The veteran's PTSD was not manifested by severe impairment in the ability to establish and maintain effective or favorable relationships with people, psychoneurotic symptoms of such severity and persistence that there is severe impairment in obtaining or retaining employment, occupational and social impairment due to such symptoms as suicidal ideation, obsessional rituals which interfere with routine activities, speech intermittently illogical, near-continuous panic or depression affecting the ability to function independently, impaired impulse control (such as unprovoked irritability with periods of violence), spatial disorientation, neglect of personal appearance and hygiene, difficulty in adapting to stressful circumstances, and inability to establish and maintain effective relationships for the period prior to June 14, 1997.,For the period from June 14, 1997 through July 21, 1999, the veteran's PTSD was not manifested by attitudes of all contacts except the most intimate being so adversely affected as to result in virtual isolation in the community; totally incapacitating psychoneurotic symptoms bordering on gross repudiation of reality with disturbed thought or behavioral processes associated with almost all daily activities such as fantasy, confusion, panic and explosions of aggressive energy resulting in profound retreat from mature behavior; demonstrably unable to obtain or retain employment; total occupational and social impairment for the period.
The deciding factor: The veteran's PTSD did not meet the criteria for a higher rating under any applicable diagnostic code.
- Claimed conditions
- Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- July 25, 2005
- Citation
- 0520223
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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0520223.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's service-connected post-traumatic stress disorder did not cause or contribute to his death. The medical evidence does not support a causal relationship between the Veteran's PTSD and his coronary artery disease, hypertension, or other conditions leading to his death.
- Whole decision: Denied
The VA denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his post-traumatic stress disorder and bilateral hearing loss, finding that the evidence did not meet the criteria for a higher rating under the applicable disability evaluation criteria.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board found that the veteran did not engage in combat with the enemy and does not have a corroborated in-service stressor upon which a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder may be predicated. As such, service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder was denied.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has determined that the veteran currently meets the criteria for service connection of post-traumatic stress disorder, as there is a confirmed diagnosis and credible supporting evidence linking current symptoms to in-service stressors.
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