The Board denied service connection for major depressive disorder, claimed as depression, finding that the condition was not shown to be causally or etiologically related to service and did not begin in service.
The deciding factor: The evidence of record fails to show a chronic disease during service or sufficient observation to establish chronicity at the time. There is no competent medical evidence linking the diagnosis of major depressive disorder to service, and the absence of documented complaints of depression from 1967 until 2004 weighs against continuity of symptomatology.
- Claimed conditions
- major depressive disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 20, 2009
- Citation
- 0906500
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.
- Dismissed
The claim for an earlier effective date for service connection for major depressive disorder is dismissed as moot because the earliest effective date was granted during the pendency of this appeal.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for multiple conditions, including an acquired psychiatric disorder, sleep apnea, hypertension, and various musculoskeletal and skin disabilities.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for right and left hip degenerative arthritis as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected right ankle and knee conditions, and major depressive disorder as secondary to his service-connected knee and ankle conditions. The Board also granted a 10 percent rating for allergic rhinitis.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for major depressive disorder as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected tinnitus.
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