The Veteran's anxiety disorder has not been productive of more than occupational and social impact with reduced reliability and productivity due to such symptoms as impairment of short-term memory; disturbances of motivation and mood; difficulty in establishing and maintaining social relationships; slow motor skills; difficulty in adapting to stressful circumstances; sleep impairment; and anxiety. The current rating of 50% is therefore appropriate.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's GAF scores have been consistently within the range for a 50% disability rating, indicating occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity due to symptoms such as flattened affect, circumstantial speech, difficulty understanding complex commands, impaired judgment, and disturbances of motivation and mood.
- Claimed conditions
- Anxiety Disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 50%
- Decision date
- January 23, 2017
- Citation
- 1701509
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 1701509.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
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- Granted
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The Veteran's service-connected major depression and anxiety disorder are considered part of his service-connected peripheral neuropathy, which already qualifies him for SMC(l). Therefore, he is not eligible for a higher rate of SMC.
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