The Board denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including adjustment disorder, other specific trauma disorder, unspecified depressive disorder, and polysubstance dependence, finding that the evidence did not support a current disability or a causal relationship to service.
The deciding factor: The weight of the evidence showed no in-service injury, disease, or symptoms related to an acquired psychiatric disorder, and the Veteran's recent diagnoses were not shown until decades after service separation.
- Claimed conditions
- adjustment disorder, other specific trauma disorder, unspecified depressive disorder, polysubstance dependence
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 26, 2018
- Citation
- 18145280
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 18145280.
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
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder to ensure a proper examination and etiology opinion are provided.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for major depressive disorder, secondary to tinnitus and dismissed the appeal regarding an initial compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss. The claim for adjustment disorder was remanded.
- Granted
The Board granted a 70 percent rating for the Veteran's unspecified depressive disorder, finding that her symptoms more closely approximated those required for such a rating.
- Denied
The Board denied the reduction of the rating for service-connected stroke from 100 percent to 10 percent, and granted service connection for adjustment disorder as a residual of the stroke.
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