The veteran's PTSD is productive of occupational and social impairment, with deficiencies in most areas, including work, family relations and mood, difficulty in adapting to stressful circumstances, persistent nightmares, flashbacks, intrusive thoughts and an inability to establish and maintain effective relationships. The Board finds that the evidence supports the assignment of a 70 percent rating.
The deciding factor: The veteran's PTSD symptoms clearly played a major role in his long-lasting and nearly debilitating functional difficulties, although not the only contributors. It was noted that the veteran's drinking and drug use were powerfully implicated in the veteran's functional difficulties and were likely as manifestation of his PTSD.
- Claimed conditions
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- January 23, 2009
- Citation
- 0902442
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for an earlier effective date for service connection of an acquired psychiatric disability, to include PTSD, as it needs a medical opinion addressing the nature and etiology of the condition prior to October 16, 2023.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted special monthly compensation (SMC) based on the need for regular aid and attendance due to his service-connected disabilities.
- Partly granted
The Veteran is granted special monthly compensation (SMC) based on the need for regular aid and attendance of another since September 30, 2020.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for headaches and right hand strain, increased the ratings for PTSD, bilateral hearing loss, dyshidrotic eczema, and hypertension, and denied service connection for Parkinsonism, pes planus/flat feet, GERD, tinea versicolor, allergic rhinitis, and tinnitus. The Board also granted a TDIU.
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