The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorders, including anxiety, depression, adjustment disorder, and PTSD, are found to be related to his in-service experiences. Service connection is granted for these conditions. The Veteran's bilateral shin splints are denied as there is no evidence of aggravation beyond its natural progression during service.
The deciding factor: The Board finds the private treatment opinions connecting the Veteran’s psychiatric disorders to service, and the March 2019 VA examiner's opinion in support of this claim, more probative than the December 2014 VA examiner's opinion which did not address the bullying and personal assaults inflicted by NCOs.
- Claimed conditions
- anxiety, depression, adjustment disorder, PTSD
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 20, 2019
- Citation
- 19163842
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 19163842.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
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 granted service connection for PTSD, generalized anxiety disorder, and somatic symptom disorder, as well as presumptive service connection for basal cell carcinoma under the PACT Act. Service connection was denied for chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, right restless leg syndrome, left restless leg syndrome, an increased rating for psychiatric disorder, bilateral hearing loss, a left forehead surgical scar, and allergic rhinitis.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, as the Veteran did not have a diagnosis of PTSD or any other psychiatric disorder during the appeal period.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for multiple conditions, including an acquired psychiatric disorder, sleep apnea, hypertension, and various musculoskeletal and skin disabilities.
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