The Board found that the preponderance of evidence was against the veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, as there were no chronic symptoms during or immediately after service and the only competent clinical opinion on file was against the claim.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner opined that it was not likely that the veteran's current mental illness was related to or connected to service based on the lack of evidence of chronicity of psychiatric symptoms during service and the first diagnosis in the early 1970s, several years after separation from service.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 13, 2009
- Citation
- 0901398
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 service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, finding a causal relationship between the condition and an in-service incident of military sexual trauma (MST).
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the issue of entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of May 29, 2019 for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder but denied earlier effective dates and increased ratings for other conditions.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, a right knee disorder, and a lumbar spine disorder.
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