The Board has determined that the appellant's service connection claims for a psychiatric disorder to include PTSD and a psychiatric disability as a result of a 'nervous breakdown' during a National Guard drill in 1969 are denied due to lack of legal merit. The stressor event related to PTSD occurred outside of active duty, and the alleged nervous breakdown was not associated with an injury or medical condition that would qualify for service connection.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the appellant's service connection claims were legally insufficient because the stressor event for PTSD did not occur during active duty, and the alleged 'nervous breakdown' in 1969 was not related to a qualifying injury or medical condition under VA regulations.
- Claimed conditions
- psychiatric disorder (to include PTSD), schizophrenia, bipolar disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 28, 2006
- Citation
- 0627081
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,699 · Granted: 17% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 0627081.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder and PTSD. The Veteran will be asked to provide additional medical records and undergo a VA examination.
- Granted
The Veteran's schizophrenia is rated at 70 percent, indicating significant impairment in work and social functioning.
- Granted
The Veteran's bipolar disorder was rated at 50% and then reduced to 30%. The Board has now granted a 70% rating effective November 23, 2021, based on the improvement in her symptoms.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the claims for an effective date prior to August 18, 2016, for a 100 percent disability rating for schizophrenia and for spousal SMC for aid and attendance. The Veteran's claim was erroneously adjudicated by the AOJ and constitutes a free-standing earlier effective date claim.
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