Anxiety decisions — 2017

The Veteran's anxiety disorder results in mild to moderate occupational and social impairment, more nearly approximating the criteria for a 30 percent rating.

The Board finds that the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorders, including alcohol use disorder and bipolar illness, are not service connected as they did not manifest during service or are not etiologically related to service. The pre-existing conditions were aggravated by military service.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's diagnosed unspecified anxiety disorder is as likely as not related to his military service, and thus grants service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder.

The Board has remanded the case for further development, including obtaining additional medical records and a VA examination to determine if the Veteran's current psychiatric disorders are related to his military service.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded due to the need for a new VA examination and additional development of his claims file.

The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, diagnosed as depression and anxiety, is found to be secondary to his service-connected tinnitus, left ear hearing loss, and right ear otosclerosis.,The Veteran's left ear hearing loss disability does not meet the criteria for a compensable rating under the applicable VA rating schedule.

The Veteran's back disability is not related to his military service and was not caused by or aggravated by his service connected pes planus. The Board finds that the Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including dysthymia and anxiety disorder, bilateral pes planus, tension headaches, degenerative joint disease of the right knee, and degenerative joint disease of the left knee, preclude him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation.,The Veteran has multiple service-connected disabilities that are rated at 100% combined, meeting the criteria for TDIU.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining private and VA psychiatric treatment records from 1970 to present, corroborating the Veteran's reported stressor incident involving a downed plane, and scheduling the Veteran for a VA psychiatric examination.

The Veteran's claims for service connection have been denied. The Board found that new and material evidence had not been presented to reopen the claim of entitlement to service connection for a psychiatric disorder characterized as psychoneurosis and anxiety, but reopened it based on newly submitted medical evidence indicating current diagnoses related to service. However, the Board concluded that there was no current hearing loss by VA standards, no established link between any diagnosed conditions and service, and thus denied all claims.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, headaches, and onychomycosis of both feet to further develop the evidence. The claims are currently denied.

The Veteran's generalized anxiety disorder and depression have been granted a higher disability rating of 70 percent, effective from the date of this decision. The Board has also determined that the Veteran is entitled to TDIU.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, anxiety, insomnia, and unspecified neurocognitive disorder was denied as there is no evidence of a current disability resulting from in-service injury or disease.

The Board found that the Veteran's current diagnosed psychiatric disorders are not etiologically related to his active duty service and denied the claim for service connection.

The Board has remanded the case for further development, including verification of stressor events and scheduling a VA examination if the stressor is confirmed.

The Veteran's claim is being remanded due to the failure to appear for a scheduled Travel Board hearing. The case will be rescheduled and the Veteran will be provided with one last opportunity to be heard.

The Veteran's appeal for service connection for a psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, and/or schizoaffective disorder, is being remanded due to the need for additional development.

The Board has granted the Veteran's claims for service connection for acquired psychiatric disorder (anxiety disorder), peripheral neuropathy of the right and left upper extremities, and hypertension, all related to his service-connected diabetes mellitus.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's current major depression is not caused or aggravated by his service-connected anxiety disorder, and therefore denied the claim for service connection.

VA has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including depression, anxiety, and sleep disorder to include sleep apnea, and/or PTSD, as secondary to military sexual assault (MST). The maximum rating of 100 percent is assigned effective November 30, 2005.

The Veteran's appeal involves multiple issues including ratings for PTSD, anxiety disorder, bilateral hearing loss, right knee condition with osteoarthritis and scars, and lumbar spine degenerative arthritis. The case is being remanded to schedule the Veteran for a videoconference hearing.