The Board found that the veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, specifically bipolar disorder, was aggravated by his active duty service.
The deciding factor: The July 2007 VA examiner opined that any current psychiatric disorder was at least as likely as not aggravated by the veteran's military service due to a significant change in his condition from pre-service evaluations and the typical age of onset for bipolar disorder being around age 20, which aligns with his service period.
- Claimed conditions
- anxiety and depression, bipolar disorder
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 18, 2008
- Citation
- 0813002
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.
- 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 Board denied service connection for bipolar disorder and denied increased ratings for the lumbar disability, left and right sciatica, and chronic sinusitis. However, it granted an increased rating of 40 percent from March 7, 2022, for left and right sciatic radiculopathy and restored a 30 percent rating for chronic sinusitis.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for all the conditions listed as there was no evidence of an in-service event, nor is there evidence demonstrating a nexus to service.
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