Soldiers face dangerous situations on the battlefield and this can result in serious injuries—one of which are traumatic brain injuries (TBI). The term is used to describe what happens when your brain’s function is disrupted by an external force, usually a violent blow to the head or body.
Even the mildest TBI can cause brain damage that disrupts memory and other cognitive functions. Many veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from TBI, with the injury becoming the trademark wound of the conflict.
Your mental faculties can also suffer, often shown by increased forgetfulness and difficulty concentrating. Your behavior can also be affected, wherein anger management or mood swings could become a problem for you.
Relating some of these aforementioned symptoms to a specific brain injury can be difficult, making it hard to claim disability benefits for them; however, a knowledgeable veterans’ disability attorney would be able to help you claim the disability benefits that you deserve from the Veterans Administration.
One of the things that a VA lawyer would be able to help with your TBI claim is the identification of how your injury may have made a condition worse or even caused it.
Changes to the VA law have made a set of five conditions to become automatically considered as service-connected. These conditions include: Parkinson’s disease that is diagnosed after moderate or severe TBI, seizures after suffering from TBI, dementia appearing within 15 years of suffering a TBI, depression developing within three years of severe or moderate TBI or one year of mild TBI, and hormone deficiencies popping up within 12 months of your TBI.
An experienced disability benefits attorney from a firm like Jan Dils, Attorneys at Law, would be able to point out the significance and implications of their current illness or disability having a presumed service connection.
Most of the time, a veteran would have to prove that their disability was brought on by their time in service. With the presumed service connection, veterans can skip the process of having to prove anything, and be qualified for benefits.
The severity of the injury will determine the amount of benefits you will receive. Your lawyer will outline the criteria that the VA uses to determine the severity of your TBI. This includes the results of your MRI scans and other factors.
Get the appropriate treatment for your brain injury with your disability benefits. Your disability lawyer can help ensure that your claim is approved and you get ample compensation.
(Source: Even mild traumatic brain injury may cause brain damage, Science Daily, July 16, 2014)
