The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including general anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizoaffective disorder, is being remanded due to the submission of new evidence that relates to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim. The Board will now review whether these conditions are related to his active duty service.
The deciding factor: New evidence has been submitted suggesting a possible connection between the Veteran's current psychiatric disabilities and his military service, necessitating further evaluation.
- Claimed conditions
- general anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, depressive disorder, schizoaffective disorder
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 12, 2019
- Citation
- 19128743
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board granted a disability rating of 50 percent for the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, characterized as depressive disorder, effective May 1, 2017.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of December 12, 2023, for a 50 percent evaluation of bipolar disorder and remanded the other issues for further development.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired mental health condition, to include major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder, based on new evidence.
- Partly granted
The Veteran is granted service connection for migraine headaches secondary to tinnitus, effective April 1, 2021. The claim for an earlier effective date for depressive disorder was denied.
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.