PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) decisions — 2012

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence and a need for further examination. The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, is being reviewed.

The Board finds that the Veteran has an acquired psychiatric disability, including major depressive disorder and PTSD, which is related to service. The claim for service connection is granted.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and a thyroid disability have been denied as these conditions are not presumed to be related to his military service. The Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension has been granted.,Service connection was established for the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disability (to include posttraumatic stress disorder) due to its presumptive relationship with his military service.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded due to scheduling issues, and no specific rating or effective date has been assigned.

The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the need for a new VA examination and additional records, including recent VA treatment records.

The Veteran's PTSD is currently evaluated as 50 percent disabling, which contemplates occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity due to symptoms such as flattened affect; circumstantial, circumlocutory, or stereotyped speech; panic attacks more than once a week; difficulty in understanding complex commands; impaired judgment; and disturbances of motivation and mood. The Veteran's PTSD most nearly approximates the criteria for a 70 percent rating.

The Board has decided to remand the case for additional development, including consideration of new evidence and issuance of a supplemental statement of the case (SSOC).

The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD was denied in December 2001. The Board has now granted the claim on the basis of new and material evidence, but the other issues remain denied.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's claim for service connection for a psychiatric disability, to include PTSD, needs further development due to the need to verify stressor events in service and determine if there is credible supporting evidence of such events. The case will be remanded for this purpose.

The Board found that the Veteran's current acquired psychiatric disorder is not causally or etiologically related to service and did not become manifest within one year of his discharge from service.

The Veteran's PTSD is rated at 70 percent, effective April 25, 2008. The claim for an increased rating from the date of service connection remains pending.

The Veteran has been granted service connection for PTSD, which is considered a direct relationship to his military service.

The Veteran's PTSD has been rated at 50 percent since October 13, 2006. The Board also found that the Veteran is entitled to a TDIU rating due to his service-connected PTSD.

The Board found no evidence of PTSD or other service-connected psychiatric conditions and denied the Veteran's claims.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for anxiety, depression, and PTSD was denied as there is no competent medical evidence of a current disability.

The Board has granted service connection for adjustment disorder and depressive disorder, but denied service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder. The decision is mixed as some conditions were granted while others were not.

The Board denied the moving party's request for an earlier effective date of September 7, 2000 for service connection granted for PTSD. The moving party did not provide specific grounds or evidence to support a claim of CUE.

The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, including major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder and PTSD, is attributable to his service-connected spontaneous pneumothorax. The Board finds that the evidence is in equipoise regarding whether this condition is secondary to a service-connected disability.

The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional development, including obtaining SSA records and private treatment records, scheduling VA examinations to assess the severity of his PTSD and etiology of his low back disability, and readjudicating the claims.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's PTSD is service-connected as it was incurred in active service based on confirmed stressors.