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Denied

Between March 29, 2005 and May 13, 2007, the veteran's PTSD was characterized by depression, anxiety, mild forgetfulness and confusion, chronic sleep impairment with nightmares, intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, hypervigilance, irritability, and estrangement from his family. However, symptoms such as flattened affect; circumstantial, circumlocutory, or stereotyped speech; panic attacks more than once a week; difficulty in understanding complex commands; impaired judgment; impaired abstract thinking; disturbances of motivation were not shown.,Since May 14, 2007, the veteran's PTSD has been characterized by chronic sleep disturbances with nightmares, occasional panic attacks with flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, a depressed mood, difficulty concentrating, and social isolation. However, symptoms such as obsessional rituals which interfere with routine activities; speech intermittently illogical, obscure, or irrelevant; near-continuous panic or depression affecting the ability to function independently, appropriately and effectively; impaired impulse control (such as unprovoked irritability with periods of violence); spatial disorientation; and inability to establish and maintain effective relationships were not shown.

The deciding factor: The veteran's symptoms did not meet the criteria for a higher disability rating under any applicable diagnostic code.

Claimed conditions
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
How they argued it
Direct service connection
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
30%
Decision date
September 11, 2008
Citation
0830949

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 0830949.

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