Anxiety decisions — 2001

The Board is remanding the veteran's claims for service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety disorder due to incomplete development of evidence, including obtaining VA treatment records and verifying claimed stressors. The veteran's claim for anxiety disorder will be reopened based on new and material evidence.

The Board denied the appellant's claim of entitlement to compensation benefits as the helpless child of her veteran father due to insufficient evidence showing she was permanently incapable of self-support at or before her 18th birthday.

The Board has determined that the veteran's current anxiety disorder is related to his period of active service, specifically to the documented in-service choking episodes.

The veteran's service-connected disabilities, including generalized anxiety disorder and a right femur fracture, are sufficiently severe to prevent him from securing or following substantially gainful employment.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence and further development is needed.

The Board finds that the veteran's service-connected PTSD and psychoneurosis, anxiety state, is not manifested by the symptomatology required for an evaluation of 70 percent. The veteran does not have near-continuous panic or depression, impaired impulse control, or spatial disorientation.

The veteran's claim for an increased rating for his service-connected anxiety neurosis is being remanded due to the inadequacy of a previous VA examination and the need for additional medical records.

The Board found that the veteran's acquired psychiatric disabilities were not incurred in or aggravated by active service, and thus denied his claim.

The veteran's claim for an increased rating for his service-connected generalized anxiety disorder is being remanded due to the need for a new VA examination and additional medical records.

The case is remanded to the RO for adjudication of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, claimed as anxiety and depression. The issue of entitlement to a total disability rating based on unemployability due to service-connected disability will be readjudicated after resolving the service connection issue.

The Board granted an increased disability rating of 30 percent for service-connected anxiety state, effective from the date of the veteran's death. The total rating based on individual unemployability and the cause of death claims were not addressed due to the lack of evidence in the file at the time of the veteran's death.

The veteran is seeking an increased rating for his service-connected anxiety neurosis, which has been rated at 50 percent. The RO must schedule the veteran for a VA examination to determine the current severity of his condition and obtain any additional medical evidence.

The Board has determined that the appellant's claims for service connection have been remanded due to procedural errors and the need for additional development.