Most of the injuries that prompt veterans to seek disability benefits in Florida are of a physical nature. However, this does not mean that only physical injuries can disable a person. Some veterans suffer from mental injuries, which are as damaging, or even more devastating, than bodily injuries. The challenge veterans face when filing a disability claim for a mental injury is that they are unable to easily prove their symptoms, like those who have suffered a physical disability.

Veterans' disability claims are generally very challenging to process. They require evidence of the injury, which can be challenging to obtain for a person who has a mental disability. There is also the challenge of fighting for compensation, which can be very difficult if you are already dealing with a mental health problem. Fortunately, a skilled personal injury attorney can help. They can help you obtain the evidence needed to prove your claim. They can also help in navigating all complex processes until you recover enough compensation to cover your medical costs, lost income, and lost financial stability.

Eligibility for Disability Benefits for a Veteran with Mental Injuries

A discharge from active military does not always lead to a smooth, happy retirement. For most veterans, it is a beginning or a continuous suffering from the impact of the injuries developed or sustained during their time in the military. Some veterans are discharged with bodily injuries that require long-term care, while others are discharged with mental health issues that worsen over time. Those who are discharged with injuries benefit from disability benefits to help them manage their medical costs and other necessities through a veteran's disability claim.

However, obtaining compensation for a long-term injury is not easy, even for a veteran. You must prove that you sustained an injury through your service in the military, which took away your capacity to engage in gainful employment for a long time or for life. While this is easy to prove when you have a physical injury, a mental injury is not always easy to prove. The truth is, everyone who has suffered a long-term injury, whether physical or mental, deserves compensation through a veteran's disability claim. A skilled personal injury attorney can help you piece together a valid claim for your mental injury to ensure you receive the compensation you deserve.

Just like a physical injury, you need adequate treatment for a mental injury. The injury can be severe enough to make it difficult for you to engage in gainful employment, which qualifies you for disability benefits. It may affect your relationships and also diminish the quality of your life. However, you need to prove all this for your veteran disability claim to be granted. You must also meet other requirements to qualify for disability benefits.

For example, there should be proof that you have been diagnosed with a mental injury. There should also be proof that the mental injury happened or worsened due to a particular illness, condition, event, or injury that happened while on active military duty. You could qualify for disability benefits if you had a psychological or mental illness or injury before joining the service. However, there should be proof that your mental condition worsened by your military service beyond how it would have naturally progressed.

Additionally, there should be proof that the mental injury acquired through or worsened by your military service affects your ability to engage in gainful work, your capacity to cater to your needs and the needs of your loved ones, or compromises your social functioning. These are the factors that determine the level of disability and qualify you for disability benefits.

Once you have these factors in check, with supporting proof, you should determine your disability rating. A skilled personal injury attorney can help you through this process. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) uses increasing counts of 0 to 100 to rate mental injury disabilities. If you have a severe mental disability, you could be eligible for a special monthly payment in addition to your other benefits.

Types of Mental Injuries You Can Include in a Veteran’s Disability Claim

You can sustain a mental injury due to a traumatic experience or a bodily injury, like a brain injury. For example, if you sustain a severe injury that results in the loss of a limb, the loss can affect both your physical and mental well-being. In some cases, mental injuries for veterans do not have any physical component. A veteran can suffer a severe mental injury because of something they experienced or witnessed during a war. The VA considers some mental injuries or conditions as presumptive conditions when compensating veterans through a veteran's disability claim. This means that personal disorders, which are, in themselves, a mental issue, do not qualify for compensation.

Here are the types of mental injuries and conditions that the VA recognizes for disability benefits:

  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Amnesia
  • PTSD
  • Chronic adjustment disorder
  • Eating disorders
  • Cognitive disorders
  • Mood disorders
  • Somatiform disorders
  • Schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders

In addition to recognizing these kinds of mental injuries and conditions, the VA also requires proof that the mental injury is related to your service in the military. It could be that your military service was the direct cause of the injury, or the reason why the injury escalated to the level at which it affects your ability to care for yourself and work.

The VA also handles these cases on a case-by-case basis. This means that two people can have a similar type of mental condition or injury, but need different kinds of benefits. The primary determining factors of the benefits you can receive due to a mental injury are the severity of the condition, whether you have a solid support system at home, whether you have an additional illness or injury, and your occupation. Remember that your mental injury or condition could have resulted from a single incident or a series of traumatic events.

