The Veteran's depressive disorder with anxiety and substance abuse is not manifested by occupational and social impairment, with deficiencies in most areas, such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood, due to such symptoms as: obsessional rituals which interfere with routine activities; speech intermittently illogical, obscure, or irrelevant; impaired impulse control (such as unprovoked irritability with periods of violence); spatial disorientation; neglect of personal appearance and hygiene; difficulty in adapting to stressful circumstances (including work or a worklike setting); or the inability to establish and maintain effective relationships.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's symptoms do not meet the criteria for a higher rating under the applicable diagnostic code, as his impairment does not result in deficiencies in most areas such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood.
- Claimed conditions
- Depressive disorder with anxiety and substance abuse
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 6, 2009
- Citation
- 0908451
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,242 · Granted: 24% (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 0908451.
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