The Veteran's PTSD caused irritability, anger, detachment, hyperarousal, loss of interest in activities he once enjoyed, strained relationships with his spouse and one child, emotional numbness, dysphoric mood, recurrent distressing memories of in-service trauma, intense or prolonged psychological distress at exposure to internal or external cues that symbolized or resembled in-service trauma, avoidance of distressing memories, thoughts, feelings, and external reminders of the trauma, inability to remember important aspects of the trauma, persistent exaggerated negative beliefs or expectations about himself, others, or the world, persistent negative emotional state, markedly diminished interest or participation in significant activities, concentration problems, chronic sleep impairment, disturbances of motivation and mood, difficulty establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships, difficulty adapting to stressful circumstances, including work or a worklike setting, exaggerated startle response, hypervigilance, flashbacks, nightmares, lack of friends, impaired impulse control, constricted affect, difficulty maintaining employment, caused him to engage in physical and verbal abuse; he was 'a clear danger to self or others.' An initial 70 percent rating for PTSD from January 31, 2013, to June 23, 2015, is granted.

The deciding factor: The Veteran's symptoms most closely approximated a 70 percent rating throughout the entire period on appeal due to his persistent negative emotional state and impaired impulse control.

Claimed conditions

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

How they argued it

Direct service connection

Exposure basis

None

Rating assigned

70%

Decision date

April 17, 2019

Citation

19130352