Depression decisions — 2024

The Board has granted service connection for major depressive disorder with anxious distress and psychotic features, obstructive sleep apnea, and left knee degenerative arthritis. The conditions are found to be related to the Veteran's military service.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient opinions regarding the Veteran's depression and its relationship to service-connected disabilities.

The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional development regarding his claim of entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU).

The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disability, including PTSD, major depressive disorder, and insomnia disorder, is granted as service-connected.,Service connection for bilateral hearing loss is denied due to lack of current evidence meeting VA compensation criteria.,Service connection for bronchitis/reactive airway disease is remanded for further review.,Service connection for a low back disability is remanded for further review.,Service connection for a left knee disability is remanded for further review.,Service connection for a right knee disability is remanded for further review.,Service connection for a left foot disability is remanded for further review.,Service connection for a right foot disability is remanded for further review.

The Veteran's service-connected erectile dysfunction is granted as secondary to his service-connected low back strain and sprain with arthritis and IVDS. The effective date for the grant of service connection for major depressive disorder with anxious distress is set at December 18, 2017. An initial rating in excess of 50 percent for major depressive disorder with anxious distress from December 18, 2017 to March 2, 2023 is denied.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection are being remanded due to the need for additional medical examinations and consideration of new evidence.

The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorders are due to in-service events, and the Board has granted service connection for PTSD.

The Veteran's PTSD and unspecified depressive disorder are granted as service-connected, while the claim for TBI is denied.

The Board has granted service connection for a lumbar spine disability and a psychiatric disability (major depressive disorder), but denied service connection for a heart disability.

The Board has determined that substantial compliance with the November 2022 remand instructions was not achieved, and therefore another remand is necessary to ensure compliance.

The Veteran's depressive disorder and left focal mononeuropathy of the long thoracic nerve were granted initial ratings. The left ear hearing loss claim was remanded for further examination.

The Veteran's dysthymic and major depressive disorder has been granted a maximum disability rating of 100 percent for the entire period on appeal.

The Veteran's PTSD with persistent depressive disorder is rated at a 70 percent disability rating, which grants her the requested increase. The TDIU claim is remanded for further development.

The Veteran's persistent depressive disorder is being remanded for further development to determine its relationship to service and whether it is aggravated by his service-connected left ankle disability.

The Veteran's TDIU claim is dismissed as moot because he is already receiving a 100% disability rating for his service-connected PTSD, MDD, and GAD.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for an initial disability rating higher than 50 percent for depressive disorder with a gambling disorder prior to September 21, 2018, and for a disability rating higher than 70 percent thereafter. The TDIU claim is also being remanded.

The Veteran's death was not due to his own willful misconduct, but the criteria for DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 were not met as he did not meet the requirement of having a service-connected disability rated totally disabling for at least ten years immediately preceding death.

The Board has denied the appellant's claims for service connection for schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, and unspecified anxiety disorder, finding that his pre-existing psychiatric conditions were not aggravated by his military service.

The Board has granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD and major depressive disorder, finding that the Veteran's current disability is related to his active service. The issue of entitlement to a total disability rating based upon individual unemployability (TDIU) is remanded.

The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to inadequate medical opinions regarding the etiology of any acquired psychiatric disorders, and because the heart disorder may be secondary to an acquired psychiatric disorder. The AOJ must obtain new medical opinions.