The influence of patients' compensations-seeking status on the perceptions of Veterans Affairs clinicians

The study compared clinicians' perceptions of three groups of veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD): those seeking compensation for PTSD, those not seeking compensation, and those certified as permanently disabled and thus not needing to reapply for benefits. The study subjects were 50 clinicians working in specialized PTSD programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The clinicians had a more negative view of the treatment engagement of veterans who were seeking compensation and of clinical work with these patients than they did in the case of the other two groups. The longer clinicians had been working with veterans who had PTSD, the more extreme were these negative perceptions. Most clinicians expressed a belief that the pursuit of service connection for PTSD has a negative impact on the therapeutic relationship and on clinical work in general.