PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) decisions — 2010

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims due to the need for additional development regarding his claimed in-service stressors and participation in covert operations.

The Veteran's PTSD causes significant impairment in work, social relationships, and mood. The Board has granted a 70 percent rating for PTSD.

The Board found that the Veteran did not meet the criteria for a diagnosis of PTSD and denied service connection for both PTSD and MDD. The Veteran's symptoms were considered to be consistent with major depressive disorder.

The Veteran's claim for an initial disability rating higher than 30 percent for PTSD has been granted, effective November 30, 2009.

The Veteran's PTSD is manifested by occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas due to some mild paranoia, memory quite impaired, withdrawal from his family, lack of motivation to socialize, hears voices and sounds, limited to poor insight, limited to fair judgment, flat and constricted affect, dysphoric mood, depression, panic attacks, irritability with a tendency toward violence, obsessive behavior, bouts of disorientation, suicidal thoughts, emotional detachment from others, problems with trust, a hypervigilant style, exaggerated startle reaction, intrusive memories, nightmares, numbing, and avoidance. However, total occupational and social impairment is not shown.

The Board has remanded the case for further development due to a request for a Travel Board hearing.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD was granted with an effective date of November 5, 2004.

The Veteran's service-connected PTSD is not shown to have resulted in occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity, as required for a higher rating. The claim for increased ratings on the other conditions must be denied by operation of law.

The Board has denied service connection for PTSD. The issue of entitlement to service connection for a sleep disorder, to include as due to undiagnosed illness, remains unresolved.

The Veteran's PTSD claim is being remanded for a new VA examination to assess his current level of disability and for the acquisition of relevant SSA records.

The Veteran's claims for service connection were denied as new and material evidence was not presented to reopen the claims. The low back disability claim is also denied.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including a VA examination to assess his employability due to service-connected disabilities.

Service connection for PTSD was granted, but the Veteran's fraud in altering his DD Form 214 led to the severance of this benefit.,The TDIU based on PTSD was also severed as it was not established prior to March 9, 2005 due to the absence of service-connected disabilities.

The Veteran's appeal involves multiple service connection claims for various conditions. The Board has determined that additional development is needed, including VA examinations and the provision of updated medical records.

The Board denied all issues related to service connection and initial evaluations for various disabilities, finding that the evidence did not meet the criteria for increased ratings under applicable diagnostic codes.

The Veteran's service-connected conditions, including prostate cancer residuals, PTSD, and erectile dysfunction, are preventing him from obtaining or maintaining substantially gainful employment. The case is being remanded for further examination and development.

The Veteran's claims for PTSD, tinnitus, and hearing loss were denied as there is no medical evidence of a current disability or a nexus to service.

The Veteran's claim for an increased evaluation of his service-connected posttraumatic stress disorder was denied. The VA examiner noted that the Veteran exhibited PTSD signs and symptoms resulting in deficiencies in areas such as judgment, thinking, family relations, work, or mood, but there were only transient or mild PTSD signs and symptoms during periods of significant stress.

The Veteran's PTSD is currently rated as 30 percent disabling. The Board has determined that a 50 percent evaluation is warranted based on the severity of his symptoms and their impact on his occupational and social functioning.

The Veteran's PTSD did not result in more than mild to moderate occupational and social impairment, thus the claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 30 percent was denied.