The Veteran's PTSD is currently rated at 70 percent, but the Board finds that it does not meet the criteria for a higher rating as his symptoms do not warrant a total disability rating.
The deciding factor: The Veteran’s PTSD results in occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas, such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood, due to symptoms like suicidal ideation, obsessional rituals, near continuous panic or depression affecting the ability to function independently, appropriately and effectively; impaired impulse control (such as unprovoked irritability with periods of violence); spatial disorientation; neglect of personal appearance and hygiene; difficulty in adapting to stressful circumstances (including work or a worklike setting); inability to establish and maintain effective relationships. However, his symptoms do not meet the criteria for total occupational and social impairment.
- Claimed conditions
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- January 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19104260
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 an earlier effective date for service connection of an acquired psychiatric disability, to include PTSD, as it needs a medical opinion addressing the nature and etiology of the condition prior to October 16, 2023.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted special monthly compensation (SMC) based on the need for regular aid and attendance due to his service-connected disabilities.
- Partly granted
The Veteran is granted special monthly compensation (SMC) based on the need for regular aid and attendance of another since September 30, 2020.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for headaches and right hand strain, increased the ratings for PTSD, bilateral hearing loss, dyshidrotic eczema, and hypertension, and denied service connection for Parkinsonism, pes planus/flat feet, GERD, tinea versicolor, allergic rhinitis, and tinnitus. The Board also granted a TDIU.
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