Mental illnesses are generally comorbid. This means that they do not occur in isolation but mainly together. For example, it is common to see a veteran who has PTSD also being diagnosed with depression or anxiety. When evaluating your disability rating, the VA will not consider the multiple mental injuries you have been diagnosed with, but the general impairment that results from the conditions. They will give you a single disability rating, which will determine the benefits you should receive for all your mental injuries.

Proving How Your Military Service Relates to Your Mental Injuries

Remember that you qualify for veteran disability benefits if your injury is related to your service in the military. In that case, you must establish a connection between your mental injury and your military service for the VA to grant your claim. However, this is the most challenging part of your veteran's disability claim. Remember that a mental injury is very different from a physical injury. Mental injuries and conditions are mainly connected to an occurrence or event that you experienced in the course of your service. You must skillfully make this connection for the VA to grant your claim.

The right approach is to start gathering documents and information regarding your mental injury or condition. This includes your doctor's medical diagnosis and treatment details. A licensed medical provider can also provide a medical report about your mental injury and its possible cause. This will provide grounds for your disability claim.

Unfortunately, it is very difficult for veterans to overcome the fact that they have a mental condition. Some people do not admit the facts to themselves, even after a proper diagnosis. That is why veteran disability claims regarding mental injuries are very rare. Also, mental health treatment services for military men and veterans are not easy to access. However, if you are determined to pursue compensation for your mental injury, you can gather the required information and pursue compensation with the help of a skilled personal injury attorney.

Once you have the diagnosis and a medical record detailing your injury, check to ensure that the mental injury is listed under the list of mental injuries that qualify for veteran disability benefits. If it is, start working on proving the connection between your military service and the illness. Start by defining what the illness or injury is, the event that possibly caused it, or repeated incidents that may have triggered the mental injury. Remember that the event or repeated incidents must have happened while you were actively involved in the military service.

Again, with the help of your attorney, you can start gathering evidence to support your claim. For example, you can find witnesses who will provide statements to verify the circumstances that led to your injury. The evidence you gather and your medical diagnosis must all be connected to the same mental injury for your claim to be successful. Once the VA receives your claim, it will review it and either grant or deny it. If they are satisfied with how you have proven your military service connection to the mental injury, the VA will assign a disability rating.

How a Personal Injury Attorney Can Help

Generally, there is usually a lot of stigma around seeking treatment for a mental-health-related issue, especially for military men and veterans. This explains why so many cases of mental injuries in the military and similar institutions go unreported. However, it helps to know that a mental injury is as serious as a physical injury, because it can affect your ability to work, take care of yourself and your loved ones, and even enjoy a good quality of life. Fortunately, veteran disability benefits are available for all veterans who have suffered a long-term injury, whether physical or mental.

Another impediment to seeking veteran disability benefits after a mental injury is the lengthy and challenging process of proving your injury to receive benefits. You can navigate this challenge successfully by engaging an experienced personal injury attorney. An attorney is your legal representative who will fight for your right to receive the compensation you deserve. They will help you prepare your claim, gather evidence, and file it with the VA for consideration. If you are unsuccessful the first time, your attorney will appeal the denied claim and fight even harder to ensure you receive full benefits for your injuries.

A skilled attorney will collaborate the available medical evidence to prove your disability’s connection to your military service. Remember that this is the most important detail that will ensure that the VA grants your claim. They will ensure that you have a proper diagnosis and medical reports that connect your mental injury to an incident that happened during your time in the military.

If you had an underlying medical condition that worsened once you joined the military, a skilled attorney can prove aggravation. They will obtain medical records and a medical report showing that your mental condition could not have worsened as it did were it not for a particular incident during your service.

If your mental injury is connected to a physical injury that you sustained during military service, a skilled attorney will establish this connection. They will prove that your mental condition started right after the physical injury and has worsened since.

Find a competent Personal Injury Attorney Near Me

Mental injuries for veterans' disability claims are not always straightforward to prove. Some veterans are not always ready to disclose their mental condition. Others do not know how to start proving the connection between their injury and military service. Skilled personal injury attorneys in Jacksonville do their best to support injured veterans and help them pursue the compensation they deserve.

We can help you at Jacksonville Personal Injury Attorney if you suffer a mental injury that affects your ability to work and care for yourself. We can help you gather the evidence needed to support your claim, defend your rights, and navigate complex processes successfully. With our help, you can receive enough benefits to pay for your medical needs, cater to your financial needs and the needs of your dependents. Call us at 904-800-7557 to discuss your needs and our services further.