Nexus letter
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
A written opinion connecting your PTSD diagnosis to a specific in-service stressor.
$895 for this condition · $149 to start
What this claim turns on
PTSD claims turn on three things: a current diagnosis that meets the DSM-5 criteria, a stressor that happened during service, and a medical link between the two. Many veterans have the first and the third but struggle to document the second — particularly where the stressor was not combat, or where no report was ever filed. A physician's opinion cannot create a stressor that is not in your file, but it can explain, in clinical terms, why your symptom presentation is consistent with the stressor you have described, and why the timing and course of your symptoms point back to service rather than to something afterward. Our physicians review your treatment history, your service records, and any prior C&P examination, then address the question the VA actually asks.
Conditions often secondary to this one
If ptsd is already service connected for you, these conditions are frequently claimed as flowing from it. Each needs its own opinion.
Records to have ready
Your physician needs these to form an opinion. Gathering them before you start is the single biggest thing you can do to move your case quickly.
- DD-214 or other separation document
- Service treatment records covering your time in service
- Current VA or private treatment records showing a diagnosis
- Any VA rating decision or denial letter you have received
- Mental health treatment records and any psychological testing
- Statements describing the in-service stressor, including buddy statements
- Prior C&P examination for a mental health condition, if you have had one
Missing something? Start anyway and tell us in the intake. Sometimes a gap changes the approach rather than stopping the claim. How to request your records.