The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD. The evidence is at least in equipoise regarding whether his current PTSD is related to his military service and he was exposed to a traumatic event during service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found that the Veteran had a depressive disorder not otherwise specified (NOS) but opined that it was due to personal and social issues, including incarceration. The treating VA psychiatrists and psychologists provided conflicting opinions, with Dr. J.Y. stating that the Veteran's current PTSD is related to his in-service stressor of MST.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 15, 2016
- Citation
- 1601883
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 1601883.
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 Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection of an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, finding that there is no evidence linking his current mental health condition to his military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD was denied as the stressors could not be verified, and there is no evidence of fear of hostile military or terrorist activity.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is being remanded due to a duty to assist error. The VA medical opinions provided prior to the March 2025 rating decision on appeal are based on incorrect premises and need to be reconsidered.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors, specifically failing to verify an in-service stressor and not affording a VA examination.
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