The Veteran's PTSD Handbook: How to File and Collect on Claims for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Paperback)
From the author of The Veteran’s Survival Guide, The Veteran’s PTSD Handbook addresses the obstacles that veterans face when filing for benefits related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). One of the greatest obstacles, John Roche writes, is establishing a connection between a veteran’s service and PTSD. Because both combat stressors and noncombat stressors can cause PTSD and because of the difficulties in diagnosing the condition, filing a successful claim for benefits based on PTSD is difficult. In the same accessible, self-help style used in The Veteran’s Survival Guide, Roche offers detailed instructions on how to prepare a well-grounded claim for veterans’ benefits relating to PTSD. He also discusses the four years he spent helping one veteran establish a “service connection” for his PTSD claim with Veterans Affairs. This book will be required reading for any veteran or veteran’s dependent who wishes to obtain his or her well-earned benefits and for those officials of veterans’ service organizations who assist veterans with their claims.
Maj. John D. Roche, USAF (Ret.), served as a bomber pilot, had combat duty in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, and held a variety of administrative assignments. Subsequently, he worked for sixteen years as a claims adjudicator specialist for the Veterans Administration and as a veterans’ service officer for Pinellas County, Florida, where he was a tireless advocate for veterans and their families. Roche enjoyed one of the highest rates of wins on appeal in the state. This book is based on his experience as a successful practitioner, many years of independent research, and personal consultations with some 80,000 veterans, widows, and dependents. Roche is also the author of The Veteran’s Survival Guide, Second Edition (Potomac Books, 2006) and The Veteran’s PTSD Handbook (Potomac Books, 2007). He lives in Palm Harbor, Florida.
“Any collection strong in military resources – and many general-interest lending library – needs The Veteran’s PTSD Handbook. . . . Essential reading."—Midwest Book Review
“Brutally honest about VA reluctance to approve claims.”—Reference & Research Book News
“This is truly the best and most helpful book on the subject that I have come across in my three decades of helping veterans. Author John D. Roche has taken all his personal experience of having worked for the VA and for veterans in Florida and put it into . . . easy-to-follow language. BEST DAMN BOOK ON VA CLAIMS EVER WRITTEN!”—Military Writer’s Society of America
“I’ve been filing disability claims with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs for thirteen years, and I wish this book had been available when I first started. John Roche goes beyond just regurgitating federal regulations and gives the reader a step-by-step guide to establishing a well-grounded claim.”—Vicki Foley, veterans disability claims consultant
“Brutally honest about VA reluctance to approve claims.”—Reference & Research Book News
“This is truly the best and most helpful book on the subject that I have come across in my three decades of helping veterans. Author John D. Roche has taken all his personal experience of having worked for the VA and for veterans in Florida and put it into . . . easy-to-follow language. BEST DAMN BOOK ON VA CLAIMS EVER WRITTEN!”—Military Writer’s Society of America
“I’ve been filing disability claims with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs for thirteen years, and I wish this book had been available when I first started. John Roche goes beyond just regurgitating federal regulations and gives the reader a step-by-step guide to establishing a well-grounded claim.”—Vicki Foley, veterans disability claims consultant
