Anxiety decisions — 2021

The Veteran has withdrawn his appeals for all issues related to left knee instability, left knee degenerative arthritis, and bilateral hearing loss. He is satisfied with the current ratings assigned.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for various musculoskeletal and psychiatric conditions due to incomplete development of records from his active duty service.

The Board has remanded the case due to lack of substantial compliance with a previous directive. The Veteran's hearing loss is associated with stress, anxiety, vertigo, dizziness, vision problems, and cataracts. A new VA examination is needed to address these conditions.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not render him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation, as his anxiety disorder and hypertension limit his employment opportunities.

The Veteran's depressive disorder with anxiety disorder is rated at 70 percent effective April 22, 2014. A rating in excess of 50 percent prior to that date was denied.

The Veteran's chronic adjustment disorder is rated at 70 percent, effective April 25, 2011. He also received a TDIU determination.

The Veteran's appeal to increase the rating for his acquired psychiatric disability was dismissed because he did not file a timely Notice of Disagreement (NOD) regarding the 10 percent rating assigned in June 2016.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's generalized anxiety disorder is related to his active service, and thus grants the claim for service connection.

The Board has determined that the Veteran does not have a current diagnosis of plantar warts, and therefore service connection for this condition is denied. The remaining claims are remanded due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the nature and etiology of various conditions.

The Board has granted service connection for temporal lobe syndrome with ischemic brain damage, depressive disorder with anxiety and sleep disorder, and lumbar spine disorder, all of which are found to be related to the Veteran's service-connected disabilities.

The Veteran's anxiety disorder is related to his active duty service in the U.S. Marine Corps, and the Board has granted service connection for this condition.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's service connection claims for PTSD, depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, and substance abuse disorder. The VA will gather additional records and conduct a medical examination to determine if these conditions are related to military service.

The Veteran's appeals for increased disability rating and TDIU have been dismissed due to his death.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including his lumbar spine disability and anxiety disorder, rendered him unable to secure and follow a substantially gainful occupation. The Board granted the TDIU claim.

The Veteran's service-connected residuals of traumatic brain injury with unspecified anxiety disorder are rated at 70 percent, which is the maximum rating available under Diagnostic Code 8045. The appeal for a higher rating has been denied.

The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate VA examinations, and a new examination is needed to determine if the Veteran has PTSD or other mental health conditions related to service.

The Board has remanded the case for a new VA examination and opinion to clarify the Veteran's diagnoses, including whether he has schizophrenia. The claim is still pending as service connection.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including major depressive disorder, finding that there is no evidence to support a link between his current mental health conditions and his military service.

The Veteran's anxiety disability was granted an initial evaluation of 30 percent prior to March 1, 2018. The VA examiner found that the Veteran’s symptoms were consistent with a 30 percent rating due to occasional decrease in work efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform occupational tasks.

The Veteran's anxiety disorder is currently evaluated at a 30 percent rating, which does not meet the criteria for a higher rating.,For his left toe hallux limitus prior to August 26, 2020, he was granted a 10 percent disability rating. Since then, no higher rating has been assigned.