What Veterans Should Know About Their VA Claims This PTSD Awareness Month

June is PTSD Awareness Month, a time to shine a light on one of the most prevalent and misunderstood conditions affecting our nation’s veterans. At Stevens & Sullivan, a veterans’ benefits law firm based in Atlanta, Georgia, we work with veterans every day who are living with post-traumatic stress disorder and struggling to get the VA disability benefits they’ve rightfully earned. This month, we want to use our platforms to advocate and remind every veteran: you are not alone, and you have legal options.

What Is PTSD?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that develops after a person experiences or witnesses a traumatic event. For veterans, these triggers often include combat exposure, military sexual trauma (MST), the loss of fellow service members, or repeated deployments to high-stress environments.

Common PTSD symptoms in veterans include:

• Flashbacks and intrusive memories of traumatic events
• Nightmares and severe sleep disturbances
• Emotional numbness or feeling detached from loved ones
• Hypervigilance; being constantly “on alert”
• Avoidance of people, places, or situations that trigger memories
• Difficulty concentrating, irritability, or angry outbursts
• Depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation

PTSD is not a sign of weakness. It is a neurological and psychological response to extreme stress, one that fundamentally changes how the brain processes fear, memory, and threat response.

Why PTSD Awareness Matters

Despite growing public understanding of mental health, stigma around PTSD remains a real barrier, especially within military culture, where many veterans feel pressure to appear strong or “tough it out.” PTSD Awareness Month exists to break down that barrier.

Awareness matters because:

Early recognition leads to better outcomes. Many veterans don’t seek treatment for years after symptoms begin. The sooner PTSD is identified and treated, the better the long-term prognosis.

Families need to understand it too. PTSD doesn’t just affect the veteran. It ripples through relationships, marriages, and households. Education helps families provide support rather than inadvertently adding to the burden.

Benefits go unclaimed. A significant percentage of veterans with service-connected PTSD have either never filed a VA disability claim or have had their claims denied and never appealed. That means monthly compensation, healthcare access, and other critical resources are being left on the table.

Suicide prevention depends on it. Veterans die by suicide at a rate nearly 1.5 times higher than non-veteran adults. PTSD is one of the leading risk factors. Raising awareness is, literally, a matter of life and death.

If you or a veteran you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please reach out immediately. The Veterans Crisis Line is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week:

• Call: Dial 988, then press 1
• Text: Send a message to 838255
• Chat: Visit VeteransCrisisLine.net for confidential online chat

Trained responders, many of whom are veterans themselves, are standing by to help. You do not have to face this alone.

PTSD and VA Disability Benefits: What You’re Entitled To

If you are a veteran diagnosed with PTSD that is connected to your military service, you may be eligible for VA disability compensation. The VA rates PTSD on a scale from 0% to 100%, based on how significantly your symptoms impact your ability to work and function in daily life.

To qualify for a VA disability rating for PTSD, you generally need:

1. A current PTSD diagnosis from a medical professional
2. Evidence of an in-service stressor, the traumatic event that caused the condition
3. A nexus, a medical link between your current diagnosis and your military service

Many veterans are denied VA benefits for PTSD not because they don’t qualify, but because of gaps in documentation, improperly completed claims, or inadequate nexus letters from treating physicians. This is where working with an experienced veteran disability attorney can make all the difference.

PTSD Secondary Conditions

One of the most overlooked aspects of veterans disability law is the concept of secondary service connection. PTSD rarely exists in isolation. It frequently causes or aggravates other medical conditions, and veterans can receive additional VA disability compensation for each of those secondary conditions.

Common secondary conditions linked to PTSD include:

• Depression and anxiety disorders: often diagnosed alongside or as a direct result of PTSD
• Sleep apnea: disrupted sleep architecture from PTSD-related nightmares and hyperarousal is a well-documented pathway to obstructive sleep apnea
• Hypertension (high blood pressure): chronic stress and hypervigilance associated with PTSD elevate cardiovascular risk
• Gastrointestinal disorders: including IBS and GERD, which are exacerbated by anxiety and stress responses
• Erectile dysfunction: directly linked to both PTSD medications and the psychological effects of the condition
• Substance use disorders: many veterans self-medicate with alcohol or drugs to manage untreated PTSD symptoms
• Diabetes mellitus: emerging research supports a connection between chronic PTSD stress responses and insulin resistance
• Traumatic brain injury (TBI): frequently co-occurs with PTSD in combat veterans and can complicate both diagnosis and rating

If you have a 70% or higher combined VA disability rating and your PTSD or related conditions prevent you from maintaining substantially gainful employment, you may also qualify for Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU), which pays at the 100% rate even if your combined rating hasn’t reached that threshold.

How Stevens & Sullivan Can Help

At Stevens & Sullivan, we are a veterans benefits law firm exclusively focused on VA disability claims and appeals. Our VA-accredited veterans disability lawyers have over 50 years of combined experience helping veterans across Georgia and nationwide fight for the benefits they deserve.

We help veterans at every stage of the process:

• Initial claims: ensuring your PTSD claim is properly documented and filed from the start
• Agency appeals: if your claim was denied at the Regional Office level, we build the strongest possible appeal
• Board of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA): representing veterans before the Board with legal briefs and hearing preparation
• Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC): taking your case to federal court when necessary

If you or a veteran you know is living with PTSD and hasn’t received a fair disability rating, or has been denied benefits entirely, this PTSD Awareness Month is the right time to act.

Call us at 404-467-9017 or request a free case evaluation at atlantadisability.com. You served this country. Let us serve you.