Kilo

VA/VSO Surviving the VA: A Veteran’s Story

My name is KILO. I began working with Mike Coonan LMSW, ACSW, BCD, because the VA turned me away. He brought my wife into the process.   This is my story.

For years, my struggle was misunderstood and mishandled. While I was in the Air Force, I experienced a serious mental health breakdown. This is not speculation; it is documented in my military medical records. I was treated for severe depressive neurosis, placed in ongoing psychotherapy, and even had an overseas assignment delayed because my mental health condition was considered serious enough that disrupting treatment would jeopardize my stability. I was breaking down while still in uniform.

After service, those same mental health problems followed me into civilian life. Anxiety, depression, panic attacks, insomnia, and emotional instability interfered with my marriage, my career as a teacher and counselor, and eventually my ability to work at all. I tried to cope. I self-medicated with alcohol for years before finally getting sober. Even then, the underlying mental health conditions never went away.

When I sought help filing a VA claim, my Veterans Service Officer focused on Agent Orange, despite the fact that there was no solid documentation supporting a presumptive exposure claim at the time. Meanwhile, there was extensive, clear evidence—both military and civilian—showing that my serious mental health condition began during active service. That evidence was not submitted.

The Agent Orange claim was denied, exactly as it should have been given the lack of documentation. After that denial, my mental health claim still was not submitted, even though it was the strongest and most clearly supported issue in my record.

It was only after Mike Coonan completed a comprehensive Military History Psychosocial Assessment that the full picture of my service-connected mental health condition was clearly documented and explained. He recognized that my breakdown occurred while I was still in the Air Force and that my condition had continued, untreated and misunderstood, for decades. He referred me to a VA psychiatrist for appropriate care.

Even then, my VSO initially refused to submit the mental health claim. Mike intervened. He insisted that the evidence be reviewed honestly and submitted properly. Only after that did the VSO relent and file the claim based on my service-connected serious mental health condition. That claim was granted. I was awarded 100% VA disability, not because my condition suddenly became worse, but because it was finally recognized for what it had been all along.

This was never about Agent Orange. This was about a nervous breakdown in service that was documented, ignored, and left untreated for decades. Being seen, believed, and properly evaluated changed my life. I am a member of the group, We Are On Point 4 Veterans.

Mental Health/ Military History Psychosocial Assessment was written by Mike Coonan, LMSW, ACSW, BCD. 

His treating VA psychiatrist provided the Expert Medical Opinion. 

Both were prepared and completed at no cost to the veteran.

Both made a significant impact on his VA Disability Compensation Evaluation and Decision.