Those scores and GAF scores are utterly meaningless. Below is how your ptsd ratings will be determined:
http://www.vba.va.gov/pubs/forms/VBA-21-0960P-3-ARE.pdf
That is the PTSD DBQ form. It does need to be filled out by a psychiatrist or psychologist. I had two done by psychiatric nurse practitioners and the VA accepted and used them to increase mine from 50% (VA CP psych exam) to 70%. It is extremely helpful for the person doing. The DBQ to know how section 4 and section 7 align with the VA language for rating purposes. These sections will align with the criteria below:
VA mental health Rating criteria key wording:
Total occupational and social impairment, due to such symptoms as: gross impairment in thought process or communication; persistent delusions or hallucinations; grossly inappropriate behavior; persistent danger of hurting self or others; intermittent inability to perform activities of daily living (including maintenance of minimal personal hygiene); disorientation to time or place; memory loss for names of close relatives, own occupation, or own name …………………..100%
Occupational and social impairment, with deficiencies in most areas, such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood, due to such symptoms as: suicidal ideation; obsessional rituals which interfere with routine activities; speech intermittently illogical, obscure, or irrelevant; near-continuous panic or depression affecting the ability to functionindependently, appropriately and effectively; impaired impulse control (such as unprovoked irritability with periods of violence); spatial disorientation; neglect of personal appearance and hygiene; difficulty in adapting to stressful circumstances (including work or a worklike setting); inability to establish and maintain effective relationships ...................................... 70%
Occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity due to such symptoms as: flattened affect; circumstantial, circumlocutory, or stereotyped speech; panic attacks more than once a week; difficulty in understanding complex commands; impairment of short- and long-term memory (e.g., retention of only highly learned material, forgetting to complete tasks); impaired judgment; impaired abstract thinking; disturbances of motivation and mood; difficulty in establishing and maintaining Effective work and social relationships ………………..50%
Occupational and social impairment with occasionaldecrease in work efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform occupational tasks (althoughgenerally functioning satisfactorily, with routine behavior, self-care, and conversation normal), due to such symptoms as: depressed mood, anxiety,suspiciousness, panic attacks (weekly or less often), chronic sleep impairment, mild memory loss (such as forgetting names, directions, recent events) ............................ 30%
Occupational and social impairment due to mild or transient symptoms which decrease work efficiency and ability to perform occupational tasks only during periods of significant stress, or; symptoms controlled by continuous medication .................. 10%
A mental condition has been formally diagnosed, but symptoms are not severe enough either to interfere with occupational and social functioning or to require continuous medication .............................. 0%
Jason and Maparker, please I am begging you make a ptsd sticky so people don't have to hash out the same questions over and over again!!!
