Anxiety decisions — 2007

The veteran's claim for a higher rating for his major depressive disorder with anxiety was granted, and the effective date of this award is set at April 30, 2002.

The Board has determined that the veteran's anxiety disorder began during service and is therefore granted service connection.

The veteran's service-connected disabilities did not prevent him from engaging in employment consistent with his education and occupational experience prior to March 24, 2005.

The Board has remanded the case for further development, including obtaining Social Security Administration records and VA psychiatric examination.

The veteran's major depression and generalized anxiety disorder are currently manifested by depressed mood, occasional suicidal ideation, and panic attacks. The Board finds that the symptoms do not more nearly approximate the criteria for a higher rating.

The Board denied increased ratings for the veteran's generalized anxiety disorder, recurrent headaches, and hemorrhoids. The conditions are currently rated at 50%, 30%, and noncompensable respectively.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for depression and an anxiety disorder, finding that there was no evidence linking these conditions to military service.

The veteran's claim for an increased evaluation of his service-connected primary insomnia with fatigue, memory loss, anxiety, and irritability as due to an undiagnosed illness is being remanded for further development.

The Board has granted the veteran's claim of reopening his service connection for a nervous disorder and awarded him a 10 percent evaluation for left elbow epicondylitis. His claims for tinea cruris, post-traumatic esotropia with diplopia and bilateral pterygia are also granted.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen the claims for service connection for gastrointestinal disability (including duodenal hernia, hiatus hernia, and ulcer) and psychiatric disability (anxiety reaction with functional hypoglycemia). The veteran's pre-existing gastrointestinal disability is presumed to have existed prior to service.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for effective dates prior to May 28, 1997 and October 5, 2000 for his awards of a separate schedular evaluation for an anxiety disorder and TDIU, respectively.,Effective from May 28, 1997, the veteran was granted a separate schedular rating for an anxiety disorder. Effective from October 5, 2000, he was granted TDIU.

The Board has reopened the veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for a psychiatric disorder, including PTSD. The VA examiner found that the veteran meets the diagnostic criteria for PTSD based on verified in-service stressors and diagnosed him with PTSD. The VA examiner also determined that the veteran's DM is currently rated at 20 percent.

The veteran is seeking higher ratings for his service-connected anxiety disorder and avulsing gunshot wound residuals. The Board has ordered additional VA examinations to assess the current severity of these conditions.

The veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development of evidence, including a PTSD-personal assault development letter and VA treatment records. The issue of service connection for a psychiatric disability other than PTSD will be held in abeyance.

The Board has granted service connection for hypertension, finding that it may be presumed to have been incurred in active military service. Service connection is also granted for an acquired psychiatric disorder (to include PTSD), with the presumption of service connection based on exposure to herbicides. The skin disorder claim remains pending.

The Board found that the veteran did not incur residuals of a claimed head injury, including disabilities of the cervical spine and lumbar spine in service or within the first post-service year. The psychiatric disorder was also not incurred in service and is not proximately due to or the result of a disability incurred in service.

The Board denied increased ratings for the veteran's service-connected generalized anxiety disorder and residuals of shell fragment wound to the left thigh, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating.

The Board has determined that the veteran's mood disorder was not incurred in or aggravated by service and is not proximately due to a service-connected disability, specifically tinnitus.

The Board found that the veteran's PTSD, along with other conditions like opioid dependence and major depressive disorder, resulted in significant occupational and social impairment warranting a higher evaluation of 70 percent.

The VA awarded a 100% evaluation for PTSD effective May 5, 2005. Attorney fees from past due benefits based on this decision were calculated and denied.