The Veteran's bipolar disorder type 2, with dysthymic disorder and insomnia has been rated at 50 percent since August 2000. The Board found that the symptoms of depressed mood, anxiety, sleep impairment, flattened affect, suspiciousness, mild memory loss, disturbances of motivation and mood, and difficulty in establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships are adequately described by the current rating.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's psychiatric disability is evaluated under the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders. The assigned 50 percent evaluation reflects occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity due to symptoms such as depressed mood, anxiety, sleep impairment, flattened affect, suspiciousness, mild memory loss, disturbances of motivation and mood, and difficulty in establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships.
- Claimed conditions
- bipolar disorder type 2, dysthymic disorder, insomnia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 50%
- Decision date
- December 4, 2014
- Citation
- 1453430
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 1453430.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection of insomnia was denied, and the effective date is set to the date of receipt of the claim (May 31, 2024).
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected PTSD, major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, insomnia and alcohol use disorder caused his sleep apnea.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeals regarding the claims of entitlement to a compensable disability evaluation for bilateral hearing loss, service connection for anterior uveitis, right eye, and service connection for restless leg syndrome, RLE. The claim for service connection for insomnia is dismissed as moot because it was granted with an effective date based on the date of the Veteran's application.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for PTSD, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, insomnia, unspecified psychosis, arthritis of the lumbar spine, degenerative disc disease, multilevel spinal stenosis, and arthritis of the cervical spine and degenerative disc disease. The diagnoses are linked to in-service physical assaults.
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