VA Mental Health Provider Venting / Problem-solving / Peer Support Thread

[psy.d. 2021]

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https://www.reddit.com/r/VeteransAffairs/s/9adVwq33nm

Imagine EVERY SC VETERAN would be required to seek therapy for MH? You think it's bad now...wow

 

[Sanman]

https://www.reddit.com/r/VeteransAffairs/s/9adVwq33nm

Imagine EVERY SC VETERAN would be required to seek therapy for MH? You think it's bad now...wow

Seems like job security to me. Move into PP and fill any empty slot with veterans begging to treatment to keep their SC.

Honestly, I have no problem with them requiring treatment (and compliance) to remain SC. Too many folks with SC and no record of any symptoms or treatment in their clinical record outside of compensation paperwork.

 

[Fan_of_Meehl]

Seems like job security to me. Move into PP and fill any empty slot with veterans begging to treatment to keep their SC.

Honestly, I have no problem with them requiring treatment (and compliance) to remain SC. Too many folks with SC and no record of any symptoms or treatment in their clinical record outside of compensation paperwork.

Hell, why not just make it official in DSM-6:

Service-Connection Deficit Disorder, Chronic, Severe, With Pseudo-Psychotic Features*

*"Doc...I see shadow people..."

 

[psy.d. 2021]

Seems like job security to me. Move into PP and fill any empty slot with veterans begging to treatment to keep their SC.

Honestly, I have no problem with them requiring treatment (and compliance) to remain SC. Too many folks with SC and no record of any symptoms or treatment in their clinical record outside of compensation paperwork.

Job security for sure. So you can spend your days working with people that don't want to be seen. Personally I'd rather not.

 

[Sanman]

Job security for sure. So you can spend your days working with people that don't want to be seen. Personally I'd rather not.

I already do.

 

[cara susanna]

https://www.reddit.com/r/VeteransAffairs/s/9adVwq33nm

Imagine EVERY SC VETERAN would be required to seek therapy for MH? You think it's bad now...wow

Where does it say that?

And umm, wow, that thread is really full of misconceptions about PTSD and the active episode of care model.

 

[Sanman]

Where does it say that?

And umm, wow, that thread is really full of misconceptions about PTSD and the active episode of care model.

Point 2 in Gade's testimony. Not clear in that reddit post

"requiring veterans receive mental health treatment if they get disability compensation for a mental health disorder"

 

[cara susanna]

Oh God, that would be awful.

 

[psy.d. 2021]

Oh God, that would be awful.

Yeah that's what I'm focused on.

It is clear there are some misconceptions in that post and comments about the episodes of care model and PTSD treatment.

 

[Sanman]

Yeah that's what I'm focused on.

It is clear there are some misconceptions in that post and comments about the episodes of care model and PTSD treatment.

It would depend on the definition of treatment. EBP, any individual psychotherapy, groups, or see psychiatrist every 3 mths for a med refill?

 

[cara susanna]

It would depend on the definition of treatment. EBP, any individual psychotherapy, groups, or see psychiatrist every 3 mths for a med refill?

But I imagine that any psychiatrist worth their salt would continuously recommend therapy to address PTSD.

 

[cara susanna]

Sheepdog the Movie

www.sheepdogthemovie.com

Did you guys hear about this movie? Apparently it portrays PTSD treatment in the VA, specifically EMDR (just what EMDR needs, more mainstream publicity)

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I swear more than half of all therapy referral requests I see on my local/state list serv are for EMDR. When I first joined years ago I def posted about the lack of research and provided citations, it was received as you'd expect. I got backchannel responses from like-minded (mostly faculty and another neuropsych) that they tried too and the "I did my own research" crowd just ignored the science. I didn't realize at the time that there were so many supporters of that trash approach. Pseudoscience is bad for the field, period.

 

[Fan_of_Meehl]

I swear more than half of all therapy referral requests I see on my local/state list serv are for EMDR. When I first joined years ago I def posted about the lack of research and provided citations, it was received as you'd expect. I got backchannel responses from like-minded (mostly faculty and another neuropsych) that they tried too and the "I did my own research" crowd just ignored the science. I didn't realize at the time that there were so many supporters of that trash approach. Pseudoscience is bad for the field, period.

