PTSD: Veterans Administration Definition

Knowledge is power. And so, I'll be sharing a variety of offical definitions for post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD] with you. The first one up: the Veterans Administration's version.

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The following is taken from the most useful Military Veterans PTSD Reference Manual.

01-07. Department of Veterans Affairs Definition, The Short Version. The VA Home Page on the Internet says:

In order to establish service connection for PTSD, the evidence must establish that during active duty a veteran was subjected to a stressor or stressors that would cause characteristic symptoms in almost anyone. Evidence of combat or having been a prisoner of war may be accepted as conclusive evidence of a stressor incurred during active duty. Evidence of combat includes receipt of the Purple Heart, the CIB, or other similar citation. The medical evidence must establish a clear diagnosis of PTSD and must link the current symptoms to the claimed stressor. (www.va.gov/benefits/ptsdwhat.htm)

01-08. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Definition, The Technical Versions. The following, issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in the Code of Federal Regulation (CFR), part 38, offers the "official" definition you will be most concerned with:

a. "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. 3.304 (f) Service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder requires medical evidence establishing a clear diagnosis of the condition, credible supporting evidence that the claimed inservice stressor actually occurred, and a link, established by medical evidence, between current symptomatology and the claimed inservice stressor. If the claimed stressor is related to combat, service department evidence that the veteran engaged in combat or that the veteran was awarded the Purple Heart, Combat Infantryman Badge, or similar combat citation will be accepted, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, as conclusive evidence of the claimed inservice stressor. Additionally, if the claimed stressor is related to the claimant having been a prisoner-of-war, prisoner-of-war experience which satisfies the requirements of 3.1(y) of this part will be accepted, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, as conclusive evidence of the claimed inservice stressor."

Much, much more brimming over in the Military Veterans PTSD Reference Manual. Go...