The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, finding that there was no evidence to support a link between his current mental health issues and his military service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found that the Veteran’s symptoms did not meet the criteria for PTSD under DSM-5 and concluded that they were best described by depressive disorder. The Board noted inconsistencies in the Veteran's recounting of an in-service stressor event, which was required to be corroborated as non-combat related.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 13, 2019
- Citation
- 19193743
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 19193743.
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, finding a causal relationship between the condition and an in-service incident of military sexual trauma (MST).
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the issue of entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of May 29, 2019 for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder but denied earlier effective dates and increased ratings for other conditions.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, a right knee disorder, and a lumbar spine disorder.
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