Depression decisions — 2025

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and remanded several other issues, including TDIU and special monthly compensation.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for various conditions, including cervical strain, lumbosacral strain and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy, knee strains, psychiatric disorders, hypertension, obstructive sleep apnea, tinnitus, shoulder disabilities, breathing disability, foot disability, headache disability, and joint disability, to provide the Veteran an additional opportunity for examinations and opinions.

The Board granted an initial rating of 70 percent for major depressive disorder, but no higher.

The Board granted service connection for tinnitus, GERD, and persistent depressive disorder. The effective date for the grant of service connection for allergic rhinitis was set to December 22, 2022, due to a liberalizing law under the PACT Act.

The Board denied the claim for an initial rating in excess of 70% for major depressive disorder with generalized anxiety disorder and panic attacks, finding that the Veteran's symptoms did not more nearly approximate total occupational and social impairment.

The Board denied the veteran's appeals for earlier effective dates for service connection for various conditions, as the claims were not filed within one year of the prior final denials.

The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, diagnosed as PTSD, major depressive disorder, and social anxiety disorder, related to the Veteran's active service.

The Board granted earlier effective dates for the ratings and service connection of various conditions, including other reactions to severe stress with persistent depressive disorder with anxious distress and panic disorder, migraines, cervical strain, degenerative disc disease, and degenerative arthritis, as well as sleep apnea.

The Board grants service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, specifically post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder.

The Board granted an effective date of April 17, 2022 for the award of a 50 percent rating for depressive disorder with anxious distress.

The appeal of the proposed reduction of the evaluation of other specified trauma-and stressors-related disorder with depressive features from 70 percent disabling to 30 percent is dismissed.

The Board remands the claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include anxiety condition, depression, and PTSD, as VA failed to obtain a medical examination with an opinion to determine whether the Veteran's psychiatric disorder had its onset in service or is otherwise causally related to service.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for depressive disorder and bilateral knee conditions but granted separate 10 percent evaluations for left and right knee instability.

The appeal was dismissed due to an impermissible concurrent election of administrative review options.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an allowance for an automobile or other conveyance and adaptive equipment due to a lack of service-connected disabilities meeting the criteria necessary for such benefits.

The Board denied the appellant's claims for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death and entitlement to Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) under 38 U.S.C. § 1318, finding that the evidence did not support a conclusion that any of the Veteran's service-connected disabilities contributed substantially or materially to his death.

The Board denied an earlier effective date for the grant of individual unemployability and a higher rating for persistent depressive disorder.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for depressive disorder was granted as secondary to her service-connected disabilities, while other claims were denied or remanded.

The appeal was dismissed due to the Veteran's death while it was pending.

The Veteran's major depressive disorder is granted an initial evaluation of 100 percent, and special monthly compensation at the 's' rate is granted from April 30, 2021.