Anxiety decisions — 2020

The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorders, including persistent depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and other specified trauma and stressor related disorder, finding that these conditions are due to his active duty.

The Board has granted effective dates of April 30, 2004 for a 50% rating for Generalized Anxiety Disorder and TDIU benefits. Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) benefits were also granted on this date.

The Veteran's anxiety disorder and PTSD have been rated at 70 percent since September 6, 2011. This rating is effective as of that date.

The Veteran's claims for service connection of blood clots, left knee DJD, and adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood were denied. The Board found no evidence to support the Veteran’s assertions that his current conditions are related to his military service or service-connected disabilities.

The Board has remanded the cases for further development and consideration, including obtaining updated VA treatment records, requesting an addendum opinion from the September 2019 VA examiner regarding the severity of the Veteran's service-connected psychiatric disability during the pendency of the appeal, and readjudicating the TDIU claim.

The Board has remanded the claims for additional development due to insufficient medical opinions and need for updated VA treatment records. The Veteran's service connection claim for a psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, is being reviewed along with his TDIU claim.

The Veteran's anxiety disorder is rated at 70 percent, which exceeds the requested rating of 30 percent.,CAD is currently rated at 30 percent and does not warrant a higher rating due to the absence of congestive heart failure or left ventricular dysfunction with an ejection fraction of 30 to 50 percent.,The thoracolumbar spine disability is rated at 20 percent, which corresponds to forward flexion limited to 60 degrees during flare-ups and after repetitive use testing. The Veteran's symptoms do not meet the criteria for a higher rating due to lack of left ventricular dysfunction or ankylosis.,Left knee chondromalacia is rated at 10 percent, which corresponds to objective evidence of painful motion without loss in range of motion on flexion. The Veteran's symptoms do not warrant a higher rating.,GERD with hiatal hernia is rated at 10 percent, which corresponds to considerable impairment of health but does not meet the criteria for a higher rating.

The Veteran's service connection claim for restless leg syndrome was denied as there is no evidence linking the condition to her active duty service or a service-connected disability.,The Veteran's TDIU claim was also denied due to her having multiple service-connected disabilities, none of which alone meet the schedular requirements for TDIU.

The Veteran's anxiety disorder is rated at 50% since October 24, 2016. The Board denied a higher rating as the symptoms did not meet criteria for a higher rating.

The Board has granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including bipolar disorder, finding that the evidence is at least in equipoise and thus favoring the Veteran's claim.

The Board denied the Veteran's request for an effective date prior to January 1, 2020 for adding a dependency allowance for her spouse due to lack of evidence showing actual receipt of notice regarding her marriage.

The Board denied the Veteran's request for an effective date prior to January 1, 2020 for adding a dependency allowance for her spouse due to lack of evidence showing actual receipt of notice regarding her marriage.

The Veteran's appeals for service connection for depression and anxiety have been dismissed.,The Veteran's appeal for service connection for a back disability has been remanded.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for psychiatric conditions, other than PTSD, to include sociopathic personality disorder and anxiety due to a lack of evidence linking these conditions to his military service.

The Veteran's PTSD with panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and depressive disorder is currently rated at 50 percent disabling. The appeal for a higher disability evaluation remains before the Board. The TDIU claim is also remanded.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding whether the Veteran's dementia NOS and generalized anxiety disorder are related to service.

The Board has granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, diagnosed as generalized anxiety disorder with co-existing depression. The evidence is at least in equipoise that the Veteran's psychiatric disorder first manifested during service and was incurred therein.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, finding that there was no evidence to support a diagnosis of PTSD or any other psychiatric condition related to his military service.

The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, specifically anxiety disorder NOS with PTSD features, is related to service and has been granted.

The Veteran's left knee disability, sinusitis, allergic rhinitis, asthma, and insomnia are all granted as secondary to service-connected conditions. The claim for anxiety disorder is denied due to lack of evidence linking it to service or pain from service-connected disabilities.