Two of the most prevalent diagnoses among veterans today are PTSD and alcohol use disorder (AUD). For veterans navigating the challenges of VA disability benefits, one crucial aspect to understand is how alcohol use disorder can often reinforce a veteran’s claim for PTSD.
It is common for veterans to develop alcohol addiction secondary to PTSD. Veterans living with PTSD are prone to frequent, heavy drinking as a coping mechanism to forget the horrors of negative memories, such as combat-related trauma, military sexual trauma, training accidents, loss of buddies, or to relieve feelings of dread or guilt.
When PTSD and alcohol use disorder co-occur, one condition’s symptoms may contribute to the other’s symptoms, and vice versa. This is known as comorbidity, and the overall outcomes are often worse than either condition separately.
Many veterans may not realize that, by pairing a diagnosis of alcohol use disorder with their PTSD disability, they stand a much better chance of getting a higher overall VA disability rating.
This article shares essential facts about how the VA accepts a diagnosis of alcohol use disorder as secondary to PTSD. Even if you’ve only been diagnosed with or show symptoms of one of these disorders, it’s worth giving us a call to discuss the options you may have.
What Is Alcohol Use Disorder?
AUD is a medical condition that occurs when people drink alcohol to the extent that it directly interferes with their lives. When a person uses alcohol to the point of addiction, they cannot control or stop drinking despite its tragic consequences to their relationships and ability to work and function in society.
AUD is a diagnosable condition and generally includes, in more familiar terms, the issues of alcoholism, alcohol abuse, alcohol dependence, and alcohol addiction. Alcohol use disorder is considered a brain disorder that can emerge as mild, moderate, or severe.
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How the VA Rates PTSD
The VA rates PTSD using the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders. Disability ratings range from 0, 10, 30, 50, 70, or 100 percent.
What is important to remember is you do not have to have all of the symptoms listed under the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders. That list serves as examples of the type and degree of the symptoms, or their effects, that would justify a particular percentage rating.
When assessing your PTSD disability, the VA rater looks at the comprehensive impact on your socialand occupational functioning. The severity of symptoms, such as the frequency and intensity of flashbacks, nightmares, invasive thoughts, panic attacks, or depression, is carefully assessed. VA looks at how all of your symptoms affect your ability to work, keep relationships, and carry out daily activities.
Does the VA Consider Alcohol Use Disorder, or Alcoholism, a Disability?
The answer is yes, but only as a secondary condition to your service-connected PTSD, for which you already receive benefits.
- The VA acknowledges alcohol addiction as a disability because the problem is so widespread among veterans. The VA concedes that many veterans resort to alcohol to cope with their service-related PTSD symptoms.
- However, alcohol use disorder is not a VA-rated condition on its own. You can only be service-connected on a secondary basis for alcohol use disorder. If your alcohol use stems from service-connected PTSD that the VA has already rated, then that PTSD rating may increase depending on the severity of the symptoms of your AUD.
Note, the VA will not acknowledge AUD where the alcohol abuse disability is due to willful wrongdoing.
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How to Get Disability for Alcohol Use Disorder Secondary to PTSD
You must submit to the VA evidence of current alcohol use disorder and a nexus opinion by a medical professional relating the current AUD to service-connected PTSD.
When alcoholism or alcohol abuse is secondary to your service-related PTSD, you will experience more symptoms. As your disorder’s severity increases, you may merit a higher disability rating.
To claim VA disability for PTSD and alcohol use disorder, there would not be a separate disability rating for the AUD. The VA would rate both conditions as a single condition (PTSD) because the alcohol use disorder is secondary to your PTSD.
You may develop further disabilities related to the alcohol use disorder, such as liver disease, heart disease, diabetes, sleep disorders, or digestive problems. Associated physical impairments would also be eligible for service connection if they result inoccupational and social impairment, thus adding to your total VA disability rating.
Example: Your service-connected PTSD is currently rated at 50%, and you have since developed alcohol dependency because of your PTSD. Now, your VA rating may be increased to 70% or 100%, depending on the severity of symptoms caused by your AUD. Sometime in the future, you suffer a stroke due to alcohol abuse. Your alcohol use disorder links your service-connected PTSD and stroke.
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How Our Veterans Attorneys Can Help
If your PTSD has caused your alcohol use disorder, we can help you pursue a secondary service connection for the alcoholism to increase your VA rating and recover additional disability benefits.
You must demonstrate complete and up-to-date evidence to support the existence, extent, or frequency of new or ongoing psychiatric symptoms attributable to your PTSD and secondary alcohol abuse.
We can help you receive the PTSD evaluation and rating you deserve in the following ways:
- Document your ongoing treatment, medical history, necessary new tests, and VA examination studies, including psychological testing. We’ll ensure your medical examiner’s statements and observations about how your PTSD and alcohol use disorder impact your social functioning, occupational functioning, and activities of daily life.
- VA raters rely heavily on the notes from the C&P examination. Sometimes, C&P exams are not very thorough. If the C&P exam evidence is not helpful to your case, we can schedule a private psychiatrist or psychologist who can address how your PTSD and alcohol use disorder affect your life in terms of occupational limitations and impediments.
- Engage a vocational specialist who will know the requirements and standards of the competitive employment sector. They can assess how your impairments and limitations caused by your PTSD and alcohol use disorder reflect your inability to work or obtain a job in the competitive labor market. A vocational specialist’s opinion can be a compelling piece of evidence.
- Lay statements from former coworkers and supervisors who witnessed you in the work environment before your military service and family and friends who routinely observed you daily before and after your active service. Individuals who knew you before your military service can testify that your prior non-abuse of alcohol is vital in supporting your claim that your alcoholism is solely related to your PTSD.
- We can engage available Social Security records. If you have applied for Social Security Disability Insurance, Social Security will have documented evidence pointing to the severity of your PTSD or other service-connected conditions. Your Social Security Disability claim will also note evidence about your ability to function in an occupational environment.
When Paired with PTSD, Alcohol Use Disorder Can Reinforce Your VA Claim
If you can show that the PTSD you developed during service is the initiating cause of your alcohol use disorder, you may have a real advantage when arguing your PTSD claim and getting the appropriate compensation and healthcare benefits you need and deserve.
To find out if you have a case, please get in touch with us. When you hire Marc Whitehead & Associates, you’ll have an experienced veterans’ disability attorney to help you through every aspect of your case.
We have represented thousands of veterans across the country for many years. If you struggle with PTSD and alcohol use disorder, you deserve the maximum rating from the VA, and we would be proud to assist you.
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