivated relationships with anyone. I realize that I sit alone in the dark for hours and stare at a wall and that it's not normal.

My problem is my tour was so long ago and I never once spoke up. I don't even know how any process works to get help. I have no doctor. No support group. Nothing. Now that I realize I may be effected by my service I feel even more helpless that I can't help myself. Someone please point me in the right direction. Sometimes I wish I could go back to not knowing I may have a problem because it at least it seemed so blissful and emotionless.

Contact your local DAV chapter and start your VA claims process. Register at the closest VA hospital if you haven't already and talk to a Doc ASAP. Pain in the ass, but do it now, trust us when we say to get your entitlements going ASAP. While that is all going on, read through these forums and learn from our experiences and mistakes.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Spock]

Welcome. Contact Navy Safe Harbor (Navy's Wounded Warrior org):
http://www.safeharborfoundation.org/

Although, since you're no longer in the military (?) your medical claims belong to the VA.

Also, check out the media section:
Link Removed
Peace!

 

[19K30]

Welcome brother

 

[NakMuayCleo]

Well I got the letter today. It says depression not service related. Here's the thing, the dates they say I was in the military were only the first 4 months out of my six year service? It also says I have no treatment prior on record. I asked everyone at the VA when I submitted the claim what to do and they all said nothing. And how the hell did they come to the decision I was only in the military for 4 months? I have a whole service record saying otherwise.

 

[Sludge]

Well I got the letter today. It says depression not service related. Here's the thing, the dates they say I was in the military were only the first 4 months out of my six year service? It also says I have no treatment prior on record. I asked everyone at the VA when I submitted the claim what to do and they all said nothing. And how the hell did they come to the decision I was only in the military for 4 months? I have a whole service record saying otherwise.

Contact your local DAV. Take your DD-214, Any and all correspondence you have from the VA pertaining to the matter, and any civilian medical paperwork you have on the subject if any. The DAV will advocate for you.

One thing you may need to do, as I did, was get a second opinion from a civilian brainpicker.
The DAV makes it easy- you sign two forms: A records release and a limited power of attorney that authorizes the DAV to handle your claim.

If you have not yet created a free eBenefits account and signed up for MyHealthVet, you need to do that immediately. Both are free and online.

MyHealthVet is here:
https://www.myhealth.va.gov/mhv-por...DhB!-1520383623?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=mhvHome

eBenefits is here:
https://www.myhealth.va.gov/mhv-por...DhB!-1520383623?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=mhvHome

You should also fill out the VonApp form too. It is located here or is accessible through eBenefits saving you the trouble of creating an extra account you do not need:
Link Removed

DAV POCs can be found here:

http://www.dav.org/veterans/find-your-local-office/

 

[Jimmy1]

Well I got the letter today. It says depression not service related. Here's the thing, the dates they say I was in the military were only the first 4 months out of my six year service? It also says I have no treatment prior on record. I asked everyone at the VA when I submitted the claim what to do and they all said nothing. And how the hell did they come to the decision I was only in the military for 4 months? I have a whole service record saying otherwise.

No matter where you are in the world, you never submit anything to a government agency unless someone reads over it. It's there little thing.

 

[vincent85]

You got plenty of resources provided to you already in this thread and I will spare the cliche introduction, because I know when people throw social verbal cliche jargon at me I just think "ya ya thanks buddy, but that does not fix my f*cking problem", even though the thought is appreciated. All I can say is that I DO KNOW what you are going through. I have gone through and still go through it. What you are experiencing is not normal to the average civilians baseline of how they operation day to day, but is normal for guys like "us". You are part of a special community comprised of a select few that wrote a blank check for their life and have shown more courage than the average civilian could ever imagine to be true.

I do blank out constantly, question what reality is, I cut ALL ties with my family, and retain a very few select core of friends which all happen to be guys like myself. We are all different, but for me as I am sure it is for many of us and you are probably aware it is literally a day to day operation to manage sometimes. For me I had to create goals, something quantifiable and achievable to obtain. Without a constant project or something to work towards (for me this is traveling to Alaska in a 1979 diesel Land Cruiser I am rebuilding), I may have been gone a long time ago or would be passively killing myself right now.

I am not sure if that helped, but sometimes knowing you are not alone provides some solace.

 

[Jimmy1]

Well said Vincent.

There are hundreds that come here, join, and get no instant gratification and leave. They don't realise that there will always be a work in progress with this disorder.

 

[Spock]

The forum offers us camaraderie and shared wisdom because without it we still have to deal with permanent complications, baby steps to find a way to live with them, no cure for the best despite all the scams, and up and down cycles forever...