The Veteran's major depressive disorder with anxious distress is rated at 70 percent since July 16, 2015.
The deciding factor: The evidence shows symptoms of depression including suicidal ideation, intermittent inability to perform activities of daily living, near-continuous depression affecting the ability to function independently, disturbances of mood and motivation, irritability and anger, inability to establish and maintain effective relationships, problems concentrating, and memory problems, which together create occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas.
- Claimed conditions
- Major Depressive Disorder with Anxious Distress
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- December 18, 2019
- Citation
- 19195023
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,677 · Granted: 26% (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 19195023.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an initial compensable rating for erectile dysfunction was denied as the evidence did not support a higher or separate rating.,The Veteran's claim for a rating in excess of 70 percent for major depressive disorder with anxious distress was denied due to lack of additional impairment warranting such a rating.,The Veteran's claim for TDIU based on service-connected disabilities was granted, as his service-connected conditions prevented him from obtaining and maintaining substantially gainful employment.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to errors in pre-decisional duty to assist, and a need for an additional medical opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's obstructive sleep apnea.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) secondary to his service-connected mental health disability, with obesity as an intermediate step. The decision is based on evidence that suggests the Veteran's OSA was caused by his service-connected mental health disability and obesity.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected Major Depressive Disorder with Anxious Distress is found to have caused or contributed to the development of his Obstructive Sleep Apnea, which is granted as secondary.
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