Trouble ‘Adjusting’ to Sexual Assault May Be Getting U.S. Military Members Booted Without VA Benefits
From Reason.com:
Are dodgy diagnoses being used to save the military money on mental health care? That’s the charge from some legislators and activists, who say U.S. service members with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are being diagnosed with and discharged for “adjustment disorders” instead, and that this is especially true for those who report being sexually assaulted.
What’s to gain from the latter diagnosis? The question is probably better phrased, “What’s to lose?” For the U.S. military and government, adjustment disorder diagnoses provide a way to lose benefit obligations.
Because adjustment (and personality and mood) disorders are considered preexisting conditions, the Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA) isn’t required to cover veterans’ treatment for these conditions as it would be for veterans’ discharged with PTSD. Under a law enacted in 2008, veterans with PTSD get an honorable discharge and medical care.
