Depression decisions — 2023

The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder and TDIU due to service-connected disabilities. The remand is necessary because the December 2021 VA medical opinion did not provide adequate rationale regarding whether the Veteran's service-connected bilateral hearing loss aggravated his acquired psychiatric disorders.

The Board has remanded the case due to an incomplete record and a need for additional opinions regarding the Veteran's service connection claims.

The Board has determined that the current opinion regarding service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder is inadequate and requires a new examination to address both direct and secondary service connection.

The Board denied the claim for service connection for cause of death, finding that the Veteran's death was not related to his active duty or a service-connected disability.

The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim for service connection for tinnitus and granted it. The case is remanded for further development regarding increased disability ratings for tension headaches and service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims due to incomplete records and the need for additional examinations to assess her thoracolumbar disability, left knee disabilities, and scars.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the Veteran's psychiatric conditions and their relationship to his military service. The case is being returned for further development.

The Veteran's migraine headaches are rated at a maximum of 50% since April 17, 2018, based on very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks productive of severe economic inadaptability.,The Veteran is also granted entitlement to TDIU due to his service-connected disabilities rendering him unable to work in any substantially gainful capacity.

The Board denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, finding that the Veteran's condition clearly and unmistakably existed prior to his military service and was not aggravated by any in-service event.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, finding that her current condition is not related to service and is not caused or aggravated by her service-connected disabilities.

The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, including insomnia, depression, and a mood disorder, is granted as service-connected. The case is also remanded for consideration of TDIU.

The Veteran's mental disorder is rated at 70 percent, and he was denied a temporary total rating for hospital treatment due to his service-connected condition.

The Veteran's PTSD is rated at 100 percent disabling, and he is granted a TDIU due to his service-connected disabilities.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to incomplete records and a need for further examinations. The issues include frostbite of the bilateral feet, an acquired psychiatric disability (claimed as depression), hypertension, hepatitis C, erectile dysfunction, skin disability, lower back disability, skeletal arthritis, bilateral eye disability, bilateral sinus disability, esophageal disability, and stomach disability.

The Board found that the Veteran's major depressive disorder is not related to service and denied his claim for service connection.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's character of discharge for his second period of service from October 28, 2012, through March 18, 2016, is a bar to receipt of VA benefits. However, due to potential insanity at the time of misconduct, additional development is required to determine if this discharge should be considered non-barred.

The Veteran's claims for service connection of various conditions have been remanded due to the need for further examination and evaluation.,No current diagnoses or functional impairments were found for some of the claimed conditions, leading to denial of service connection.

The Board has dismissed the appeals for service connection and rating of the veteran's bilateral hip disability, PTSD, and depressive disorder due to the appellant's withdrawal of all issues on appeal.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for additional disability resulting from right hand surgeries and mixed anxiety and depressive disorder with opioid use disorder (claimed as drug dependency, mental abuse, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder) due to incomplete records and need for further medical opinions.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including depression, as there was no evidence of a direct relationship to his military service or secondary to a service-connected disability.