title: US Department of Veterans Affairs disability policies for posttraumatic stress disorder: administrative trends and implications for treatment, rehabilitation, and research.
abstract: An accumulating body of empirical data suggests that current Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) psychiatric disability and rehabilitation policies for combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are problematic. In combination, recent administrative trends and data from epidemiological and clinical studies suggest theses policies are countertherapeutic and hinder research efforts to advance our knowledge regarding PTSD. Current VA disability policies require fundamental reform to bring them into line with modern science and medicine, including current empirically supported concepts of resilience and psychiatric rehabilitation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Hawai'i, Hilo, HI 96720, USA. frueh@hawaii.edu
authors.forename: B Christopher
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Frueh
authors.forename: Anouk L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Grubaugh
authors.forename: Jon D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Elhai
authors.forename: Todd C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Buckley
mesh_terms: D003130:Combat Disorders / Q000191:economics* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005607:Fraud; D006801:Humans; D007344:Insurance Claim Reporting; D008306:Malingering; D016134:Organizational Policy; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology*; D014729:Veterans Disability Claims / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends