The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder with Depression was granted, and he is now rated at 50 percent effective April 11, 2016.
The deciding factor: The evidence showed that the Veteran had reduced reliability and productivity due to symptoms such as flattened affect, panic attacks more than once a week, difficulty understanding complex commands, impairment of short- and long-term memory, impaired judgment, and disturbances of motivation and mood. These symptoms were consistent with a 50 percent rating under the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders.
- Claimed conditions
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder with Depression
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 50%
- Decision date
- October 3, 2019
- Citation
- 19176534
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,960 · Granted: 36% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 19176534.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability solely due to service-connected posttraumatic stress disorder with depression as of December 4, 2021.,Special monthly compensation pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s) is granted effective from December 4, 2021.,The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for the 100 percent rating for posttraumatic stress disorder with depression remains pending.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal includes multiple issues related to his PTSD, traumatic amputation of the right middle finger, chronic fatigue syndrome, and various musculoskeletal conditions. The Board has determined that further examination is needed for all these claims due to the lack of recent examinations addressing current severity.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the issues of entitlement to a compensable rating for post traumatic headaches, an initial rating in excess of 30 percent for bilateral hand tremors, and entitlement to TDIU due to incomplete development.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, finding that metastatic prostate cancer was the primary cause and there was no evidence linking it to service. The appeal is dismissed.
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