The veteran's claim for service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was denied because a current diagnosis of PTSD was not shown, and the psychological symptoms were related to depression and personality disorders.
The deciding factor: The September 2008 VA examiner found that the veteran's symptoms were less likely than not attributable to PTSD and related to his identified in-service stressors. A diagnosis of PTSD was not warranted despite confirmation of the alleged in-service stressor of having been subjected to a mortar attack in Vietnam.
- Claimed conditions
- depression, not otherwise specified
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 5, 2009
- Citation
- 0904231
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,162 · Granted: 21% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 0904231.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for depression, not otherwise specified, as the evidence did not support a current diagnosis of any acquired psychiatric condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to pre-decisional errors and insufficient medical opinions, requiring further development of the record.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to pre-decisional errors and insufficient medical opinions, requiring further development of the record.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for depression and TDIU due to inconsistencies in the Veteran's psychiatric symptoms attributed to multiple factors, including back pain and relationship problems.
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