The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, finding that his current diagnoses were not related to his military service and there was no evidence of any psychiatric symptoms or pathology within the first post-service year.
The deciding factor: The April 2014 VA examiner found the Veteran’s disabilities less likely than not caused by his service, citing a lack of evidence linking his diagnosed mental health conditions to the reported stressful event.
- Claimed conditions
- an unspecified depressive disorder, undifferentiated schizophrenia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 26, 2019
- Citation
- 19189280
Veterans Law Judge
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 19189280.
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 has found that the Veteran's service connection claim for an acquired psychiatric disability, including a depressive disorder, should be remanded due to pre-decisional duty-to-assist errors. Specifically, the Board notes that VA treatment records are needed and a formal finding of unavailability must be made if no additional records can be located.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to errors in decision-making and failure to consider all relevant evidence, including the Veteran's service records and a private psychological evaluation. The case is now pending for further review.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, including a depressive disorder, is being remanded due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors. The AOJ must obtain private treatment records and provide addendum opinions addressing the Veteran's lay statements regarding her left hip injury and its impact on her mental health.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that the Veteran may have more than one acquired psychiatric disorder and is remanding for a new medical opinion to determine which, if any, are service-connected.
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