The Board of Veterans' Appeals found that the veteran likely developed an acquired psychiatric disorder in service, and granted service connection for dysthymia.
The deciding factor: VA deems it established that the veteran's dysthymia preexisted service but was not aggravated by service. The VA experts concluded that the veteran's current mental conditions are service-connected due to new evidence of a preexisting condition being aggravated in service.
- Claimed conditions
- dysthymia, bipolar disorder (mixed), anxiety disorder (social phobia features), depressive disorder NOS, major depressive disorder, recurrent
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 28, 2004
- Citation
- 0417169
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0417169.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The claim for an earlier effective date for service connection for major depressive disorder is dismissed as moot because the earliest effective date was granted during the pendency of this appeal.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for multiple conditions, including an acquired psychiatric disorder, sleep apnea, hypertension, and various musculoskeletal and skin disabilities.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for right and left hip degenerative arthritis as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected right ankle and knee conditions, and major depressive disorder as secondary to his service-connected knee and ankle conditions. The Board also granted a 10 percent rating for allergic rhinitis.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for major depressive disorder, finding it to be etiologically related to the Veteran's service.
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