The Board has reopened the claim of service connection for a psychiatric disability, including bipolar disorder and depression. The Veteran's bipolar disorder is found to be related to his military service, while his anxiety disorder is not. Service connection is granted for bipolar disorder but denied for anxiety disorder.
The deciding factor: The March 2013 VA examiner opined that the Veteran's bipolar disorder was likely due to early manifestations of the condition during service in 1986, which are consistent with current symptoms and diagnoses. The January 2012 VA examiner found no relationship between the Veteran's anxiety disorder and his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- Anxiety Disorder NOS, Bipolar Disorder (depressive phase)
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 15, 2015
- Citation
- 1502001
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 1502001.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran seeks an earlier effective date for a 70% rating for anxiety disorder NOS with depression and PTSD features. The Board finds that the criteria are not met, as his entitlement to this rating arose after August 27, 2013.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for anxiety disorder with major depressive disorder, finding that the Veteran's current psychiatric symptoms are directly related to events during his military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for the award of service connection and a 70 percent rating for Anxiety Disorder NOS is denied. The AOJ has consistently characterized this issue as being about the effective date, but no specific SOC or SSOC has been issued to characterize it as such.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's request for an earlier effective date of February 1, 1993, for service connection due to PTSD with depressive disorder NOS and anxiety disorder NOS based on a finding of no clear and unmistakable error in the August 1993 rating decision.
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