PTSD Archives - Ginsberg Law Social Security Disability

This past January, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta announced that the Department of Defense has removed the ban against women serving in combat. While it remains to be seen how this new policy will be implemented, this news story made me think about several female military veteran Social Security disability clients of mine who are alleging disability not for combat injuries but for PTSD arising from physical and sexual harassment that occurred while they were serving in the military.

I am glad to see that this issue – sexual harassment of female soldiers – is being reported. The New York Times ran a story on February 27, 2013 entitled Trauma Sets Female Veterans Adrift Back Home and the examples set out in this story reflect the experiences of my clients. One of the soldiers profiled in the NYT story describes a brutal rape on a U.S. Military base on South Korea. The emotional scarring arising from this incident has left the victimized soldier suffering from PTSD, living out of her car and beset by homelessness. [Read more…] about PTSD in Female Soldiers – a Hidden Problem Likely to get Worse

Earlier this week I appeared with a client at a hearing who had a very extensive and complicated medical history. Her complaints included pain and discomfort in her lower extremities – from the hips to the feet, chest pain, breathing problems and low back pain.

In reviewing her record, I noted ten (10) diagnoses, including:

fibromyalgia
lupus
unspecified autoimmune disease
unspecified neurological disorder
bulging disc (without impact on spinal cord)
mild congestive heart failure
shortness of breath of unspecified cause
depression
anxiety
post traumatic stress

My client did not want to come in to the office for her pre-hearing conference so we spoke on the phone. When I spoke to her, it was clear to me that she saw herself as being disabled – she was able to talk at length about all of her medical issues. My client was living with an adult child and relied totally on support from her children and relatives. Her sense of self and identity was tied to her medical issues and she had given up any sense of financial or personal independence. [Read more…] about Reading Between the Lines to Find Evidence of Disability