Anxiety Board decisions

The Board denied the Veteran's claims of service connection for a bilateral knee disability, anxiety disorder, and residuals of a left ankle injury. The claim for a bilateral knee disability was previously denied due to lack of evidence of a current disability or link to service. The claims for anxiety disorder and left ankle injury were not established as they did not have inception during service.

The Veteran's hypertension is presumed to have been incurred or aggravated by his active service. The claim of entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric condition, including generalized anxiety disorder and PTSD, will be remanded as the in-service stressors need further verification.

The Veteran's anxiety disorder has been granted service connection and assigned an initial 10 percent rating, effective June 8, 2007.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for a Travel Board hearing due to his request.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for major depressive disorder and anxiety is being remanded due to the need for additional medical opinions regarding her preexisting psychiatric condition.

The Veteran's claim for an increased rating of his anxiety reaction with gastric symptoms has been granted, and he is now rated at 70 percent.

The Board denied the Veteran's request to reopen his claim for service connection for anxiety neurosis/schizophrenia, finding that new and material evidence had not been received.

The Board has determined that there is no evidence to support the Veteran's claim of service connection for PTSD and Generalized Anxiety Disorder, as his reported stressors have not been verified and he did not engage in combat. As such, the preponderance of the evidence is against a finding that his current symptoms are causally related to his active service.

The Veteran's initial claim for a higher rating for generalized anxiety disorder was granted, and he is now receiving a 30 percent disability evaluation from April 2, 2009.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for further development, including scheduling VA examinations and obtaining additional medical records. The issues of increased ratings for generalized anxiety disorder with headaches and lumbosacral strain are also being addressed.

The Board has remanded the case for further development due to inconsistencies in the Veteran's reported history and need for a VA psychiatric examination.

The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim of service connection for PTSD and psychiatric disorder, but denied service connection on the merits. The evidence does not establish a link between any current psychiatric disorders and active service.

The Board has remanded the case for further development, including obtaining medical records and scheduling a VA psychiatric examination to determine if any current psychiatric disability is related to service.

The Veteran's anxiety disorder is found to be secondary to his service-connected hemorrhoids, and the claim for service connection is granted.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development of his claims, including obtaining medical records and scheduling a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of his psychiatric disabilities.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's claims for increased evaluations and service connection are denied as there is no evidence to support the assertions of secondary service connection or a direct relationship between his current conditions and his military service.

The Board found that the cause of the Veteran's death was not due to service-connected conditions, and denied the claim for service connection for the cause of death.

The Veteran's psychiatric disability was granted a 50 percent evaluation beginning February 5, 2008. The effective date for TDIU is set at February 11, 1992.

The Veteran's claims for service connection have been denied. The Board found that the evidence received since the June 2001 rating decision does not relate to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate any of the claims and does not raise a reasonable possibility of substantiating any of the claims.

The Veteran seeks an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for obsessive compulsive disorder, but the Board finds that the claim was not pending prior to January 20, 2006 and thus no earlier effective date is warranted.