Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Disability Claim

PTSD is a psychiatric disorder that occurs in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event. While the term was originally coined to refer to combat veterans, today it is used to describe the impact of a violent personal assault, rape, terrorist act, shooting or any extreme event, including trauma from an extreme medical procedure. People with PTSD have intense disturbing thoughts for many years after the actual event. They may feel sadness, anger, detachment from other people, experience nightmares and flashbacks. You do not have to experience something first-hand to have PTSD. Learning of a close family member’s violent death could lead to PTSD. It could also occur after repeated exposure to horrible details of trauma, for example first responders who routinely witness the aftereffects of terrible events.

Today PTSD is understood to be a real diagnosis, but that doesn’t mean that disability insurance companies are any more understanding about the challenges PTSD poses to people in the workplace. A disability claim for PTSD is just as likely as any other mental/nervous claim to be denied or challenged.

The American Psychiatric Association has a lot of information about PTSD. To learn how the disability attorneys at Frankel & Newfield have represented other PTSD claimants and how they can help you, please call our office at 877-583-2524.