Depression Board decisions

The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD and depression, is productive of occupational and social impairment in most areas such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, and mood. He has been granted a higher rating for his psychiatric condition.

The Veteran's appeal for increased ratings for left shoulder and spine conditions has been withdrawn. The Board has granted service connection for major depressive disorder and PTSD, finding that the current psychiatric disorders are causally related to service.

The Veteran's claims for increased evaluations of his service-connected depression, spondylosis deformans of the lumbar spine, and radiculopathy of both lower extremities have all been denied. The Veteran is currently receiving the maximum available ratings for these conditions.

The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings and service connection have been dismissed due to the withdrawal of all pending appeals by the Veteran.

The Board found no evidence of an acquired psychiatric disorder related to service, including the reported stressor events. The Veteran's diagnoses are attributed to his substance abuse and hepatitis C, rather than service.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD and other acquired psychiatric disorders was denied as there is no current diagnosis of PTSD, and the existing diagnoses are not considered to be related to service.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for PTSD, depression with anxiety, vertigo, GERD, and hypertension. The decision also found that referral for extraschedular consideration of bilateral hearing loss was not warranted.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's bipolar disorder and depression are related to his service-connected spinal meningitis, thus granting service connection for a neuropsychiatric disorder.

The Board has granted service connection for cold injury residuals and denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability (including PTSD and depression) and hypertension. The Veteran's cold injury residuals are linked to his service, while the acquired psychiatric disabilities and hypertension do not appear to be related to his military service.

The Board denied service connection for depression and granted a 20% rating for the Veteran's lumbar spine disability. The issue of TDIU is being remanded.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for residuals of acute bronchitis is reconsidered and granted. The Board finds that new and material evidence has been received to reopen the claim, as a relevant service treatment record was submitted in June 1983.

The Veteran's claim for an increased rating of his right knee condition was granted, with a new and material evidence basis. The effective date is not specified.

The Board has granted a 70% disability evaluation for the Veteran's service-connected mood disorder, effective from July 2013. The Veteran is also entitled to attorney fees related to this decision. The claim for service connection for squamous cell carcinoma of the floor of the mouth was denied as there was no evidence linking the condition to his military service. The TDIU claim has been granted since March 4, 2008.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, when combined, meet the criteria for a TDIU effective November 17, 2006.

The Veteran's major depressive disorder is granted as a result of an incident during active service, and he has been granted service connection for this condition with symptoms of PTSD.

The Veteran's claims for service connection were denied as his claimed conditions are not related to his period of active service. The Board found that the evidence did not establish a nexus between any current disabilities and his military service.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's current anxiety disorder is causally related to service, and his current major depressive disorder (MDD) at least as likely as not resulted from his anxiety disorder.

Veteran's appeal for an initial rating higher than 10 percent for left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy from February 5, 2009 to June 13, 2012 was withdrawn prior to the Board decision. The Veteran's PTSD with MDD is rated at 100% since October 19, 2012.,Veteran's PTSD with MDD has been rated at 70% from November 6, 2007 to October 19, 2012. The Veteran's appeal for a higher rating remains pending.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD was denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a current diagnosis of PTSD and concluded that his anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder are related to service.

The Veteran's service-connected traumatic brain injury residuals, including migraines and major depressive disorder, are rated at the highest possible levels. The initial 70 percent rating for TBI residuals is granted from May 20, 2013.