The public is 'Mesmerized' (literally) with the concept of magical eye movement therapy.

Someone also needs to inform veterans that the 'Jason Bourne' movies aren't an accurate scientific portrayal of trauma- and stressor-related disorder etiopathogenesis, symptomatology, course, and prognosis.

 

[Sanman]

I swear more than half of all therapy referral requests I see on my local/state list serv are for EMDR. When I first joined years ago I def posted about the lack of research and provided citations, it was received as you'd expect. I got backchannel responses from like-minded (mostly faculty and another neuropsych) that they tried too and the "I did my own research" crowd just ignored the science. I didn't realize at the time that there were so many supporters of that trash approach. Pseudoscience is bad for the field, period.

Much like the new sudafed, marketing wins over science. This would be one place insurance companies would be helpful. However, they rarely are.

 

[cara susanna]

I've been trying to tell people in the VA claims subs that you don't need a diagnosis from VA MH to get SC, but no one believes me.

 

[WisNeuro]

I've been trying to tell people in the VA claims subs that you don't need a diagnosis from VA MH to get SC, but no one believes me.

Par for the course for compensation seekers. They don't tend to have the best reasoning abilities or counsel. You'd be surprised about the lies some PI claimants will tell, even when they know we have their medical records and these things are easily verifiable.

 

[Shiori]

I've been trying to tell people in the VA claims subs that you don't need a diagnosis from VA MH to get SC, but no one believes me.

It seems like its own operant conditioning chamber over there.

 

[cara susanna]

There are also some pretty bad misunderstandings of questions on the PTSD DBQ.

 

[Fan_of_Meehl]

I've been trying to tell people in the VA claims subs that you don't need a diagnosis from VA MH to get SC, but no one believes me.

They are being told this by VSOs, patient advocates, and fellow vets in online forums and specialized YouTube channels (e.g. (so-called) "Combat Craig," VA Claims Insider, etc.). There is an entire delusional industry around the quest to get diagnosed with (and, of course, service-connected for) PTSD specifically. I can't tell you how many cases I see these days of veterans who are already s/c for another MH disorder (MDD, adj d/o, anxiety disorder---some already at 100%) who are all aggressively trying to 'upgrade' to a PTSD dx and service-connection. PTSD is, truly, THE UNIVERSAL NEXUS, to hang multiple 'secondaries' onto and "get you into the 'Hundo' (100%) Club."

People have no idea how bad it is (and how much worse it's getting over time).

But they will, at some point.

Also, the extent to which this exacerbates MH access issues is GROSSLY underestimated / ignored by VA leadership.

I think I read the other day (may be one of the WashingtonPost Articles) that a recent year's annual budget (2024?) for military disability payments totaled 193 BILLION dollars. That same year, the total budget to fund the entire US Army was 8 billion LESS than that total.

 

[cara susanna]

They are being told this by VSOs, patient advocates, and fellow vets in online forums and specialized YouTube channels (e.g. (so-called) "Combat Craig," VA Claims Insider, etc.). There is an entire delusional industry around the quest to get diagnosed with (and, of course, service-connected for) PTSD specifically. I can't tell you how many cases I see these days of veterans who are already s/c for another MH disorder (MDD, adj d/o, anxiety disorder---some already at 100%) who are all aggressively trying to 'upgrade' to a PTSD dx and service-connection. PTSD is, truly, THE UNIVERSAL NEXUS, to hang multiple 'secondaries' onto and "get you into the 'Hundo' (100%) Club."

People have no idea how bad it is (and how much worse it's getting over time).

But they will, at some point.

Also, the extent to which this exacerbates MH access issues is GROSSLY underestimated / ignored by VA leadership.

I think I read the other day (may be one of the WashingtonPost Articles) that a recent year's annual budget (2024?) for military disability payments totaled 193 BILLION dollars. That same year, the total budget to fund the entire US Army was 8 billion LESS than that total.

Right, that's why I'm trying to combat that misinformation, because we need to stop people from coming here only to get a diagnosis when they don't actually want treatment.

I actually watched one of those videos and, yeah, did not help my cynicism.