Depression Board decisions

The Board found no evidence of a current diagnosis of PTSD and denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include depression. The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus were not addressed due to the lack of VA examination.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including PTSD with depression, bilateral hearing loss, and tinnitus, have rendered him unable to maintain substantially gainful employment consistent with his education and occupational background throughout the period of appeal.

The Veteran has been diagnosed with anxiety and depressive disorders that are believed to have originated during his military service, particularly his deployment in Kuwait. Service connection is granted for these conditions.

The Board denied the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD and anxiety disorder with depression. The decision is based on a finding that there was no current disability.

The Veteran's initial claim of service connection for PTSD was granted, and a rating in excess of 30 percent is now warranted prior to June 13, 2011.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities render him unemployable, and the Board has granted a TDIU.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for further development, including obtaining additional VA and private medical records, as well as SSA disability records. The case will be returned to the Board after these records are obtained.

The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, anxiety, memory loss, and depression, is related to his service-connected diabetes mellitus. The Board has granted service connection for this condition.

The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim of service connection for PTSD and finds that new and material evidence has been received. The Veteran is found to have an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, which is related to his in-service stressors.

The Board has remanded the case to attempt to corroborate a claimed stressor event of witnessing a vehicular accident that caused serious bodily injury to a sergeant, which ultimately resulted in the sergeant's death. The Veteran served as a truck driver with the 91st Engineering Company during the period from August 1967 to approximately August 1968.

The Veteran's claims of service connection for a leg infection, drug abuse, benign prostatic hyperplasia, onychodystrophy and splitting, sleep disorder, fatigue, and concentration problems were denied as secondary to his service-connected PTSD with major depressive disorder.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities render him unemployable, and he is granted a total disability rating based upon individual unemployability. The temporary total disability rating for convalescence following his back surgery is also granted.

The Board has determined that additional development is needed to properly adjudicate the Veteran's claim for service connection for a psychiatric disability, including PTSD, depression, and paranoid schizophrenia. This includes obtaining VA treatment records from September 2015 to the present, scheduling the Veteran for a VA psychiatric examination, and ensuring all pertinent laws and regulations are considered in the decision.

The Veteran's PTSD with depressive disorder and alcohol abuse resulted in occupational and social impairment, but did not meet the criteria for a higher rating. The Board found that his condition warranted a 70 percent disability rating prior to July 11, 2014, and a 100 percent disability rating as of that date.

The Veteran's PTSD is currently rated at 50 percent, and the Board finds that it does not meet the criteria for a higher rating as his symptoms do not cause occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas.

The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings for PTSD with depression, right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, and left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy have been dismissed due to the Veteran's withdrawal of these claims.

The Veteran seeks service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including depression and PTSD. The Board has determined that additional development is needed to properly adjudicate the claim.

The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's lumbar spine disorder, finding that it was aggravated during active service. The remaining issues of service connection for psychiatric disability, skin disorder, bilateral plantar fasciitis, and bilateral flat feet are remanded.

The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for his service-connected psychophysiological gastrointestinal disturbance with duodenal ulcer is being remanded due to the need for further development, including a VA retrospective medical opinion regarding which of his mental disorders are attributable to his service-connected disability.

The Board finds that the Veteran's current acquired psychiatric disability, diagnosed as major depressive disorder and anxiety disorder, is at least in equipoise with service connection. The claim is granted.