Click here to download document Essential Features of PTSD and Short QUIZ from The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Classifying Mental Disorders

Class Action Lawsuit to Yield Better Benefits for Thousands of Veterans Suffering from PTSD and Their Families

Veterans must opt-in by July 24 for disability rating upgrade and expedited review of benefits, NVLSP and Morgan Lewis available to counsel veterans on their rights as class members

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 25, 2010

WASHINGTON—Following an order issued by the judge overseeing Sabo v. United States, legal notices are being mailed this week to more than 4,300 veterans who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom and were diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The court’s notice invites them to join a class action lawsuit filed in December 2008 in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims by signing and submitting an “opt-in” form no later than July 24, 2010.  Submitting this form will allow these veterans to take advantage of a negotiated resolution that guarantees an upgrade in the veteran’s disability rating and an expedited review by a military correction board to determine the full extent of the rating improvement.

Click here to download document PTSD Diagnostic Criteria from American Psychiatric Association DSM IV TR

Studies Find Breakthrough in PTSD Treatment

Marine Corps Times
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Dec 27, 2009 8:40:52 EST

Brain scans, blood tests may help predict condition

Two new studies seem to provide more evidence that post-traumatic stress disorder is a chemical change in the brain caused by trauma — and that it might be possible to diagnose, treat and predict which troops are most susceptible to it using brain scans or blood tests.

In one study, Christine Marx of the Duke University Medical Center and Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center wondered why PTSD, depression and pain often occur together.

Researchers already knew that people with PTSD show changes in their neurosteroids, which are brain chemicals thought to play a role in how the body responds to stress.