Anxiety decisions — 2024

The Veteran's claim for service connection for unspecified anxiety disorder is granted. However, the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss is denied.

The Veteran's claim for a higher rating of anxiety disorder is remanded due to the failure to obtain his private psychiatric treatment records.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, specifically Generalized Anxiety Disorder, as there is no medical opinion linking his current diagnosis to his active duty service.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for a higher rating, TDIU, and an earlier effective date for DEA benefits.

The appeal of the deferred claim for bilateral knee condition is dismissed. The denial of service connection for TBI and psychiatric disorders, including anxiety, depression, and adjustment disorder, is upheld. The claims for sinus condition are remanded.

The Board dismissed the appeals for PTSD, anxiety, depression, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and cervical spondylosis as untimely filed.

The Veteran's acquired psychiatric condition is granted as service-connected.,There is no evidence of a current back condition, and the claim for this issue is denied.

The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for acquired psychiatric disabilities and tinnitus due to a lack of adequate medical opinions regarding the relationship between the Veteran's conditions and his military service. The AOJ will consider any new evidence submitted during the period after the April 2020 decision.

The Board has remanded the claim due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error, specifically failing to afford the Veteran an examination to determine the nature and etiology of her claimed psychiatric disorders. The Veteran is presumed to have experienced military sexual trauma (MST) during service but needs further evidence corroborating this stressor.

The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, including adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood, is related to his time in active service. The Board has granted service connection for this condition.

The Board remands the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include other specified anxiety disorder, alcohol use disorder, other substance induced depressive disorder, and other specified personality disorder with narcissistic traits, as additional development is required to determine whether the in-service event caused the Veteran's other specified anxiety disorder.

The veteran withdrew the appeals for service connection for depression, right flatfoot, and sleep disturbance, fatigue, and anxiety.

The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for her acquired psychiatric disorder is granted, and the effective date of service connection is set at January 4, 2023.

The Veteran's claim for an increased rating in excess of 30 percent for adjustment disorder with anxiety is being remanded due to a duty to assist error. The Board cannot make a decision without the missing community care treatment records from Hearthstone Psychology.

The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for sleep apnea, finding that it is at least as likely as not caused by his service-connected PTSD and generalized anxiety disorder.

The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate VA examinations and failure to verify stressors. The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD, depression, and anxiety is being reconsidered.

The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claim for VR&E benefits, as there was a pre-decisional duty to assist error. The AOJ will consider additional evidence and re-evaluate the Veteran's employment handicap.

The Veteran's effective date for a 100% rating for unspecified anxiety disorder is denied as the earliest factually ascertainable evidence of an increase in disability was the January 26, 2022 VA examination.

The Board has dismissed the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, myelopathy of cervical spinal cord with cervical radiculopathy, and adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood as secondary to peripheral arterial disease, left lower extremity.

The Veteran's appeal is remanded for an addendum opinion regarding the etiology of his diagnosed IBS, to include as secondary to service-connected disabilities.