The Board found that the Veteran's current diagnoses of anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder were not incurred in service, as there was no evidence of a pre-existing psychiatric condition prior to service. The VA examiner could not provide an opinion without resorting to speculation.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner could not determine if the Veteran's current symptoms were related to military service due to the lack of clear and unmistakable evidence that his conditions existed before service, as well as the Veteran's history of disciplinary issues during service.
- Claimed conditions
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 1, 2015
- Citation
- 1537362
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 1537362.
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
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- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's erectile dysfunction is secondary to his service-connected major depressive disorder, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's generalized anxiety disorder is related to his active-duty service and has granted service connection for this condition.
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