PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) decisions — 2008

The Board remands the veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD to verify a reported in-service assault by Sergeant J.B. and obtain additional medical records.

The veteran's low back disability was rated at 10 percent, and service connection for PTSD was granted.

The veteran requires the regular assistance of another to perform activities of daily living due to his service-connected PTSD.

The veteran is unable to secure and follow a substantially gainful occupation due to his service-connected disabilities, which are currently assigned a combined rating of 90 percent.

The appeal is remanded to the RO for further development, including an attempt to corroborate the veteran's claimed stressors and obtain additional medical records.

The veteran's claims for service connection for major depression and PTSD have been reopened, but the effective date for a 50 percent rating for migraine headaches remains June 13, 2002.

The veteran withdrew his appeal for several issues, and the remaining claims were denied or dismissed.

The appeal is being remanded to address the presumed prejudicial notice error and remedy any accompanying defect.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for a psychiatric disability, to include PTSD and depression, as there was no credible supporting evidence of an in-service stressor event and no medical evidence linking any current psychiatric condition to his military service.

The case is being remanded for the appellant to have a hearing at the RO before a Veterans Law Judge.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to a lack of credible supporting evidence corroborating his reported in-service stressors.

The Board remanded the claim for additional development regarding the veteran's claimed stressors, specifically to determine if a medical laboratory specialist assigned to WRAIR in Vietnam would have assisted in bringing trauma patients to the hospital, collected blood and tissue samples, or attended autopsies.

The appeal is being remanded to the RO for scheduling of a hearing before a Veterans Law Judge at the Houston, Texas VARO.

The Board denied an earlier effective date for the award of a 100 percent evaluation for PTSD, finding that it was not factually ascertainable that the veteran's PTSD warranted a 100 percent rating prior to August 17, 2001.

The veteran's service-connected PTSD was characterized by deficiencies in most areas of occupational and social functioning, including sleep disturbance with nightmares and night sweats two to three times a week, daily intrusive thoughts, flashbacks of combat, hyperarousal and exaggerated startle response, dissociative episodes, impairment of short term memory, avoidance behavior, social isolation, and suicidal ideation; the veteran's GAF score was 41-50.

The veteran's service-connected disabilities, including diabetes mellitus and diabetic peripheral neuropathy, preclude him from obtaining or maintaining substantially gainful employment.

The veteran was granted a 100 percent initial evaluation for PTSD, effective from November 4, 2004.

The Board finds that the preponderance of the evidence is against the veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD. The veteran was denied service connection for major depression.

The veteran's PTSD symptomatology is productive of occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas, including work and family relations due to symptoms including sleep problems with nightmares and night sweats, panic attacks, increase startle response, angry outbursts, isolation and alienation without total social and occupational impairment.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD, as there was no credible supporting evidence that his claimed in-service stressors occurred and no competent evidence of a diagnosis of PTSD related to those stressors.