The Veteran's psychiatric disability, characterized as posttraumatic stress disorder, bipolar II/panic disorder, alcohol/opioid use disorder, and anxiolytic, sedative, and hypnotic use disorder, was found to be less than total in severity prior to November 30, 2016. The claim for a higher rating is denied.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of the evidence does not support a finding that the Veteran's psychiatric disability resulted in occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity due to symptoms such as flattened affect, circumstantial or stereotyped speech, panic attacks more than once a week, difficulty understanding complex commands, impaired judgment, impaired abstract thinking, disturbances of motivation and mood, or difficulties establishing and maintaining effective relationships.
- Claimed conditions
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Mood Disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 50%
- Decision date
- April 4, 2018
- Citation
- 1819983
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 1819983.
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.
- 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.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected Generalized Anxiety Disorder with Major Depressive Disorder is rated at 50 percent, effective December 14, 2021. The Board also granted a TDIU based on the Veteran's service-connected conditions.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorders, including PTSD, panic disorder, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and ADHD, finding that these conditions had onset during his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection for various psychiatric disabilities, arrhythmia, cardiac amyloidosis, and CAD/arteriosclerotic heart disease are remanded due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the etiology of these conditions.
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