The Board found that the veteran's depression and bipolar disorder were not incurred in or aggravated by service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner's opinion linking the veteran's psychiatric disorders to his military stressors was based on unsubstantiated self-reported history, making it speculative and thus having no probative value.
- Claimed conditions
- depressive disorder, bipolar disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 23, 2006
- Citation
- 0632836
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 0632836.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board granted a disability rating of 50 percent for the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, characterized as depressive disorder, effective May 1, 2017.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of December 12, 2023, for a 50 percent evaluation of bipolar disorder and remanded the other issues for further development.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired mental health condition, to include major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder, based on new evidence.
- Partly granted
The Veteran is granted service connection for migraine headaches secondary to tinnitus, effective April 1, 2021. The claim for an earlier effective date for depressive disorder was denied.
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